anchors

Her pink sheets became knotted as she tossed and turned, kicking them to the bottom of the bed as she tried to escape another nightmare, mumbling an argument to herself in her sleep, becoming so flustered that she managed to work up a sweat. Her usually flawless blonde hair was now a knotted mess in the two plaits she had put it in for bed. In the months since Noelle had escaped the vault, she'd struggled to get a good night's sleep, but in the past few weeks, that had become the understatement of the century. Every time she closed her eyes she was haunted by another terrifying nightmare, most of which, weren't new to her, but they were scarier than when she usually experienced them, they felt more real, more painful and most nights, she had woken up in a flustered panic, sometimes screaming until she'd woken up two werewolves who would rush into her room, holding her tightly until the screaming stopped.

After the first few days of Noelle waking them up in the middle of the night with her screams, Isaac and Scott had taken it in turns sleeping in the room with her, hoping that she would find comfort in knowing that someone else was sleeping on the other side of the room. But every night ended up with her jolting upright, barely able to catch her breath, or of course, screaming in fear, waking whichever wolf was in the room that night. At times, it was a normal scream, and others, the blonde would wake up screaming her dad's name as tears streamed down her face.

She didn't have to tell them for them to know what night she was reliving in her nightmares, it was the night she had lost her father, they'd heard about it before, how she watched her house burn to the ground with Jack inside of it while she screamed his name. He had managed to get his two children and wife out of the house, but just as he had gotten his little girl out, the smoke he inhaled had become too much for him to bear, his body gave up on him as he dropped to the floor, his daughter looking him in the eyes through the flames as the house collapsed on him.

Eventually, after nights of shifts being taken between Isaac and Scott of sleeping in her room, it became clear that it didn't matter the conditions that the blonde slept in, how many attempts she made to block out the nightmares, they prevailed. Her own mind had too much fun playing tricks on her, tormenting, playing on her deepest fears, and making her relive the worst night of her life. She couldn't keep letting them have sleepless nights because they were scared to take their eyes off of her, though she couldn't stop the screaming when she woke up from one of her nightmares, she had asked the two werewolves to leave her be, allow her to suffer from the pain of her own mind until she stopped her own screaming and fell back asleep. A plan neither Scott nor Isaac was happy with, they would have continued giving up their own sleep if it meant that Noelle got a decent one, but she hadn't allowed them the choice, she insisted on it, and now she had all of that power inside of her, neither wanted to rile her.

Most nights when Noelle found herself reliving the worst night of her life, she was nothing more than the nine-year-old girl she had been when it had all occurred, hopeless, reliving the events in the exact way they had been. Her father saving her from her bedroom, throwing her over his shoulder as he ran through the crumbling upstairs of their family home while they inhaled all of the smoke from the fire, until he reached the front door, urging her to run to safety where Cole and Camila waited for her, slowly joined by neighbors and the fire brigade. Where she watched him die from the distance, able to see straight through the flames as if it were a natural thing to do, now, she knew that that wasn't natural, but another thing that her kind could do.

That was how most nights went, but tonight was different. This time when the blonde awoke in her childhood bedroom, prepared to live the nightmare again, things had changed. Unlike all of the other times she had woken up at the beginning of this bad dream, she wasn't the small and hopeless nine-year-old girl she had been that night, but her sixteen-year-old self. She looked at the mirror that sat at the bottom of her princess bed, seeing her older reflection, it was still her childhood room, she recognized the wallpaper, and it was still that night, she could already see the smoke appearing in the gap beneath her bedroom door. Rather than wait for her father to come and rescue her like he had that night, and in every version of this night she had lived since then, the blonde jumped out of bed, grabbing an article of clothing from her dresser, placing it over her mouth to block the smoke from infecting her lungs.

As the blonde reached for the door handle, it scolded her as she sharply snatched it back with a wince of pain. She looked down at the palm of her hand, the redness from the heat she touched, wondering if in this alternate version of that night she still possessed the amount of power that she truly had. Noelle focused herself as she looked at her palm, imagining the familiar flame in her palm, and in the blink of an eye, it appeared. With a smile on her face, Noelle reached for the handle again, this time unaffected by the heat it held as she swung open the door, the upstairs of the home slowly becoming engulfed in flames, just like she remembered. She could hear her father's calls as he made his way back through the house, trying to get to his daughter, Cole and his wife were already out and safe, the two of them had gotten out of their rooms sooner that night after smelling the burning of a fire, but Noelle, she had sat in bed, staring at her reflection as the fire began engulfing the house around her.

"Dad!" Noelle's voice shouted back to her father through a series of coughs. "Dad, I'm here!"

Noelle stumbled through the upstairs, keeping the article of clothing to her mouth as the smoke began infecting her lungs, weakening her by the second as she tried seeing through the flames with a pair of glowing orange eyes guiding her through it until she was able to see the silhouette of her father on the staircase, struggling to make it towards her.

"Nellie!" His voice choked as he took another step. "Nellie, baby, I'm coming!"

The blonde was about to run down the stairs to her father, but only one step down the wood had begun crumbling beneath her weight, this certainly wasn't the night she remembered, her father had managed to make it down the stairs entirely, carrying her before it crumbled apart.

Despite the crumbling staircase, Noelle continued running down it until she had met her father, pulling his arm over her shoulder as he coughed up his lungs. Noelle took the clothing from her own mouth, giving it to her father instead. As the man placed the piece of clothing to his mouth he looked at his savior, his eyes widening, Jack didn't recognize the girl that pulled his arm over her shoulder to save him. He didn't know how she had gotten in to help him, and he didn't care, all he wanted to know was where his daughter was, where his baby girl was. Noelle refrained from telling the man that she was the little girl he had come back in the house to save, it would only make matters worse, all she needed to concentrate on was getting her father out and away from the fire before it killed him. With the man's weight on her shoulder, the two stumbled back through the house towards the nearest exit, Noelle could feel herself getting weaker as she tried to keep her father calm, reassuring him that his daughter was fine every time he asked, unaware that it was her who was trying to save him. If he had managed to get a better look at her she was sure he would recognize her and the hazel eyes she possessed, he always used to comment on them when she was a child. But he couldn't see anything through the smoke, not even the glow of her eyes as she looked through the fire.

Just as Noelle had managed to carry her father to the front door, the ceiling collapsed, a flame-engulfed floorboard dropping in front of them, blocking their exit as they jumped back. Screams sounded from outside, everyone who watched the fire spread through the house hoped that the Sheriff and his daughter would make it out alive. She could hear Cole's panicked yelling for their dad, her mother shouting her husband's name as if she cared if he made it out alive or not.

With another cough her father dropped from her shoulder onto the floor, removing the article of clothing from his mouth revealing blood that had gathered on it, he wasn't going to make it much longer, she had to get him out now before it was too late. The blonde kneeled down to her weak father. "Come on, Dad. Just a little further." She insisted, looking at their next nearest exit, the back door, she had been so consumed in finding an exit route she hadn't realized what she had said to her father until she turned back to him, seeing his wide eyes.

"Pumpkin?" The man mumbled hoarsely.

Nellie nodded, but it wasn't time to focus on that. She pulled the man back onto his feet, his arm back over her shoulder as they stumbled towards the back of the house, her father coughing up more and more blood with every step they took. As they made it to the kitchen Noelle looked up at the ceiling to see another floorboard creaking, about to collapse and block their exit just like the last one had, only this time, they would be trapped for good, dead. Noelle knew there wasn't enough time to get both of them out before it collapsed and they were engulfed in the fire, it was her or her father, and to the blonde, that wasn't even a question that needed to be asked. For all of the years since the father she had wished she was able to do more, to save her father from the fire, and she finally got that chance now.

With a deep breath, Noelle raised her hand, putting this new strength that Deaton told her she had to the test, visioning the fire and smoke parting aside, creating a clear path for her father to get through until he was out and safe. Jack watched his daughter with confusion, he had no idea what she was doing, he had never known what she was capable of, and he never would.

Just like the girl had hoped and envisioned, a path was created, she looked at her father with a weak smile, giving herself the chance to say the final words she wished she could have said to him before she lost him. I love you, dad. I'm sorry. Before the man could say anything else, the blonde pulled him off of her shoulder, using every ounce of strength she had to push him out of the burning building, watching as he toppled over onto the back porch, looking her in her glass eyes as she smiled at him, too weak to react to what she had done or said.

The splitting of wood sounded in the blonde's ears before the firey floorboard crashed in front of her, blocking her exit, the entire house falling apart around her as screams came from outside, everyone knows that anyone who was still left in the building was gone. She could hear her name being screamed in her ears as it all went dark, over and over, the loud shouting continued, the more she heard it, the more she had begun to recognize the voice. Isaac.

With a sharp gasp, the blonde jolted upright, her sheets engulfed in orange flames at the bottom of the bed, a pair of arms around her that had tried to shake her awake as well as his shouts of her name. He had found himself curled up on the small chair in the corner of the room, he had a feeling that tonight would be a restless night for Nellie, he had noticed a pattern between when she saw her mom and when she would wake up screaming of a night and considering she paid a visit to Cole this morning, he thought it would be best to keep an eye on the blonde tonight. And now he was glad he had. As soon as Noelle realized what she had done she put out the fire with a quick swipe of her hand leaving nothing but a slight smoke.

Scott burst into the room, delayed, after smelling a burning smell from down the hall, he walked in to find the blonde in Isaac's arms, the two looking at one another with wide eyes of worry, the kind of way she would have looked at him before things had changed between them. He noticed the burnt pink sheets at the bottom of Nellie's bed, his eyes wide as he pieced together what had happened. None of them knew what to say as they all exchanged their panicked looks.

Her nightmares had just reached an entirely new level, to match the unbelievable amount of power that she now possessed, that she didn't know how to control, it had taken years for her to learn how to control the power she had before, and now she had to start the process over again when she felt as though she was losing her mind.

It wasn't until Noelle was soundly asleep again, her burnt sheets in the trash, that Isaac and Scott felt prepared to leave her alone for at least five minutes, they knew they weren't going to be able to sleep for what remained of the night, not when the blonde was a fire-risk. It wasn't until the two sat in the kitchen eating leftover pizza that Scott asked the question that had been playing on his mind since he had burst into Nellie's room. What Isaac was doing in there. He'd noticed the pillow and blanket on her chair, it was clear that he had been sleeping in her room rather than on the couch that the two of them took turns sleeping on, he just didn't understand why. Even after Isaac had given his reasoning, explaining the correlation between Nellie seeing her mother and the nightmares, he still didn't understand it, or maybe he did, but his jealousy was acting as a smokescreen. All Scott had really been able to see was the fact Isaac had been the one there comforting Noelle in his arms rather than him, he wasn't used to that yet. And he didn't ever want to have to get used to not being the person she ran to.

The following morning Isaac approached Scott's bedroom door, his head hanging low while he twiddled his thumbs as he walked up the corridor. He had felt strange since last night, guilty. He noticed that Scott seemed off with him, almost as if he were mad at him for something.

His words had been blunt, his face constantly contorted with rage every time he looked at him. Isaac suspected the reason why Scott seemed pissed, he had seen Scott's face drop when he had walked into Noelle's room last night, how he saw her being comforted in someone else's arms when she was scared, a job he used to have until a few weeks ago. Isaac wasn't completely sure that was the reason it was only a suspicion, but this morning he intended to find out and clear the air. Just as his hand raised to knock on Scott's door, it opened in front of him.

"Hey," Isaac mumbled nervously.

"Oh," Scott muttered, unable to hide his slight displeasure at seeing Isaac on the other side of the door after last night. Even after hours of sitting up, trying to listen out for Noelle while also trying to keep his mind off of intrusive thoughts, his anger hadn't yet eased. "Hey."

"Um, are you going to school?"

Isaac had panicked, spitting out the first thing that came to mind, easing into a more suitable topic for conversation before he jumped right into it, he knew that getting right to it would have probably been better for both of them, but he couldn't physically bring himself to do it.

Scott nodded in agreement. There was only so long after participating in a surrogate sacrifice that they could avoid school, and they had reached their limit after weeks of avoiding it. But he knew that wasn't the reason Isaac was at his door, he could tell by the look across his face that there was something else going on, he gathered that it was to do with how poorly he'd managed to hide his anger with the wolf, but he also wasn't going to help the wolf spit out whatever it was that he wanted to say. Instead, he returned Isaac's question of asking if he was going to school. Once Isaac had agreed there were a series of goods and okay's shared as they tried to fill in the awkward silence between them, but it only made matters worse.

Isaac sighed, biting the bullet. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Okay," Scott muttered, he would rather that they didn't have this conversation, but if he knew anything about the wolf, Isaac wouldn't be going anywhere until he got the kind of answers he wanted, and if it didn't come from him, eventually, Noelle would catch on and would bring it up herself. That seemed like the worst option at hand.

"Are you angry at me?" Isaac asked, immediately regretting the words that left his mouth.

Scott shook his head. "No," He deadpanned, lying through his teeth.

"Are you sure?"

"No." He admitted.

Isaac's brows furrowed, unsure whether this was good or bad, what he did know, was that this wasn't what he was expecting to happen when he confronted Scott, he wasn't sure what would happen, but it wasn't this. "What does that mean?"

Scott stammered as he tried to explain the words for what he was feeling, something he had been struggling with for weeks, trying to figure out how he felt about the drastic changes in his life, both regarding and not regarding the blonde living under his roof.

He didn't quite know how someone was meant to feel when they found out their father came back to town engaged to the devil reincarnated, the same devil who birthed his lifelong crush, there wasn't a book in the world on how to deal with that. And he doubted there was a therapist qualified to solve his problems, they were growing by the day. Minus the problems with Noelle and his family, he had been hallucinating himself as a transitioned Alpha, a monster. Just before he had opened the door to Isaac he had seen his shadow with extracted claws, only when he'd looked at his hands, his claws weren't there. It had been happening for weeks, but now that he didn't have Noelle to tell, he didn't want to tell anyone at all. Not even Stiles.

"I guess I'm not really sure how I'm feeling." Scott shrugged.

"Okay." Isaac nodded, trying to figure out what to say next. "Do you hate me?"

Scott shook his head rapidly, he may not have known how he felt about everything, but he was sure that he didn't hate Isaac, frankly, he wasn't sure he would ever be capable of hating Isaac, he had become like an adopted brother to him, a best friend if the thoughts in his mind would one day turn out to be true, if when Noelle moved on and it happened to be with Isaac, he still didn't think he could ever hate the wolf. It wasn't his fault that things had gone wrong for them, if anyone was to blame it was Rafael and Camila, certainly not Isaac.

"Do you want to hit me?" Isaac questioned.

Scott shook his head again as he answered no, though he had to second guess himself, whether hitting Isaac would have helped some of the feelings inside of him, Isaac thought it would help too, it was clear that Scott was in fact mad, it didn't matter how much he tried to lie. Which was why he handed out the offer again, insisting that he thought Scott should hit him. Scott replied again, insisting that he didn't want to hit him even if the offer was becoming more tempting, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of getting some healthy jealousy out of his system.

"Why would I want to hit you?" He asked, laughing it off. "You didn't do anything, did you?"

"No." Isaac quickly retorted. "No. I mean, um... What do you mean?" He stammered.

"I mean like you didn't kiss her or anything, right?"

"No!" The wolf answered, quick to put out that fire. "No. Absolutely not. No."

Scott nodded, the silence returned for a second until he thought of his next question, one that had clearly been fuelled by the jealousy inside of him at the mere thought of Noelle being with anyone that wasn't him after he had waited an entire lifetime for that possibility to happen, one that was so close to happening too before Camila dropped the bombshell. Moments had been shared, confessions were almost made. If it wasn't for the nerves that Scott and Noelle both had at the thought of turning their years of friendship into something more, who knew where they would have been now, how far things could have gone. "Did you want to?"

Isaac was in too much of a panic to think of the answer that came out of his mouth, his answer was so subconscious, that it was the truth. That he totally wanted to kiss her. Isaac's eyes grew wide when he realized what he had said, never felt as much regret as he did now, but he'd been honest, too honest. Until last night he thought that his attraction to Noelle was nothing, she was a beautiful girl, anyone could admit that Scott especially, but there was something about last night when she was in his arms that he had shifted from seeing her as a best friend and his little sidekick to something more, a possibility where she would be in his arms and it wouldn't just be because she had woken up in the middle of the night in a flaming bed or because she had come back from a ritual sacrifice.

Scott bit down on his lip as he tried to hold in the anger, but before he knew it his fist gripped a handful of Isaac's shirt, throwing him into the hallway until he'd hit the wall, knocking off one of the paintings that his mom had hung up there. Isaac accepted his fate as he sat against the wall nodding, he knew that he deserved that, he was stupid enough to admit it to Scott of all people, even Cole probably would have taken it better, and that was his little sister.

At the sound of the loud thud, Melissa and Noelle came rushing from downstairs, both surprised to see Isaac sitting on the floor outside of Scott's room, disheveled, groaning in slight pain.

"Hey!" Melissa began to shout with her hands on her hips. "You two supernatural teenage boys. Don't test my entirely un-supernatural level of patience." She warned them before walking back down the hall, taking a confused Noelle with her as she furrowed her brows, keeping her eyes on Isaac as she walked away, wondering what had happened for the two to start a fight.

·❥·

Noelle stood at her locker, placing her books in before she met Lydia and Allison before class, every morning the three had a catch-up, whether it took place in person or over a skype call they made sure to keep each other updated on every detail of their lives, for the brunette of the group that meant telling her two best friends about any progression with her and Cole, a slowly, but surely developing relationship.

But today there was a lot more to catch up on than just whether her best friend and brother had stopped acting as though there was nothing between them, she had to talk about how she'd set her bed on fire, and request their help in teaching her some control because her lessons with Deaton weren't working, he was teaching her how to use her powers, and right now, that didn't seem like a good thing. Not knowing would mean she couldn't set things alight in her sleep. Not only that, but she wondered whether Allison had been having any weird side effects from their sacrifice, or whether the two of them knew what was going on with Scott and Isaac after almost getting into a fight this morning. She didn't know how either of the girls would know, she was just hoping that somehow, they would have found out because she was at a loss. She had the same plan for her brother, hoping that someone would have confessed it to him, maybe all of the guys had a talk before the first period as she did with Allison and Lydia.

As the blonde placed her things in her locker she heard a soft whisper in her ear, a voice calling her name from down the hall. She ignore it at first, believing she had imagined it, that it was just someone else calling their friend, a similar name to her own perhaps. But the longer that Noelle acted as if it wasn't there, the louder it got, from a soft whisper to a shout desperate to grab her attention. Noelle turned her head to look down the hall, trying to figure out where the voice had come from, but there was nobody who she spoke to around, nobody looking at her.

With a furrowed brow, she turned back to her locker, only to hear the voice again. Noelle sharply turned her head towards the voice, this time she saw where it was coming from, her father stood at the end of the hall, his clothes black with soot, skin burned as he called her name once again. Her eyes grew wide with horror, her breaths caught in her throat as she watched the man walk closer to her, his voice had lost its softness, he became terrifying, charging towards his daughter as though he was about to kill her.

The blonde closed her eyes tightly, wanting to scream as the man ran towards her, unsure what would happen to her. When it turned dark, that's when his voice had stopped echoing in her ears and all she could hear was the sounds in the hallway. People clamored, shouting loudly, but the main thing that filled her ears was the sound of a storm. A strong wind blew through the halls as the students tried to walk through it, or at least tried not to get blown away.

Every door swinging back and forth, lockers slamming shut, papers flying from every possible direction. Noelle could hear as people shouted to their friends, asking where it had come from, it was so sudden. She kept her eyes on where she had seen her father, now he was gone, replaced by teenagers trying to keep their hair tame while the heavy wind blew around them.

As a hand was placed on her arm, every gush of wind came to a halt, every paper that had flown through the air crashed to the ground. Noelle turned to look at the person who had stopped it by placing their hand on her, she was met with her concerned big brother, now he understood just how much power she had. He had never seen anything like it before, even with the storms that Jennifer created, none of them matched the kind of strength he had just seen from his little sister. It was the first time he had ever seen her use anything but fire, and frankly, it made him glad that fire was the only thing he could control.

Shortly after her brother's arrival, a brunette and redhead came rushing around the corner, their hairs just as disheveled as everyone else who had been in the temporary storm, it wasn't limited to just one hallway, it had passed through the entire school. At first, Lydia and Allison had been too consumed in what was happening with Allison to think anything of the strong wind, after all of the storms that Jennifer caused they had learned not to bat an eyelid. It wasn't until the wind stopped all of a sudden the two girls realized it wasn't so normal, that their elemental druid of a best friend might just have something to do with it.

"What the hell was that?" Lydia asked, looking at the petrified blonde girl.

"I-" The blonde stuttered, trying to find an explanation as the three looked at her, waiting for her to find a reasonable answer, especially her concerned big brother. "I don't know."

Noelle was lost for words, unsure how to explain what had just happened to her, all of the things that were happening to her. It wasn't her usual happenings. Until just, her nightmares had been limited to when she was sleeping, now she couldn't even escape them when she was awake and in broad daylight.

Without another word Lydia grabbed ahold of her two best friend's wrists, beginning to drag the two of them through the school with Cole gladly following, he assumed that wherever she was taking Noelle and Allison, it was to get some much-needed answers, he wouldn't have minded having those answers too. Especially when his little sister and Allison were concerned.

After a while of being dragged across the school grounds, the two girls finally asked where Lydia planned on taking them, whether she was looking for someone. Rather than give them a straight answer, Lydia insisted that she couldn't watch the two of them be plagued by their own minds a minute longer, they needed to find out what was happening to them, and she had a feeling that they weren't the only two who were slowly losing their minds.

It hadn't gone unnoticed that what had been happening with them started shortly after they'd taken part in the surrogate sacrifice. If her assumptions were right, the other two sacrifices were going through what they were. After that explanation, neither of the girls hesitated to continue following her, even if Noelle and Allison didn't quite want to know if they were going insane, the two knew that they would end up following her no matter what. As did Cole.

After dragging them across the entire school Lydia had finally found Scott and Stiles standing by the pavilion, finally, she released Allison and Noelle from her tight grip, allowing them to walk to Scott and Stiles on their own, interrupting a conversation that couldn't have been more fitting.

The wolf had that same look as Noelle did, shaken by his own thoughts, unsure how to tell the difference between what he was imagining and what was real, he had seen the shadow again, following him around school like the image of the blonde's father was following her.

As the four approached Scott and Stiles they were able to catch a snippet of their words, it had been all they needed to know something was going on with them. "It's happening to you too. You're seeing things, aren't you?" Stiles asked his best friend, coming from a place of familiarity. He recognized the beads of sweat across Stiles's head, the drained look in his eyes, the nerves that laced his voice as he spoke. Because they were all things that he had been experiencing too.

Scott narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "How'd you know?"

Lydia butted into their conversation. "Because it's happening to all of you." Her sudden voice startled the two boys, Stiles jumped out of his skin, landing beside Scott where he could see the two blondes and Allison standing behind the redhead sheepishly.

The six began walking back towards the school as they shared their experiences, each of the four sacrifices taking their turns in explaining what had happened to them since that night. Stiles had barely had a full night's sleep since that night, waking up screaming every night until his dad run in to comfort him, he had conjured up nightmares that he could hardly explain, and though he'd refrained from mentioning it, Lydia had made a guest appearance in his dream last night. Allison had been hallucinating her dead aunt, Kate, this morning, she had gotten from the apartment to school without even knowing it, in her mind, she was visiting the hospital morgue. Scott shared his experiences of seeing his shadow, or at least an alternative version of his shadow where he'd become some big bad wolf like Deucalion. Then came Noelle, who shared how not only had she relived the night of the fire a million times over, which was already concerning for Cole, but how she had caused a mild storm and set her bed alight, then Cole knew how it felt to really feel be concerned for his little sister's mental stability.

Scott's lip curled at the mention of this morning, how she had set her bed alight, how he'd found her in Isaac's arms, and now he knew that if he had waited for even a second longer Isaac might have kissed the blonde, changing everything more than they already had. Until this morning he didn't even know Isaac saw Noelle like that. He calmed himself down by imagining Isaac hitting the wall once again after he had thrown him, remembering the slight pleasure it brought him.

"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one," Lydia said with a smile as she walked in front of the rest of the group, relishing in the feeling of being the normal one of the group for what was quite possibly the first time ever.

Noelle shook her head with a weak smile. "We're not crazy." She failed to convince herself with her own words. She had never truly been sane, she couldn't consider herself normal after she'd walked out of that vault alive, with what she was and the things that she could do, nothing was normal about her. She'd never not been the crazy one.

"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Starting fires? Yeah, you guys are fine." Lydia sarcastically followed with a nod, she had no shame in the fact she was slightly enjoying this. She could no longer be seen as the town wacko, compared to the four of them, she was as normal as it got. Even Cole wasn't completely normal, he could start fires just as easily as his little sister.

Scott shrugged as he looked between his fellow sacrifices. "We did die and come back to life. That's gotta have some side effects, right?"

As the school bell rang in their ears it was clear that the six of them would have to postpone their conversation here, finding another time in their school day to discuss the side effects of dying and coming back to life after being dead for sixteen hours. As the bell rang a hand was placed on Noelle's shoulders again, this time she knew it wasn't her brother, he was right in front of her, a sense of relief came over the blonde when she saw that it was just Isaac, for a moment she had worried that not only was she able to see her dead father but see him too.

Isaac's presence was what Scott and Stiles took as their cue to leave, not only did Stiles not like the wolf on the best of days, but his best friend had told him about this morning's occurrence, he now had an actual reason to dislike the werewolf. Before the two walked away Stiles turned to Noelle and Allison, insisting that they all kept an eye on each other and for the redhead to stop enjoying it all so much, which just wasn't possible.

Noelle paid less attention to what Stiles said, and more so how quick he and Scott had left as soon as Isaac appeared, unsure what had happened between her two werewolf housemates. But what the two boys who were so eager to disappear had forgotten, was that she shared a history class with them, giving her an entire lesson to dig an answer out of either of them.

"What was that all about?" Allison questioned, looking between Isaac and the two boys who'd practically run to history class just to get away from him. All four of them turned to look at him, eager to know the answer to that question, it would be easier for Noelle rather than annoying it out of Scott and Stiles during history.

"It's nothing." Isaac insisted, brushing it off.

Confused, the three girls furrowed their brows before choosing not to get involved in whatever male drama was going on within the group, drama that was expected from the three girls, not a pair of werewolves and Stiles, it was clear that Cole was just as out of the loop as they were. He always had been a little clueless about things. Isaac walked with Allison and Lydia to their first period while Cole walked his little sister to history since Scott and Stiles had ditched her, making sure to question her about what was going on with the wolves she lived with, she wished that she knew, because she had never seen either of them act like it before. It had only been since the middle of the night when they had found her in a burnt bed, but that didn't explain their strange behavior. Something else had happened, and she was just as clueless as her brother.

Noelle walked into history, taking her seat near the back of the class, just behind Scott and Stiles who'd bowed their heads as she sat down, clearly trying to avoid any questions she was going to ask about what had just happened with Isaac. But their avoidance only made it clearer to Noelle that something was going on, it didn't matter how long it took, she would find out.

The new history teacher who had replaced Mr. Westover turned around to face the class with a smile as he brushed the chalk dust off of his hands, he already seemed friendlier than most of the teachers this school had to offer, most didn't even make eye contact. They just groaned and filled the room with the stench of their coffee breath and whichever alcohol seemed appropriate for them to mix in with it this morning.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Mr. Yukimura." The man introduced himself. "I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not of since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought a friend home for that matter."

After the man's announcement, the sound of a head clashing with a desk echoed through the room, all heads turning to the brunette girl who sat beside Noelle, if that wasn't obvious enough to claim her as the new teacher's daughter, he pointed it out just in case, introducing her to the class that erupted in slight laughter at her expense. Kira poked her head up with a weak smile as she looked across all of the faces staring at her until her stare landed on the blonde beside her.

"Don't worry. The stares fade after a while." Noelle reassured the new girl. "It's just because your new and they don't know how to react to you yet."

Noelle had expected the new girl to nod, maybe sink in her seat to embrace the embarrassment she felt like the quiet person she seemed, but her words opened up a can of worms for the new brunette who was about to suffer from a serious case of word vomit. Kira nodded, accepting the advice, it seemed to come from a place of experience, it had only opened up the opportunity for a further conversation that Noelle wasn't anticipating, she just wanted to make the brunette feel better about her father embarrassing her, all parents did it. In the few weeks since she had been in the school, she had bottled up a lot of feelings, and the blonde beside her was simply unlucky enough to be the first one she released them all to.

Kira went off, whispering a tangent on how horrible it was to be the new girl when her father had a job at the school and everyone looked at her as though she had multiple heads, a look that the blonde was familiar with, though that hadn't stopped her eyes widening in surprise as she took in everything the new girl said, watching as she failed to draw a breath.

"I've been trying to make friends but it's not going well. I had plenty of old friends at my school, but it's so different here. Besides you and my dad, only one person has spoken to me and all that she did was give me some advice to avoid some girl named Noelle because apparently, she went missing for two years and turned up out of nowhere one day and that it was really weird. I mean, it does sound weird, people don't just go missing and come back out of nowhere one day."

Kira rambled aimlessly until she finally paused to take a deep breath, she was about to continue until she saw the wide-eyed look across the blonde's face, unlike Kira the blonde found herself lost for words, trying to take in everything that the new girl had just said. "Sorry. I'm just nervous and you're the first person that's actually taken an interest. What's your name again?"

"Noelle." The blonde deadpanned.

Kira's eyes grew wide with fear, realizing her mistake. Wondering why the blonde's name hadn't been the first thing she asked or why when she had been told that advice she didn't think to ask what that girl looked like so she could avoid a situation just like this. Kira was lost for words, her mouth moved, trying to think of something to say, but nothing could dig her out of that hole.

After school, Noelle had joined Lydia and Allison out on the preserve, just another one of Lydia's attempts at getting her best friends back to normal. From the minute the three girls had been out on the preserve things had taken a turn for the worst, Allison had fired a few of her arrows, completely missing the target that Lydia placed on a tree a few feet away, one that the brunette would have been able to hit in her sleep before the sacrifice had affected her stability.

With every arrow that Allison had fired they got further away from the target, it didn't matter how she held her bow or how hard she tried to concentrate, she would shake like a leaf, on the edge of hyperventilating while Lydia and Noelle watched her. They had never seen her like this, she was the huntress, she was a lethal weapon, archery came as easily to her as walking did to most people, yet now, anything that involved a precise hand was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. She couldn't shoot her arrows, she couldn't even paint. Her hands didn't allow her, nor did her mind. Noelle and Lydia didn't think it could get any worse for Allison, though they remained insistent on staying on the preserve until at least one arrow hit the target, even if it wasn't a bullseye. They were willing to take even the smallest of successes.

Lydia suggested trying a Mongolian draw instead, a phrase both of the girls were surprised to hear come out of her mouth, Noelle had only known it from her training with Argent, and well, Allison was the more qualified huntress, neither expected Lydia to know that term which she had learned from reading a few books. Things seemed to be going well, Allison was calmer, or at least it was going well until she fired the arrow, claiming that one was her worst attempt yet.

Noelle realized that their technique so far needed some adjustment, their current one was clearly doing nothing for her, they needed a new approach. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder as she told her to visualize the arrow going into the target. Allison nodded as she closed her eyes, trying to find that image in her head, she didn't think it would be so difficult, she'd hit plenty of targets in her training, yet she struggled to imagine it this time.

Eventually, when she felt as though she had a clear image of what she wanted, Allison opened her eyes once again. But rather than focusing on the target a few feet away, she found herself watching as a woman ran through the woods. Not just any woman, but her aunt. It was clear. The blonde hair, the height, it was her aunt Kate. Her breath got caught in her throat at the sight, watching as her mother disappeared behind all of the trees. Allison's eyes darted around, trying to find her aunt again, but she was gone.

Allison turned to the two girls, asking if they saw it, but they saw nothing. They looked around them for whatever Allison had seen, but to them, the preserve was empty apart from the three of them. Nothing but a stretch of trees to be seen for miles. A terrified Allison picked up her bag of arrows from the floor, telling the two to wait there for her, apart from worrying about what the girl had seen they were more so focusing on the fact she had told them to wait, defenseless, so she could chase who or what she had just seen, especially when she already had an act for being delusional lately. Noelle didn't think the brunette was being serious until the brunette had already begun walking away from them, promising that she would be right back.

An aggravated and terrified Lydia clenched her fists as she watched the brunette walk away with the bow and arrows that she couldn't even shoot properly, she turned to the blonde beside her, insisting that this wasn't the first time Allison had left her on the preserve while she went off to investigate. The two watched as the huntress walked further away from them, looking around to find whatever it was what she had seen, the two of them were still seeing nothing but trees and leaves, certainly not anything unusual for a preserve. Eventually, Allison had started to worry them. She was calling their names, as though she couldn't see them, looking around like a lost puppy, searching for two girls who were standing right there.

Noelle and Lydia shared a concerned look before walking towards the huntress. Only when they did the brunette raised her arrow, aiming it straight at her two best friends whose eyes grew with horror. Noelle quickly stepped in front of the redhead as she shouted Allison's name, trying and failing to snap her out of her hallucination. As Allison released the arrow both of the girls closed their eyes, waiting to get hit, but the whistling on the arrow stopped suddenly, just before it was about to hit them.

Panting heavily Noelle and Lydia opened their eyes to find Isaac in front of them, the arrow just inches from the blonde's eyes as it sat in Isaac's hand, he had just about managed to catch it, if his reactions had been any slower, the blonde would be dead. Allison had nearly killed her. The huntress quickly dropped her arrow when she realized what she had done, apologizing time and time again to the two girls, mortified by what had just happened. She was losing her mind. They all were. And at this rate, it was going to kill one of them.

·❥·

Noelle and Stiles walked into the Sheriff's office with a large flower arrangement in hand, barely able to see past the pink and white flowers the blonde had picked out. Stiles had recruited her help in picking his mother's arrangement for her birthday, whenever he or his father was left to the job it always looked like a pair of five-year-olds had chosen the color scheme, they were both clueless when it came to flowers. Who better to ask than the blonde who could literally control nature? Her arrangement was much better than anything he or his father had ever chosen, she had officially earned the title of flower-chooser, he was sure his mother wouldn't mind that. She loved Noelle like she was the daughter she never had.

"You know, the last time we brought one of these to her grave, it was stolen the same day." Stiles told the blonde, as well as reminding his father as he placed the arrangement on his desk, ready for them to take to her grave in a few hours. His father hadn't reacted to his words, in fact, Noah hadn't even reacted to them walking into the room, usually, he jumped through hoops to greet the blonde, always her, but never him. She was the favorite child, and she wasn't even his child.

The girl herself hadn't noticed, she was too busy touching the flower arrangement, a smile over her face as she made sure that this would be the one arrangement that wouldn't be stolen from Claudia's grave, it was one of her favorite tricks, she had used it for years, nobody ever batted an eyelid when she had done it in the past, thinking nothing of it, just one of the reasons why it was her favourite. With every touch of the arrangement she made sure that if anyone else was to try and touch it, they would be scolded. Nobody was going to steal something that burnt them.

"Dad. Hi. What are you doing down there?" Stiles shouted as he leaned over the desk, waving at the man who looked at him like a child who had just been caught coloring their white walls. He'd know that look, he had done it in the past. His dad was surrounded by papers, files, boxes, there wasn't a single piece of carpet visible under him, he had buried it all.

"Working." Noah deadpanned. "And hey, if somebody wants the flowers that badly, they can have them. It's the gesture." The man shrugged, quickly alerting Noelle whose head shot up at those words, wondering whether she should take her little trick off of the flowers, but inevitably she chose not to. Claudia deserved to keep them.

Noelle walked around the desk, her eyes widening at the sight that Stiles had already seen, he'd quite literally taken every single piece of evidence he could from the evidence room, despite all of the boxes instructing for them not to be removed in big bold letters, but that hadn't stopped him from taking every last one. As she asked the man what it all was, she picked up a random file off of the floor, about to look through it while he had his back turned.

"I've been looking over some old cases from... a more illuminated perspective if you know what I mean." He explained, to which both teenagers nodded. They had tried to give him that new and frankly terrifying perspective. Noelle looked back down at the file she had picked up, noticing it was the file from the fire her father had died in, Noah's first-ever case as the Sheriff. She was met with images of every gory detail of what happened that night, as though she needed help to remember what it was like. She could write an essay on everything that had happened. A step-by-step guide of how her father died in that fire.

With a feeling of sickness inside of her she quickly put it back down, she'd had quite enough of the fire for a lifetime, it followed her everywhere. Stiles had picked up a file too, this one telling the details of a sighting of a bipedal lizard man sprinting across the freeway. Jackson. Noah had created an entire pile for the Kanima that her ex-boyfriend had become, one that nearly reached the blonde's knees it had grown so tall. The two teenagers filed through a few more, nearly every one a sighting of the Kanima, or a man running on all fours, which Noah had claimed as part of the werewolf pile. In fact, the only supernatural creatures there wasn't a pile for, was Lydia and elemental druids, apparently they were much better at hiding their talents. Sheriff Stilinski had picked up another file, handing it to the blonde, her name in big bold letters across the front of it, this time, she knew it wasn't going to be about the fire but her disappearance. They never did tell him the truth about where she had been for two years, yet it seemed the man had come to his senses and realized there was no kidnapper running loose around Beacon Hills.

Noelle did the man a favor, giving him a subtle answer by throwing her file in the werewolf pile, he nodded in understanding, he wasn't going to make her give the details.

"There are at least 100 cases where I look at the details and I can ask myself if I knew then what I know now." He explained as he looked between the two who kneeled down beside him in the pile of cases that fit that phrase. If the two teenagers looked through them, they could probably tell him exactly which ones were supernatural and which ones were just this town in its prime.

"Are you sure you wanna go down that path?" Noelle asked the man softly.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked as he looked between them, neither knowing what to say to him. Frankly, the blonde knew that if it was her father still in this position, he would be doing the same, it was a role both of them held close to their hearts, determined to protect their town and those in it. Especially their children. "There's one case in particular I can't get out of my head," Stilinski explained as he stood up with one of the files. "Eight years ago, when I was elected Sheriff of the County, my second official duty was to tell a man that not only his wife and two kids died in a car accident but, as best as we could tell, the body of his nine-year-old daughter had been dragged from the wreck by coyotes." He explained further as he handed the file to the two of them.

Noelle looked at the date on the file, she knew exactly which care accident this was. It was the night she had been taken back to when she sacrificed herself to the Nemeton, the night that she and Cole had snuck out to see the accident, and when she had come face to face with a coyote. One that the Sheriff had just told her may have dragged away from the body of a girl the same age as she had been that night. At the time, he believed that the family was killed by coyotes and that the girl was dragged away and eaten by that coyote. Now he wasn't so sure there was something else that may have been to blame. That night was the night of a full moon.

The blonde looked up from the file, asking where all of these were going, they couldn't just stay sitting in his office, she wished that was the answer he told the two of them. Instead, he nodded at an empty box waiting to be filled with all of the files. Agent McCall. Noah suggested that they might need to talk about that before they headed to see Claudia.

At lunch the following day, the seven teenagers sat around a table, an array of books spread out in front of them as they all tried to distract themselves from the elephant in the room; whatever the hell was going on for the four of them who had sacrificed themselves. They didn't want to have to talk about it every time the seven of them were sat with one another, or even just the conversations that they had alone, they would have liked to talk about normal teenage things, like the latest gossip, or how they were finding classes so far this year, or about the new girl in school; Kira. Who over half of them still hadn't heard about, or seen, it wasn't as if Noelle, Scott, or Stiles had had the chance to talk about her and how her father was their new history teacher that replaced Mr. Westover, that would be considered a normal conversation. Lately, their conversations were only revolving around the side effects of a technical death, nothing else.

Despite how hard they tried, the distraction didn't last long. They all wanted answers as to what was going on, even those who weren't suffering from hallucinations and sleep paralysis wanted some information on it all, after all, they were the three who found themselves looking out for the four sacrifices, they were still playing the part of emotional tethers, they always would be. 

Scott was first to bring up the subject once again. "Okay, so what happens to a person who had a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" He asked, looking around the table.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles added.

Noelle looked up from her book, adding from her own experience. "And is being haunted by demonic visions of their dead relatives?" She asked, becoming irritated just at the thought. She was sick of the hallucinations, sick of nightmares, of everything that had happened to them just because they chose to sacrifice themselves to save their loved ones. She was sure that the girl beside her who had been hallucinating her dead aunt felt the same.

"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac deadpanned from beside Noelle. He wasn't wrong, as much as she wanted to argue against it like she had when Lydia called them crazy she couldn't. How was she supposed to act like any of them weren't insane when she was seeing her dead father, Allison her dead aunt Kate, or when Stiles couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake, or when Scott couldn't distinguish his own shadow from that of a werewolf shaped shadow?

Nothing about those things wasn't completely insane.

Though Noelle couldn't help but shrug at the comment, agreeing that he might have just been right, that wasn't the case for everyone who sat around the table with them. Especially the person who couldn't help but disagree with him at all times. "Ha. Can you at least try and be helpful, please?" Stiles sarcastically asked him, his irritation with the werewolf clear in his tone.

"For half of my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing to me." Isaac began arguing with the boy, an argument they had all heard many times before.

It was impossible for the two of them to not bicker when in each other's presence, they were simply incapable, both would have the intention of not talking to one another, or even looking at the other, but they always did, and it always ended this way. By now, almost everyone knew what had happened, everyone apart from the one girl who should have known. Isaac ended up telling Cole, who kind of wanted to kill him. Cole told Allison, who told Lydia. But they were all yet to tell Noelle. She was still left wondering why Scott and Isaac were acting strange with one another, though they had eased off it slightly, though it had taken the Alpha throwing Isaac up a wall again after finding out he'd followed her to the preserve, they'd tried to ease their conflict.

Neither Stiles or Isaac were willing to leave the group, which meant they had to put up with each other, both of them meant a lot to her and neither was willing to give that up. Instead, they'd deal with each other, argue with one another every second they were together and spite each other in every possible way imaginable.

As the two bickered Scott placed his head on the table with a groan, Cole tried to hide the slight smile across his face, while the three girls shook their heads at one another, allowing them to get on with their bickering. It would end eventually, maybe in an hour. Or until stepped in to break it up. This time, it wasn't Noelle that interrupted their bickering like she usually did but a brunette who approached the table.

"Hi. Hi, sorry." Kira mumbled nervously as the seven heads turned towards her. An immediate pressure washed over her as five out of seven people glared at her, the four she hadn't yet met, and the blonde that she had offended this morning by pointing out that her disappearance was weird, which it was, but Kira didn't know that. She shouldn't know, she was new.

Kira had only ever seen the other four around, usually together too, with the blonde. They had always seemed to be in too much of a rush or consumed in conversation to introduce herself to them or to go up and apologize to Noelle. "I couldn't help but overhear what you guys were all talking about." The nervous brunette continued as the three girls all shared a concerned look, hoping that she was referring to Isaac being locked in a freezer, not the part where they had died and come back to life, they hoped they hadn't been talking that loudly. "And I think I might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called Bardo. It literally means "in-between state". The state between life and death." She continued with a faint smile, as she spoke most of her words were directed to the three girls sitting in white clothes, unsure whether it was a coincidence the three dressed similarly, or not, she couldn't help but feel intimidated by them.

"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked in a slightly unwelcoming tone.

"Kira," Scott answered for the brunette at the end of the table. Immediately the teens on the opposite side of the table turned to look at him as well as Cole who sat beside him, all sharing a knitted brow, wondering how he knew that, and if he knew there was a new girl, why he hadn't told them about her. Noelle on the other hand, well, she was just filled with a spark of jealousy at the way Scott had looked at Kira. "She's in our history class," Scott explained, giving them the answer to part of their question.

Noelle shook it off, turning back towards the shy girl standing by their table. "So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" She asked, since all this had been happening to her she had done some "light" reading and therefore stumbling upon the subject of Bardo, but by the time she had gotten to that, she had become severely bored of searching for answers all night as a distraction from sleeping.

Kira took a seat in the space on the opposite side of the table. "Either I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo." Kira explained, capturing the interest of the three who were suddenly more willing for her presence around them, it was only natural for them to be concerned when a complete stranger approaches them with claims that she knew what was happening with them. The only time people came up to them was either to question Noelle on her disappearance again or for the two girls who had been in school longer than her, to mock all of the strange happenings that followed them. "There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities?" Isaac repeated, it sounded like something to be feared. Something like a dead father or aunt like Noelle and Allison were seeing. "And what are those?"

"Like... Demons." Kira shrugged.

"Demons," Stiles repeated, turning to look around the table. "Why not?"

They weren't particularly surprised that Demons could get in their heads and infect their lives, and for the girl who had been seeing her deceased aunt, it seemed fitting, it wasn't as though Kate had been a good woman. She was a murderer. The title of Demon seemed fitting for the likes of her. Though Noelle didn't think her father would have been considered a demon, Jack was one of the most harmless people this town had seen. But he had to be the kind of demon that Kira was referring to, if not, their nightmares and hallucinations were about to get much worse than they already were. And that was the scary thought for the seven of them.

While everyone else seemed prepared to leave the conversation at Demons and move on to a lighter topic, like getting to know the brunette who had an alarming amount of knowledge on Bardo, Allison had other ideas. Kira's words were just the pinnacle of bad news, and somehow she needed to hear more, she needed to know the extent of what was happening to her as well as the other three sacrifices. Which was why she asked what the last state was.

Kira did what she did, lack subtly as she blurted out the last state. Death. They would all die. She had no idea the effect that the word would have for them, just how much it would change everything. A chill came over the seven of them as they all looked at one another, unsure of what to say, what to even do now that Kira had just said that once the hallucinations and nightmares had passed, their fate had been decided.

·❥·

Surrounded by books, Noelle tried to do some more reading on Bardo after Kira had incited the living fear inside of her, which apparently was still possible, it hadn't in fact reached maximum potentially yet, but after speaking to Kira, she was getting closer. All of a sudden the house had gone from being silent to doors slamming and voices being raised, the voices of Scott and Rafael who she had let in just over an hour ago, insisting that he needed to talk to his son. Melissa was working and Isaac was hanging out with Cole, hoping to avoid Scott until the storm had calmed, even if the wolf himself had left to see Deaton with Stiles to get some answers of their own. The blonde planned on ignoring the shouting at first, expecting it to just be Scott telling his father he had no interest in talking, but all of the arguing continued until she couldn't help but go and see what was going on.

Just as she walked into the kitchen Melissa had walked through the back door, both met with the sight of Scott at his father's throat. The woman looked straight at the blonde who shrugged her shoulders, she had no idea what was going on. Well, at least she didn't think she knew, as far as she knew Stiles was yet to tell Scott what Rafael was doing to his father.

"I can't believe you would do this to my best friend." Scott balled at the top of his voice, then she knew that Stiles had told him, she had already made her own dig at Rafael about what he was doing when she let him in the house, now she got to witness what she wished she could've done to him. Though it was much better coming from Scott than her.

"I'm not doing anything to your friend. I'm doing my job."

"Your job sucks." Scott deadpanned. Rafael didn't deny that, in fact, he agreed with it, though he wouldn't admit to his son that he'd been thrilled to find out that he had the chance of removing Stilinski from his role of Sheriff. It was something he had dreamed of doing to Noelle's father too, but doing it to Noah was just as satisfying. Melissa interrupted the arguing between her son and Rafael, asking what the hell was going on between them. "He's trying to get Stiles's dad fired."

The man denied it, correcting his son's beliefs. He was conducting a case for impeachment. Even Melissa stated that sounded a lot like getting Stilinski fired, Noelle and Scott were glad to hear she was on their side, they didn't know why they doubted it. Melissa had come to hate the man almost as much as her son and Noelle after he had come back to town out of the blue engaged to Camila, a woman who had been avoiding her like the plague since. Rafael continued to stand his ground. It wasn't him who was getting Stilinski fired, but his lack of resolution and ability to close cases, all he was told to do was collect information, a job given to him by his superiors. He had made his point, one that neither Melissa, Scott, or Noelle cared about. This was Stilinski they were talking about. He deserved that job. It wasn't his fault what came with it.

Just like Scott had said, Melissa told the man his job sucked. The same hostile tone too. Scott had grown angrier and ever, breathing heavy breaths as he stared at his father, Noelle looked at the wolf's hands, noticing how his claws were beginning to extract, beginning his transformation into a werewolf. Melissa had noticed it too as she blocked Rafael's view, urging the boy to follow her and calm down. The two rushed into the corridor, leaving Noelle with the Agent.

He waited for her to say something as she stood with folded arms, he knew it would come, she didn't have the ability to keep her mouth closed. Her words had been simple. You're a dick.

"Let it go. Let it go. Just breathe." Melissa tried to reassure her son. Though Scott tried, it was hard to hold back as his canines grew through. "You told me you and Stiles learned a way to control this. You find an anchor, right? You can do this."

Scott took deep breaths, finding control until his claws and canines retracted when he was able to look at his mother without the fear he was about to claw her apart. When he felt better he had nodded at the woman, reassuring her that he was fine, at least for now, he had control again.

"Listen, sweetheart. Let me tell you something no teenager believes, but I swear to you is the absolute truth. You fall in love more than once. It'll happen again. And it will be just as amazing as extraordinary as the first time. And maybe just as painful. But it will happen again. I promise."

Scott nodded, he looked down the corridor to the blonde standing with folded arms, still looking at his father with a scowl, waiting for if he tried to defend himself to her, she had been waiting to unleash hell on him for the past few weeks, maybe even years, but after what he had done in the past few weeks, that anger and resentment she had always felt towards him was even stronger. All she needed was something to trigger anger inside of her. Melissa followed her son's gaze to the blonde who turned around at the feeling of two people watching her, throwing them both a faint, reassuring smile.

Melissa turned back to the wolf. "Son, let me give you a little more advice." She insisted as Scott nodded at her, more than willing to have some guidance given to him, he needed it now more than ever. Though the advice she received wasn't the advice he expected. "If you don't fight for that girl in there, you're an idiot. And I didn't raise an idiot. Screw your dad and Camila, it won't last. Your father might be naive, but he will see Camila for the woman she really is soon enough and that ring around her finger will be gone quicker than Nell could torch this house. That girl in there deserves you, and you deserve her. Until then... be your own anchor."