the divine move

Three teenagers sat in the Sheriff's Station with their heads bowed and hearts heavy, a word had hardly been shared between them since they arrived, there was none to say, none that wasn't in a script provided by Argent. They rehearsed their lines in their heads as if this was nothing more than a play, the scenario being that they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. None of them wanted to belittle her death like that, they knew it was so much more than that. She'd died a hero, a warrior, a huntress, in the arms of a boy who loved her just as much as she loved him. It wasn't the death that they were about to describe to the deputies to make sure that nobody felt inclined to ask more questions, she deserved to die in peace, not as an investigation.

All three of them were in awe of how well Argent was handling it all, he was yet to shed a single tear, he was keeping it together while the rest of them couldn't, they were just teenagers, they'd lost a friend, they didn't know how to compartmentalize feelings as he did. Maybe Argent hadn't quite processed that he'd lost his daughter yet, but so far, the man had been strong, helping the teenagers find their way through the first stages of grief.

He made sure all of them knew the same story, word for word, making them repeat it over and over through their sobs until it was burnt into their brain without any mistakes. Their story had to lack some detail, that was how the questions would be avoided. They were all together, just hanging out when someone tried stealing their car, before they knew it, one of them had pulled out something sharp and metallic and Allison was on the floor, bleeding. Dying in Cole's arms.

That was one thing Argent didn't change. Something had to explain why Cole was so distraught, why he'd barely been able to walk into the station without breaking down in a painful sob as his little sister tried to comfort him. They had to believe there had been a cold-hearted and sudden murder here, though that part wasn't a lie. It was sudden, it was cold-hearted. Maybe Allison had died tonight, but a part of all of them had died too.

The entire station had heard about what had happened tonight, from the second they had seen the five solemn faces walk through the main door, the grief across their faces, they knew that a teenager had lost their life to this godforsaken town, someone too young to have had to worry about dying. None of them knew who the said teenager was, not at first, but they all had a guess of who the victim was, they knew who traveled in that pack, and which faces weren't there. And they had all come to the same conclusion- Allison Argent.

There was only one person who hadn't been told yet, and that was Sheriff Stilinski. All he knew was that he had been called back to the station regarding something urgent, a murder case that needed his attention, he didn't question it, he was the Sheriff of a town filled with murder. But he couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with his son, or his other, evil half. Stilinski walked through the door, seeing the three teenagers sitting outside of his office and he knew, he hadn't guessed entirely wrong. It did involve his son's other, evil half. But it was more than that.

Stilinski walked up to the three teenagers, all three looking up at him with tears in their eyes, he could see their broken hearts through their glass eyes. "What happened?"

"Allison," Isaac mumbled, a crack in his voice.

The Sheriff placed a hand to his mouth, stunned as a few tears shed from his own eyes, unsure what to say to three teenagers who had just lost someone who meant so much to them, to him too, Allison was one of them, she was family. Now he knew he would have to collect statements from each and every one of them, making them relieve her death, it was cruel to do such a thing but it was his job. And this was possibly the worst day of his entire career.

He looked around the room in search of two blondes, wondering whether they had been taken aside by a deputy for questioning or even Camila and Rafael, two people he could expect to see had they caught wind of the news. But they weren't anywhere to be seen. "Where are they?" He asked, the teenagers all knew who he meant.

Sheriff Stilinski walked through the halls of his station, delaying his questioning just a little more as he searched for Noelle and Cole, according to the other three, Cole had walked out without a word and Noelle had rushed to follow him, to console him. That was over half an hour ago. None of them had seen the two since then. Eventually, the man found Noelle standing in the hall while she waited for her brother to calm down. Parrish had opened up an interrogation room for him, a quiet place for Cole to be while he waited for Noah to arrive, suggesting to the boy's sister that it was best to leave him, but to keep close by.

The man didn't say a word as he opened his arms up for the girl who didn't hesitate to accept his comforting hug, he didn't expect her to speak as she sobbed into the man's chest, wondering if this was how life was supposed to be, full of death and grief. Noelle's sobs didn't stop, she didn't think it was possible to stop them. After a lifetime full of tears she thought there would be a time when people ran out, but clearly, if that did happen, she hadn't reached it still. It repeated inside of her mind, the Oni running at Allison, her last words to her brother, everyone's sobs echoing in her head. It was a mark left for eternity.

Noelle pulled away from the man, looking through the window at her brother, how he sat down at the table with his head in his hands. "I haven't seen him like this since..." She stopped, unable to even say the words, but he knew what she meant. "I- I don't there's any coming back from it this time." She shook her head. "I looked at him and, I can't explain it. It was like he was gone."

"Your brother's strong. He will get through it." Noah reassured her. "I've seen him do it before. It isn't the kind of thing you lose. He just needs support to get through it. The two of you should be at home, getting some rest."

Cole and Isaac followed Argent out of the elevator, each stopping in front of the apartment door, reading the name across it, a gut-wrenching feeling. It seemed that everything would remind the three of them of her now, that every time it did, they would be met with this feeling of grief. Now every time there was the mention of the name Argent, they would think of her. Perhaps the man carried the name too, it would always be her name. She was the embodiment of it- brave, strong and fearless. The two boys had found themselves standing outside of this apartment more times than they could count, that was what came with being friends with Allison, or in Cole's case, one of Argent's hunters. He'd always offered them shelter despite what they were, what supernatural people like them had done to his family, he had always accepted them.

Now, they couldn't help but wonder whether that would change, that the two of them would act as a reminder of his daughter, that he wouldn't be able to look at them without resentment, the reminder of what had happened to her tonight. Cole knew how that felt, it had happened to him with Scott and Stiles, looking at them brought back the memories of them with Noelle until he'd cut them off completely. But for now, the man hadn't said anything about either of them leaving to go to their own homes, back to where they belonged. Neither were sure that was even a thing. Both felt out of place here, Isaac wasn't sure he wanted to stay in Beacon Hills any longer, not if it carried the risk of dying, if any of them had the right mind they would all leave as soon as they could. And Cole felt the same, he'd never felt like he belonged in this town, he felt out of place, it wasn't like it was with Noelle, she fit in anywhere, loved and adored by all. He had no idea what he was doing here anymore, and now Allison was gone, that feeling only worsened. He felt like a void himself. Empty. He didn't know how to tell Noelle that, that if he had the chance to go, he'd take it in a heartbeat. How was he supposed to tell her something like that?

Argent opened the door, staring down the darkened hallway to the bedroom at the end of it, her room. He could remember when they moved here, how she'd specifically picked that bedroom, it had the perfect view of the front door from the left side of her bed, so she could see her father coming and going. There were never any surprises that way. Not to mention it was right next to the kitchen, an added bonus.

None of them wanted to step back into the apartment so soon, they didn't need to see all of her things scattered around the apartment, reminding them that she was gone. That they would be the ones to have to handle all of her stuff, get rid of it, sell it, give it to someone else, removing a part of her being in this town little by little.

Chris's foot teetered over the threshold of the door, holding his breath as he dared to step over it and onto the cold laminate flooring, into the darkness of the apartment that he refused to light up in his daughter's absence. Isaac looked at Cole, he stared down at his feet, unsure if he really wanted to go back into the apartment despite telling his little sister he wanted to come back and be with Argent, to try and help the man in any way. Noelle didn't trust leaving her brother, which was why Isaac was here, acting as eyes for the girl while she, Scott, and Lydia ensured that Void didn't live to see another day.

Cole took a deep breath as he stepped into the apartment, an immediate cry as he did so, Chris too, none of them could last another moment without breaking down. Isaac followed them both in, shutting the door behind them, a quiet sob from him too, perhaps he hadn't been as close as Cole or her father to the girl, but he had come to see her as a friend, an unlikely one. She treated him like that too, she teased him like an older annoying sister when she found out he had a little crush on Noelle, she made sure he came along on little missions with them so he was never left out. At first, he'd thought it was just pity, but he'd come to learn that was just Allison.

Argent didn't turn to the two boys as he spoke, refusing to let them see any weakness inside of him even after his daughter's death. "I appreciate the concern, but you don't have to stay. I'll be all right." The man explained with a sniffle. "I've dealt with this before. I have a capacity and an ability to compartmentalize my emotions."

"I don't," Isaac admitted through a soft whimper.

The man finally turned around, seeing the two teenage boys at a loss, tears in their eyes, both in desperate need of help as he pulled them both in for a hug. The three of them stood silently, for how long, none of them had been able to keep track of. Not until the tears were gone, until that feeling of emotions beginning to compartmentalize was familiar to the two boys, when sadness was replaced with anger, a need for vengeance.

Eventually, the three worked there way into Allison's room, they didn't know what possessed a thought like that, to go inside a room filled with memories of her, but they did. And as they did, Isaac picked up a ring dagger laying on Allison's dresser, sitting on the edge of the bed with it, a finger running against the blade. Argent warned him to be careful, telling him it took practice, it had worn down Allison's fingers until they were so raw she had to bandage them, Cole laughed slightly, he remembered that, he remembered all of the complaining she did afterward, Noelle still determined to learn it despite seeing what it had done. Argent insisted that she didn't give up on learning the dagger though, she wanted to be able to excel in all of the weapons, but her heart lied and died with her crossbow.

Cole looked at Argent, a lump in his throat, knowing he had something to say. Well, Allison had had something to say. He explained that in her dying breaths Allison had asked him to tell him something, but she never managed to finish it. He choked on his own words, tears filling Cole's eyes again, Isaac's too, both reliving the moment again. Argent walked over to the boy, a hand on his shoulder, suggesting that it was just to tell him that she loved him, a point she had made herself earlier on while he and Noelle were out in the hall, how she was proud of them both. It made the Priestley boy feel a little bit better, but Isaac paused, raising his head, repeating that word of earlier.

"There's a tradition we have." Argent told him.

"The silver bullet." Isaac finished, he was familiar.

"She was making a silver arrowhead."

Argent stood up, about to break down again, so he was prepared to make a hasty exit from the room but Isaac had stopped him, asking where it was, where the arrowhead would be. Cole and Chris both remained confused, unsure why it was relevant. Argent answered anyway, telling him it was downstairs in the basement. Isaac began walking out of the bedroom, ready to go down to the basement, Cole and Argent following him, questioning why he needed to see them. The wolf believed that one of them would be missing, that Allison took one of the arrowheads with her to Oak Creek. And he was right.

After rushing down to the basement they found the dried molds, Noelle's daggers, Cole's bullets, and Allison's arrowheads, just one missing. The rest wouldn't have quite set, the one that Allison had taken was her first round, to test if she had her method right. Isaac explained that she'd shot the Oni with that arrow, that was how Allison managed to kill one.

"How?" Chris asked, still unable to understand.

"The same way you almost did it." Cole asked him as he held up one of Allison's arrowheads, he recalled Argent's story. "You told us about your first deal with the yakuza. The bullet you shot at the Oni, it was silver, wasn't it?"

"Yes." He nodded. "But it didn't kill him. It just broke his mask."

"What if silver is like poison to them?" Isaac asked. "What if it needs to stay in the body?"

Argent finally understood what they did, the arrow was the key, the one weapon that would stay inside of the body. Allison had figured it out, that was what she wanted to tell her father, what it would take to kill Void and save her friends. Argent began giving them orders, telling them both to prepare themselves, weapons, and Allison's bullets, tonight, they had Oni to kill. Isaac began rushing around immediately, but Cole couldn't be so eager. He stopped Argent, he needed one favor from the man before they left tonight. Argent nodded without hesitation. Anything that it took, which was something Cole was relieved to hear because it wasn't simple.

·❥·

The five teenagers pulled up to the school, Stiles stumbled out of the Jeep, falling against one of the railings as Lydia rushed to his aid, pulling his arm over her shoulder to keep him stable, he'd found them at the clinic talking to Deaton, he and Kira had walked in just as Lydia described how she felt like time was running out, a feeling that he had too. Deaton had told them that he wasn't sure the Nogitsune could be caught how Noshiko once caught it, there was no Nemeton to do it this time, it had no power. He did tell them however that the wood from the tree still existed, the woods in the forms of boxes and other containers designed to hold powerful objects. Lydia and Noelle had looked at one another with a raised brow, one that Deaton caught onto as the blonde asked him whether he'd consider the claws of an Alpha a powerful object. Curious, he asked the girls which Alpha they were referring to. Talia Hale, they told him. Deaton's face lit up with hope, he thought it would work, because he made that cylinder that contained the claws.

After finding out that, they'd immediately called Derek who told them to meet him here. Just as Scott and Noelle prepared to push through the school door, Stiles stopped them all, telling them he knew what they were all thinking, if this elaborate plan of theirs worked, trapping the fox in a triskele box that belonged to Talia Hale, it might kill him too. But he made it clear, if that was the case, they had to go through with it, they had to stick with the plan.

Noelle insisted that was never the plan, the plan was to save him, and that was the plan the five of them would be sticking to, Scott, Lydia, and Kira nodded in agreement. They weren't going to let anybody else die. They were sure of it.

Scott and Noelle turned back to the doors, pushing them open, expecting to be met with empty, cold school halls, but cold was the only part that they were met with as they entered some kind of winter wonderland inside of a Japanese garden. There wasn't a single part of it that wasn't in a snowy white shell, snowflakes still falling down upon them, settling in their hairs as they dared to step further into the unfamiliar territory. Noelle looked around, unsure how they'd ended up in this place, where this place even was for that matter, all she knew was that beneath the slight creepiness of it, it was beautiful. Like Narnia, in a high school.

The door slammed shut behind them, all five whipping their heads around to look at it, Lydia let go of Stiles, too startled by the slam to keep ahold of him, instead, she wrapped her arms around herself as she grew colder, standing in her dress, dithering. She looked at Noelle, expecting her to be shivering too since she was in a dress, but the blonde was too busy questioning how any of this was possible to think about her dropping temperature. This wasn't part of their plan.

For only a moment they were left in peace, Kira lay out her palm, allowing snowflakes to rest in it until they all heard the sound of footsteps crackling in the fresh snow, all of them turning toward the door that they had come through, a bandaged figure standing there. One that Noelle and the sickly Stiles knew too well now. Kira extended her Katana, prepared for a fight, that was part of a complicated plan to defeat the Nogitsune.

"Like I promised, Stiles." The Nogitsune spoke, the boy stepping forward. "We're going to kill all of them. One by one."

From a puff of black smoke, the Oni began to appear, surrounding Kira and Scott first, they were the armed two, those who would be putting up the fight. Noelle took a step back, keeping close to Stiles and Lydia, she wasn't in the fit state to fight, she had stitches in her arm that could split just thinking about getting into a fight with those swords again.

"What is this? Where the hell are we?" Scott asked.

Between life and death, the Nogitsune said. Bardo, Lydia called it. But there were no peaceful deities here. Stiles was dying, he told them, as though the boy didn't know, he could see it in his appearance, he could feel it inside of him, that feeling of time running out on them. He taunted Stiles, telling him how everyone he cared about was dying too now, he had captured almost all of the territories on the board. The hospital. The Sheriff's Station. And the animal clinic. He said as two of the Oni's disappeared for a moment, claiming that territory for him, their master.

The Nogitsune stepped closer. "Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?"

"No, and I don't want to." He shook his head.

But he told them all anyway. It was when a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but it wasn't the cut that killed him. The killing stroke is made by his trusted friend, a kaishakunin, who would finish him off with a beheading. He had cast Scott as that role for Stiles, his kaishakunin. He was going to make his best friend kill him, and he was going to let him, if not, everyone who'd been touched by an Oni's blade would die just like him, unless Scott killed him first. That was how this game was to be won.

With a snap of his fingers, the Oni stood tall, raising their swords. Kira followed their lead, Scott transforming until his eyes were their blood-red color. Noelle pulled Stiles's arm over her own shoulder as she and Lydia backed him away from the fight. The snowy garden was alive with the sounds of a battle, the sounds of metal colliding with one another, Scott's growls interjecting as the two of them battled each of the Oni, the Nogistune spectating from the sidelines, watching his players against Stiles's.

Scott tried to stay close to Kira, swinging and kicking at every Oni who came near her, trying to cover her back while she returned the favor, the two of them were out of their widths with Noelle out of commission for the fight, Noelle stood watching the two of them, wincing at each of their movements, wanting to join no matter how many times she'd been warned, or the fact that she had nothing to fight with. She hated standing useless.

"This can't be real." Noelle shook her head.

"Yeah, tell that to them." Stiles remarked, nodding at the Oni.

In one moment where Scott had moved even an inch away from Kira to kick an Oni's chest, one of them had gotten too close, able to disarm her, its ninjato hitting the katana out of her hand, sending it flying into the snow. She turned back to grab it, but Stiles was already up, holding the weapon himself, holding it to his stomach, prepared to disembowel himself, just how the story had been told. Noelle shouted the boy's name warningly, his name alone had been all she had to say for him to know that she didn't want him to do it.

"What if it saves you? What if it saves all of you?" He asked the girl.

"What if it's just another trick?" Lydia intervened.

The Nogitsune told her it wasn't a trick, telling Scott to end it in his next breath, to let his friend fall on his own sword, to do for him what he couldn't do for himself. As Stiles held the sword in his hands he looked at Noelle, her eyes tearful as she begged him not to do it, to listen to his best friend, to believe that she wouldn't misguide him. Stiles was breathing heavily, building up what courage it would take to disembowel himself, he averted Noelle's eyes, staring into the reflective surface of Kira's katana, only then did he get a glimpse of something.

In the metal of the katana, he saw a book, a business book buried in the snow. He turned toward it, seeing it just a few inches away from the brunette huntress, he looked around further, until he saw a snow-covered classroom desk in one of the corners of the garden. Noelle was right, none of this could be real, because it wasn't. They were still in the school, not Bardo. None of this was real. The Nogistune looked at the boy, insisting he had no moves left, but Stiles disagreed as he tossed the sword back to Kira. Not only did he have a move. But he had a divine move.

Noelle and Lydia grabbed ahold of Stiles once again, holding him up as he urged them all to stop fighting against the Oni and Nogistune, it was all just an illusion. It looked and felt real but it was nothing but an illusion, he begged Scott to trust him on this, the same tone Noelle had used just a few seconds ago. Scott and Kira turned to the Nogitsune, four Oni standing in front of him, the two repeated it again, it was just an illusion.

Scott led them all, walking through the line-up of the Oni, allowing them to slash his chest, that felt real too as he groaned in pain, but he continued to walk through them, Kira joining him as she gained a few slashes to her body too, pushing through the pain, telling themselves that none of it was real. Noelle and Lydia stumbled behind them with Stiles on their shoulders, watching it all fall apart in front of them. Scott reached the Nogitsune, pushing him through the doors with a scream until all five had stumbled into the school hallway, no snow, no Oni's, nothing.

The Alpha looked down at himself, not a single scratch, nor was there any on Kira. They were all okay. He wasn't sure how, but they were. He was about to repeat those words, flabbergasted by it, until they hadn't made it out of his mouth. The wolf was thrown against the lockers, Kira hit in the face, knocking her and her katana to the ground. Void standing behind them. He turned back to the other three standing, the two girls Stiles leaned on, the horror in their faces as they looked back at him. The one who had killed Allison.

"This was my game." He spat out. "You think you can beat me at my game?"

He rushed towards the three of them, all three scrambling backward, desperate to get away as he looked them dead in the eyes, rambling. "Divine move, divine move, you think you have any moves at all? You can kill the Oni but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old! You can't kill me!"

"But we can change you!" Noelle yelled, her voice cracking in fear.

"What?" Void spat out.

"You forgot about the scroll."

The shugendo scroll, Lydia told him with a smirk on her face. Fear had grown across Voids as he mumbled his defeat, changing the host. He couldn't be a fox and a wolf. Scott jumped up from behind Void, biting him on the arm as the Nogitsune screamed loudly in their ears, teeth sinking deep into his arm. When he finally released him from his claws Void stumbled for a moment, in that moment, Kira stabbed her Katana through his heart. Lights flickered around them as Void dropped to the floor, shaking as he rested on his knees, the small buzzing of a fly coming from his mouth as one flew out, flying down the hall. Suddenly, it was trapped in the triskelion box as Isaac came out of nowhere, locking it inside. Sealing it.

Void began to twitch and jerk, all eyes turning back to him as they all took a step back, as they did he suddenly stopped, freezing for a moment as his dead eyes stared at Stiles. His skin started to dry out, cracking like clay until he'd fallen to the ground, a pile of dust, dissipating, complete and utter nothingness. Relief washed over them as they looked at one another. Noelle looked at the boy resting on her arm, how uneasy he looked, his eyes slowly closing, his grip on her slowly loosening as she called his name, trying to catch him, but he had already hit the floor.

The group dropped down around him, Scott pulling off his jacket to elevate his head, following the instructions that Noelle snapped out at him, her ear to his chest, relieved to hear that Stiles was still breathing, he was still alive despite the death of the Nogistune. Lydia tapped his face as she impatiently waited for him to wake up, beginning him to wake up. They all stood and sat in silence, waiting, hoping that those shallow breaths remained, that these weren't the final ones.

Stiles's eyes fluttered open, a large breath of relief from the redhead girl who quickly sat up, her head no longer on his chest as she waited for him to wake. Stiles looked up at the girl, asking if he had fainted, the redhead nodded with a smile, a laugh erupting around them.

"We're alive. We're all alive?" He asked as the redhead hovered over him.

Her face dropped, her heart in her stomach. A silence through the hallway as Lydia looked down the hall, where that feeling was coming from. She slowly stood up, Noelle standing up with her as she asked what was going on, whether something was wrong. Lydia looked at the blonde with tears in her eyes, struggling to say it, her lip quivering.

Noelle's eyes widened, for some reason, that was enough. She ran towards the door as Scott and Lydia shouted for her. The wolf turned back to Lydia, his face questioning what was going on, he saw that look inside of her eyes too, he knew what it meant. They all began chasing after the girl, hoping that it wasn't true, that someone else hadn't died at the hands of the Oni, on the brink of victory. But when they had barged out the door, they saw the girl standing at the top of the stairs as she looked down at the tunnel leading towards the school, her knees weak, her hand over her mouth as she released a painful sob of her big brother's name.

She ran towards her brother, dropping at his side, pulling him into her lap. Argent, Derek and the twins surrounded them with guilty looks, none of them sure what to say to her, none able to tell her what was happening, but she knew. Her brother was dying. His lips were stained with shades of red, blood seeping through his t-shirt as he held onto the wound inflicted on his stomach. The blonde girl sobbed, shaking her head, refusing to believe it.

Noelle looked at Derek as tears streamed down her face. "Do something. Please." She begged, he shook his head, there was nothing he could do. A bite wouldn't save him.

"I'm sorry," Cole told his little sister, taking ahold of her hand. "I-I needed to do it. I needed to be with her, Nell, I'm sorry."

"Please don't leave me." She pleaded as she lay her head on his chest. "Don't leave me."

"It's okay." He told her. "You'll be okay."

"No. No, no, no." She shook her head. "Don't you dare die on me, Cole."

"Take it." Cole mumbled, interrupting her sob as she looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Take it back. You need it." He told her, nodding his head as he gripped onto her hand tighter. "I- I want you to have it. I- I need you to-" His breaths were caught in his throat, choking on the blood that slowly began filling his throat.

And with that last breath, Cole Priestley was gone. His sister laid him to rest as she sobbed softly on his chest, mourning a loss that she would never heal from. A warmth inside of her that she no longer wanted. Not if it meant losing her brother. She'd lost everything. She didn't want any of it if it meant she couldn't share it with him.

·❥·

Their heads hung low and their hands were intertwined as they sat outside of the McCall house, both in need of a breather, a few minutes of silence before they returned home, the detour was not enough time for Noelle to gather her thoughts, to process that she had just buried not only her big brother, but her friend. Life had been up in the air for the past few weeks, nay, months, it had all been leading up to now, putting their friends to rest, truly beginning the grieving process. One that Noelle was convinced would never end. She'd managed to keep it together in the past few weeks since her brother's death, distractions had been her way ahead. She'd helped Argent and Isaac pack for their leave for Paris tomorrow, one that she would be helping them with even more when she spent the first week of the move with them. They had all agreed that she needed just a little time away to breathe, part of Isaac hoped that just a week in France would convince her to make the move permanent, she needed to get out of Beacon Hills, far from her mother, all of it. That place was no good for any of them. Argent had already offered her the leave, but she'd refused, he knew why, they all did. She wouldn't leave Scott. Maybe she had an uncertain future with him, but all she knew was that she wasn't willing to give up on it yet. If that meant battling her mother on a daily basis, then so be it. But she wasn't giving up on her dreams, just as her big brother told her not to. She was going to live for him, fight for him. Camila wouldn't win in giving her a life full of torment.

Scott was still worried that even though she'd told him she wasn't going anywhere, that week in France would change her mind too, he couldn't blame her for leaving, she was heartbroken, but he was selfish too, because he knew that with her gone he'd be heartbroken too, more so than a boy who'd already lost one of the great loves of his life and a boy who was like his big brother. It was selfish for him to want her to stay in Beacon Hills entirely, to not even get a glimpse of a life in France. But sometimes love made people selfish.

He squeezed the blonde's hand as she turned to look at him, her eyes red and puffy, she hadn't spoken a word since getting into the car, asking him to take the longest route he could to get to the house. There was only so much time the two of them could sit in the car, putting their life on hold, hoping that when it resumed again the pain would be gone. That the void they all felt will have left, because it wouldn't. She knew that, she still felt it from her father's death, Claudia's, it never left, death stuck with people, left them questioning what they were supposed to do now.

Noelle nodded, agreeing that it was time to face the music. Melissa would be waiting for them to return, anticipating another night of holding the blonde girl in her arms while she sobbed until it had been so long that she fell asleep. That was how the past few weeks had been, it was almost a routine now. But Melissa was willing to do it every night until the girl felt like she could go just one night without crying herself to sleep, but they weren't there yet. It was still too soon.

Scott continued holding her hand right until they stepped into the house, and then, he dropped it suddenly, Noelle looked up from the black heels on her feet to see what had startled him, the three people sitting at the dining table, looking at them ought to do it. They'd expected Melissa, but not the two who accompanied her. Rafael and Camila had been at the funeral, but they had the sense to keep at the back of the crowd, a large crowd at that, the whole town had turned up to mourn the two teenagers, the entire pack. Scott's eyes gravitated to the suitcases sitting next to the table, someone was leaving, he hoped it would be the couple, but something felt wrong.

"What's going on?" He asked wearily, gripping the blonde's hand again as she stood close beside him, her eyes kept on her mother who had one more trick left up her sleeve.

Melissa cleared her throat as she stood up from the table. "Uh, your father and Camila decided it was time for them to go back to San Francisco." She announced, but they felt a condition on the tip of the woman's tongue. "And they thought it best that Noelle go with them."

"What?" Noelle and Scott asked in unison, the girl in shock, the wolf in anger.

Camila stood up from the table, opening her mouth, about to reason with her daughter. "No, I'm not going." Noelle insisted before a word could leave her rotten mouth. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm staying here."

"It's not up to you." Camila deadpanned. "I'm your mother and your a minor. It's my decision on what happens and I've decided that it isn't safe for you in this town."

"You don't deserve that title." Scott interrupted, his father standing up from the table this time as he told his son not to speak to the woman like that, a low growl coming from Scott, curling up his lip in anger. There were much worse things he could say about Camila than that. "Mom?" He turned to the woman, asking her to help.

Melissa shook her head, it was out of her hands. Camila gladly explained why, turning to the two teenagers, telling them that now Cole had passed, his guardianship over Noelle was void, that it had now been reclaimed by her, as a lawyer, she had access to what that took, and she'd done it. She insisted once more that she was the girl's mother, that it was her choice on what happened, a point she would be saying every day until Noelle turned eighteen and could legally make it for herself. Camila slid over a piece of paper that solidified her words, Scott picked it before Noelle was able to, but she peered over his shoulder, a sickness in her stomach at the thought of being stuck with her mother for the next eleven months.

There was a frantic knock at the door behind them, Noelle and Scott turned to answer the door, but they hadn't had the chance before Stiles barged through it anyway, panting heavily, he too had frozen at the sight of all the people in the room, but with a second thought, it was perfect. A perfect audience. Sheriff Stilinski and Argent followed the man into the home, everyone just as confused as each other as they looked around all the faces in the room, wondering what brought them all here. Camila announced that there was no need for any of them to be here, that she nor anybody else in the room needed to hear one of Stiles's testimonies, she wasn't even sure who'd told him what was going on.

Stiles slammed a piece of paper on the table, insting that they did need to hear what he said, he had a proud smirk on his face as he looked at his two best friends, nodding at the paper, a signal for them to look at it. Scott picked it up, both he and Noelle furroweing theirs brows at it.

"What is this?" Noelle asked, all she knew was that she could see Argent's signature at the end of the page, whatever it was, he knew about it.

Camila snatched it out of their hands. Guardianship, she scoffed. Noelle turned to look at Argent who nodded, agreeing that was what it was. "You can't do this. I have parental rights."

"You would..." Stiles spoke again. "If you were her mother."

"What the hell is going on here?" Melissa asked as she looked around, Rafael agreeing that he'd needed some clarification, what Stiles meant by if Camila was Noelle's mother. Noelle too could have used some explanation on the point, but she stood stunned with a slacked jaw, a little too overwhelmed to speak.

"She's a fraud." Stiles deadpanned. "She's not Noelle's mother. Hell, Camila probably isn't even her real name. It's all here. Show them, Dad."

Sheriff Stilinski dropped a large folded on the table, Rafael, Melissa, Noelle and Scott all taking a piece of paper from it while Camila stood with folded arms, arguing with the Sheriff for playing a part in this, for entertaining his son's wild theories. But this wasn't one that belonged to Stiles, it had come from Cole. He'd given the folder to Argent, insisting that if anything happened to him, he would tell Noelle the truth. As Argent told them that, Noelle looked at the man with wide eyes as she realized this was what Cole had been trying to tell her that night.

"There is no Noelle Priestley." Sheriff Stilinski explained, the blonde more confused than ever. "It appears that someone faked your birth certificate, Cole's too. And neither of you have a medical record before you were two and three years old."

"Is this true?" Noelle asked as she looked at Camila.

"Of course not." The woman scoffed. "What are you accusing me of here?" She asked the Sheriff.

"Oh, I'm not accusing. I'm arresting." The man insisted. "You have a very smart son, Camila. He'd managed to dig up all of your dirty work. You know the reason he went on that trip to Atlanta. Do you want to tell Noelle what he found, or shall we?"

"Please do." The blonde insisted, her arms folded as she looked at the woman she thought was her mother, but she was beginning to second guess that. "Why do I have a fake birth certificate? What did Cole find in Atlanta that scared you so much?"

Camila didn't answer, a straight face as everyone looked at her, including her fiance, even Rafael was beginning to second guess whether he knew the woman he was engaged to. When the man saw that she wasn't going to explain, Argent took it upon himself to tell Noelle what Cole said on that night he'd died. Suggesting that the girl should take a seat for it. And she did.

After the Barrow situation, Cole wanted to find out who this Briar girl was, why someone might have told the man to kidnap her. One day, another question popped into his mind, the theory of Barrow not having the wrong girl when he had taken Noelle instead. It was insane, he knew that it was, but he explored the possibility anyway. By this time, Noelle was in the hospital after Stiles had disappeared that night. He asked Sheriff Stilinski to get him access to the medical files, and that was when he'd discovered that there was nothing before he was three, Noelle two. He grew suspicious of his mother, as anyone would, and took the birth certificates to the registry, able to confirm that they were fake. Curious, he asked at the registry if there were any Briars born on a particular date, October 30th 1994. And there was. In Atlanta.

"Cole came to me with it, but he didn't tell me why he was looking. I had no idea he suspected it was you." Sheriff Stilisnki reassured the girl, hoping she didn't believe he'd kept this from her for such a long time, the girl remained frozen as she tried to process what Argent told her so far. "He brought it to me and I put it through the system. Briar Blake, she was kidnapped when she was two, her and her brother, Sawyer Blake, he was three. The mother suspected that it was a friend of hers who had taken her children. Her name was Camila Love."

Noelle turned to the blonde woman who remained with a straight face, refusing to crack. "They found her car and two carseats crashed a few miles from the home after a few days so everyone thought that she and the two kids had died." Noah explained as Noelle kept her eyes on Camila, a scowl growing across her face. "Cole asked the doctors to do the DNA, Nell, you and Cole were both a match for the two missing kids."

"Hold on a minute." Rafael stopped the absurdity. "Are you saying Camila kidnapped them? Are you hearing this? This is insane. Camila, tell them this is insane." The woman looked at him, her face still, no denial that what they'd said was true. She knew she had been caught. The evidence was right in front of them. The fake birth certificates she used her lawyer status to get approved, the DNA test results. Hell, Cole had even found the address of the woman they matched it with.

Noelle turned to Sheriff Stilinski, asking what happened to her real parents if it wasn't Camila or Jack. He informed her that Cole had found them too, they still lived in Atlanta, at least their real mother did. Darby Jade Blake, he pointed to the pack of evidence, telling her there was a small picture of her somewhere. The blonde girl picked it up from amongst the stacks of evidence her brother managed to collect on their birth mother, along with it was a picture of the woman. Surprisingly, Noelle recognised her. Not as Darby Blake, not as a woman who was a distant memory from being a baby. It was Jade, her mother's friend who she'd said had died, the one she was named after. Her fake mother hadn't even tried to hide it, she had put the answers in plain sight, knowing that she would never feel the need to question it. Noelle asked about her father, wondering if they'd divorced over the stress of two of their children being kidnapped, killed by a woman that it seemed they once trusted to be their friend. Stilinski shook his head, that was all Noelle needed to know that her biological father was dead too.

"He was murdered." Argent spoke truthfully. His eyes straight on Camila. "On the same night you and Cole were kidnapped. Your mother was found stabbed in the house, she would have died if it wasn't for one of the neighbours hearing her scream. She managed to save Darby and the little girl she was carrying."

Once again, Camila denied nothing, instead, she looked shocked. Shocked that the woman she tried to kill had survived, more surprised that the woman had been pregnant when she attacked her. That was something she hadn't anticipated. Noelle didn't have the words to question if he'd just insinsuated that she had a little sister too, on top of a biological mother who seemed saner than the fraud across the table.

Rafael took a large step back from the woman, disgusted, there were no words to describe how betrayed he felt, how stupid he felt for not realising that she was nothing but a fraud, possibly a murderer. "Aren't you going to say anything?" He asked her.

"I'm guilty." Camila shrugged, not a care to her words. No remorse. Nothing. If with everything, a manipulative monster of a woman lay beneath the surface, she was everything they thought she was, and worse. "I killed James Blake. I tried to kill her, and I took the kids. She didn't deserve it, the life she had. Little miss perfect. Perfect life. Perfect husband. Perfect children. I did. So I took it from her." She deadpanned. "Your just like her." She admitted as she looked at Noelle.

"Camila Priestley. Love. Whatever you want to call yourself." Sheriff Stilinski mumbled, walking around the table to place the woman in handcuffs, her wrists held out willingly. "You are under arrest for the muder of James Blake, kidnapping and false imprisonment and for the attempted murder of Darby Blake. You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." He announced as he began leading the blonde woman out from the house. Noelle followed them, still stunned, her mouth to the ground as Scott and Stiles held her, trying to comfort a girl whose whole reality had just fell apart in front of her.

Camila looked back at her daughter. "I can handle prison." She shrugged, a scowl growing on the blonde girl's face, she wanted to lunge at the woman, to set her alight for the lie that she'd made both her and Cole live for their entire lives. Even if it meant not getting all of the answers.

"Oh, your not going to prison. You're going to Eichen House." Sheriff Stilisnki said proudly. "You belong in a place like that, don't think we didn't find out what you were too, Camila. We know it all. All of your secrets." He insisted as he shoved her into the back of the cruiser.

Noelle watched as the cruiser disappeared down the street, unsure what the next step of her life was now that all of those bombs had been dropped on her. She turned to the three adults who'd remained behind them, they all seemed at a loss too, especially Rafael. Stiles was the one to ask what happened now, now that Argent had guardianship over Noelle, now that the decision was in his hands. He insisted that there was someone waiting at the apartment for the girl, someone eager to meet her after all of these years. That was where it would begin. And from there, they'd take it day by day. One nightmare was over, another one on the horizon.