...

"So," Y/n stood with arms folded as she looked at the three expectant gazes around the exam table at the animal clinic, "there's some things I guess I should tell you."

"Yeah, like what the hell Lydia was talking about that you had been taken?" Stiles started off. Like she expected, as soon as he could he was pelting her with questions, but she managed to hold him off until she got Scott and Alan in the same room so she didn't have to repeat this story more than she had to.

"It happened on the night of the supermoon. Lydia and I had just figured out what Jordan was, she was having a premonition of someone dying in the library."

"Me." Scott realized and Y/n nodded.

"Yeah. Then Theo arrived, knocked us both out before she could warn us or before I could even do anything. When I woke up I was being carried by the Surgeon into the woods with the other two right behind him. He removed that mistletoe thing from my neck and then... They started the summoning."

"Summoning?" Alan frowned in confusion. "They summoned a spirit?"

"More like summoned a whole ass soul and then shoved it inside of me."

The three looked to each other in slight surprise before Scott asked, "Why?"

She shrugged. "My guess is they were trying to summon a witch that they could control, they basically said as much." She looked down at the shiny surface of the table as she repeated what they had been chanting. "'We invoke you. We summon you. We command you. You will obey.' I guess they thought when they put her in me, I would be ejected or suppressed, something. But I'm still here, and definitely not going to 'obey' them."

"They underestimated the strength of a witch's will." Alan said. "They're not so easily overtaken."

"What about the other soul, then? What happened to them?" Stiles asked.

"She's still in me. That's why these marks are starting to appear." She tugged the collar of her shirt down a little to show the glowing crack in her skin that had grown, going over her shoulder and disappearing below the fabric. "The energy of two witches in one body. It's building slowly, but I still can't expel it fast enough. If I can't figure out a way to spend energy, or a way to let the other soul escape, eventually it'll consume me."

"Like a battery." Stiles remembered when she had told him something about it at the start of senior year, the night of senior scribe to be exact.

She looked up at him before she nodded. "Yeah."

"How do you do that? Release the soul." Scott clarified.

"There's something I can work with in my grimoire I think. But I'm not going to do it yet."

They were a little shocked to say the least, Stiles most of all as he exclaimed, "What? Why?"

"I think it'll be useful to keep her around for a while longer."

"Y/n, that's extremely dangerous. You know this." Alan reminded.

"Yes, I do. But I have a feeling that she's important."

"How do you know?"

"It's like she's trying to talk to me, but there's this barrier between our minds. And I want to break through it. I need help to do it, though."

Alan squinted at her. "You mean..." She nodded. "I don't think it's the best idea given your condition."

"It's the fastest way to break down the wall."

"Wait, wait, what are you talking about?" Stiles interrupted after sharing a confused glance with Scott.

"She wants to put herself in a tub of ice to induce a trance-like state. Similar to what we did with Isaac or when you sacrificed yourselves to the Nemeton."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Scott asked even if he already knew the answer.

"Very. Especially with-"

"Look, I'm going to do it with or without you." Y/n snapped before she closed her eyes and took a breath. Her emotions have been stronger than usual, more reactive and a little quicker to agitation, and she now knows it as the effects of the extra soul and excess energy. She looked at them apologetically before she continued speaking. "I just know it'll be safer with your help. Please. I really think this is important."

Alan didn't like the idea, none of them did, but he also knew she would do it without them if she had to and he'd prefer to be around to help in case something went wrong. "Alright."

Soon Y/n had changed into shorts and a tank top and Alan and Scott were working on filling the metal tub with water and ice. Stiles was watching Y/n with anxious eyes, finally able to see just how far those marks on her skin had grown. They had sprouted on her back and legs as well, smallish cracks that he guessed would eventually grow and connect like that picture they had seen the other day.

"I can feel you staring." Y/n said without looking at him, breaking him from his thoughts.

Without saying anything he stepped closer, eyes trailing over the marks. Her eyes closed as she felt one of his hands coming up to gently trail over the one on her shoulder. To his surprise her skin was still smooth, the marks seeming as nothing more than glow paint, but he knew better. "Do they hurt?"

She shook her head. "No."

"I don't like this." He admitted, and she finally looked up to see his worried gaze. "I mean, this is dangerous for even werewolves. What's it gonna do to you?"

She couldn't answer because she didn't really have an idea. "I'll heal." She promised. "One good thing to come out of all of this, my magic is stronger, so I heal faster."

"It's ready." Alan informed making the couple look to him and Scott.

She looked up at Stiles with an assuring smile. "It'll be okay." She gave him a quick kiss before she headed over to the tub. She inhaled sharply once she stepped in, the iced water making goosebumps raise along her skin as she lowered herself in. Scott and Stiles each put their hands on her shoulders, and after her nod they pushed her under the water. She squeezed her eyes shut as she was submerged.

She didn't struggle like they had expected, yet they got a little nervous when she didn't move. But after what felt like forever her eyes opened and they let her go so she could rise to the surface to take a slow breath. Her eyes were shifted, definitely glowing brighter than they ever had and they finally understood why. Alan kneeled beside the tub to look down at her while Scott and Stiles backed up a little to watch.

Y/n sat up from the water with a small gasp, getting her bearings in the new environment. She looked around the big, open space bathed completely in white. White square tiles on the ceiling, white walls, white pillars, scuffed white linoleum. She knew this place. It was the space in between. Between life and death, between here and there, between awake and asleep. The place where you open doors and close them. She was here to open one.

"Y/n, can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now I want you to look around yourself, I want you to look for the other witch."

Standing and stepping out of the tub she looked around as the water cascaded off of her form. She started walking in one direction, following a feeling and knowing she'd come upon it- come upon her soon. She started to see someone else in the distance, but only when they were several feet away could she finally see their features. H/c hair, e/c eyes, s/c skin. For a moment she thought she was in front of a mirror, but not only was the 'reflection' not soaked to the bone and in different clothes, she held herself differently and her features were older, more mature. A woman from a different time with different experiences. As Y/n stopped in front of her, the woman smiled at her warmly like she had known her all her life. Maybe she had, who knows what souls like to get up to before they decide where they want to go next? The woman's smile was kind, like she was happy to see her, yet also tinged with sadness, apologetic for the situation they found themselves in.

"I found her."

"All right. I want to talk to her now, can you hear me?"

"I hear you." This time when she responded, it wasn't Y/n's voice. Although it had the same sound and tone, it sounded older, and had an accent. She sounded French. Alan glanced up at Scott and Stiles before he continued speaking.

"What is your name?"

"Ophelia Beausoleil."

"Hello, Ophelia. Y/n says you've been trying to speak to her."

"Yes."

"Why?" Stiles asked, unable to stop himself. Alan went to stop him, to warn that too many voices might confuse them, when the witch spoke again.

"We need to rememeber before he does."

"Before who? What do you need to remember?"

"La Bête."

Ophelia held up her hand, pressing it against an invisible wall. Y/n copied her movements, pressing her hand against Ophelia's. The invisible wall felt like thick glass and suddenly she could see figures in it, dancing across the surface like a ghostly projection. She realized then that it wasn't just a wall, it was a large cube, a cell that surrounded Ophelia in images of the Dread Doctors looming over her, abnormally tall and imposing.

"What is this?" Y/n asked as she looked up at them.

"Their attempt to keep me under control. Make me obey. They didn't know you'd be strong enough to contain both of us."

"I won't be for long." Y/n looked down at her shoulder, drawing Ophelia's eyes to the mark that Stiles had traced moments ago.

"We shouldn't do this. Not if it's already that bad. It will only become worse if we break down the wall."

"I don't care. Stopping the Beast is more important. I know you know how to help us. All those dreams, all those feelings, they were you. You know how to stop him."

"Yes." She admitted.

"Then it's worth it. I can release your spirit and the excess energy after he's gone."

Ophelia didn't look happy at the idea of Y/n risking herself for this, but she didn't argue, and instead nodded. "Let's show them how strong a witch's will really is, then." Ophelia's eyes shifted, and Y/n's did the same as they pressed their other hand to the wall. The power of two witches channeled together started to wear at the glass cage, cracking under their hands and spider-webbing outwards all along the surface until it shattered around them. Finally free, their memories were now allowed to mingle and surround each other in their lives.

The three watched as Y/n suddenly gripped the sides of the tub and sat up, breathing deeply as her eyes shined brighter. The marks grew a bit, some of them connecting on her shoulders and arms, some new ones appearing on her legs and stomach. Her eyes dimmed back to their natural e/c, but they weren't quite the same as they were moments ago as she glanced at each of them. There was an extra spark behind their color, a flash of something, or rather someone, else. "I remember."

...

Scott's phone buzzes as he receives text updates from Chris, the Hunter following Jordan, or more accurately the hellhound as he travels on a mission. "He's headed to the school."

"Why's Parrish going to the school?" Liam asks.

"It's not really Jordan." Y/n said. "For now, at least."

"Okay, why's the hellhound going to the school?"

"'Cause he's got a yearning for higher education." Stiles answered sarcastically. "Liam, the hellhound's going to the school, so we're headed to the school. Okay?" Stiles changed gears and pressed harder on the gas.

When they did get to the school they all climbed out, the older teens standing together as Liam closed the door to the Jeep. They jumped as he accidentally slammed it and turned to look at him. "Sorry." He muttered under their gaze. Y/n smiled in amusement, Stiles was unamused, and Scott just turned back around to start looking for Chris.

The Hunter himself came around a corner, and Scott was the first to speak when they were close enough. "Where's Parrish?"

"I lost him. He's moving too fast."

"Scott." Liam called, drawing their attention to him and where he was looking. "That guy's not moving at all." Lying motionless a ways down was a man, dead and bloody. Scott lead the way closer, the others following with Stiles hesitating for just a moment, not too keen on going towards the death. They carefully stepped around the body and further down the path where another body lay, leading up to where the school buses were parked. And right there in their sight, the last bus' back door was open, revealing the pile of bodies within it's yellow shell.

"Jesus." Y/n muttered, voicing all of their thoughts in one word at the horrific sight.

A young man slowly lifted his head and spotted them. Finding the strength to raise a hand to them, he pleaded weakly for aid. "Help... Me..."

Scott took a step forward to do just that, when another voice warned against it. "It's a trap." The hellhound moved to stand in their path to face the danger.

"Please..."

Scott wanted to help, and the hellhound knew that. "You can't help him."

In the next moment there was a wet ripping sound and the top half of the young man's body fell to the ground. The bus creaked under the weight of the Beast as he moved to face them. His eyes bore into them, seeming to stare a moment longer at the only female in the group before it settled it's eyes on the hellhound. "That's big. No one said it was that big." Stiles gaped at the sight.

"I did." Liam commented.

The Beast growled and Jordan roared in turn, body being covered in flames as the Beast turned and took off out of the bus with Jordan hot on his tail. "What the hell's happening?" Scott asked as the Beast's roars and the hellhound's flames faded in the distance.

"It's getting smarter." Chris answered.

...

"Mason said it's not just a transmitted frequency." In the library Liam relayed the new revelation the other human member of the pack had to his four seniors. "It's high-powered. Like it has to be a really strong signal."

"And that's causing it to shift?" Lydia asked.

"No. I don't think it's just that." Scott spoke up. "Last night Argent said that it's getting smarter. What if the Dread Doctors are trying to make the Beast grow faster?"

"With frequencies?" Stiles tried to clarify.

"No, by shifting. The frequency is just the trigger. The important part is when it shifts into the werewolf."

"That makes sense." Y/n lighty nodded. "Shifting can boost healing and power, especially on full moons."

"Like Peter." Lydia realized and Scott nodded at her.

"Right. Yeah, when Peter was an Alpha, he got stronger every full moon. Eventually the burns healed and he was back to normal."

"So the Dread Doctors don't want to wait for the full moon." Liam said.

"They want the Beast to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible."

"Because of Parrish."

"If this is happening tonight, what are we going to do?" Lydia wondered.

"Uh, we've got one clue to go on." Stiles pulled a picture from his bag and set it down for the others to look at. "This came from the hospital. Whoever's lurking inside the Beast is wearing a size 10 of indeterminate make."

"Indeterminate?" Lydia repeated.

"Means, it's a partial print. Basically, it was all we were able to get considering all the fire, blood and carnage."

"How many size 10's are out there?" Scott asked.

"Only one with Parrish's blood on the sole."

"So are we going to try and get the game canceled?" Liam asked.

"No, no, we're going to play, but we're just going to hope really hard that it doesn't turn into a blood-soaked massacre."

"Okay, but, um, aren't we kind of missing out on a chance to catch this thing? We don't have the who, but we have the where and the when."

"There's no catching the Beast. You either kill it, or it kills you." Y/n's grim tone made everyone just slightly uncomfortable. She didn't mean to crush Liam's ideas, she just knows better than anyone what the Beast was capable of. At the moment, only Scott and Stiles knew about Ophelia's presence, but they didn't know the full extent.

"There's too many people, anyways." Scott backed up his friend's concern.

"And we still don't actually know if it's going to happen. It just might end up being a regular lacrosse game. It's possible, right?" Lydia asked hopefully.

"That's absolutely possible." Stiles agreed.

"Just not very likely." Y/n added.

"So we're still getting the game canceled?" Liam questioned, already knowing the answer.

"We're getting the game canceled." Scott confirmed as he grabbed his bag. The five got up from the table, gathering their items as they started to head out, but Y/n and Lydia stalled behind.

"You feel that, right?" Lydia looked to Y/n who nodded.

"Yeah." They walked over to the bookshelves across from where they were sitting, Lydia looked around and eventually spotting a book lying open on the floor. She went over and bent down to look at it. "Lydia." She looked up at Y/n's call, but her eyes found Jordan through a gap in the bookshelf instead. She rushed around the shelf and crouched next to Y/n as the witch looked over his many slashes.

...

On Noah's suggestion Stiles and Scott were now making their way up to Stepping Stones Beacon Hills Rehabilitaion Center to check up on Bobby Finstock in the hopes that the former coach would help them with their mission to cancel the game by forfeiting. The pair look through the glass door, quickly spotting Coach laying limp against the back of a couch. "Oh, my..."

"What's he doing?" Stiles mumbled as they walked in, moving to opposite sides of the sofa to better look at Coach who was seemingly checked out from reality as he stared at the ceiling. "What?" Stiles whispered in disbelief.

"Hey, Coach, it's- it's Scott and Stiles." The Alpha informed as he and Stiles sat on either side of the man who remained unresponsive.

Stiles then waved a hand in front of his face. "Coach, you're in rehab. You didn't have a lobotomy."

"Coach?" Still no response.

Stiles let his hand hit his leg as he shook his head, eyes settling on a game of Checkers set up on the coffee table in front of them. When he went to mess with a piece, his arm was suddenly grabbed by the older man. "Don't you touch it." Coach warned as he finally acknowledged their presence. "I have Nurse Gonzalez by the balls the last three moves and she knows it." He chuckled as he sat up.

"Let it go. You're checking out of this place now."

Coach shook his head at Stiles' statement. "Not a chance."

"Okay, Coach. We know you're fine."

Coach hurriedly shushed Scott with a stern look. "I have a debilitating disease." He mimed drinking in demonstration. "It's called 'I'm not going to take another arrow to my stomach phobia'. Look it up." He insisted.

"Nobody's shooting arrows at anyone, okay?"

"L/n, might. Where is she, anyways? I like her better than you two."

"She's busy with something else, so you're stuck with us." Stiles said to which Coach frowned in slight displeasure.

"We just need you to coach the charity game." Scott continued.

Coach scoffed. "Charity? Not a chance."

"How exactly have you been conning them into letting you stay here?" Stiles wondered.

"I, uh, I have relapses." Coach spoke in a tone to make him seem more sympathetic. "It's- it's serious. I've had seven of them."

"So once a month?" Scott figured up.

"Yeah, you see, uh, every time they are just about to discharge me," he clicks his tongue, "I relapse."

"No one's noticed that pattern?" Stiles asked.

"I have phenomenal health insurance." Coach sneered. "So why don't you guys get the hell out of here. I hate charity games. They're meaningless."

"I don't think the charities would agree."

"What's it for this year?"

"Cancer." Scott answered.

"For or against?"

Stiles squinted in disbelief. "Against, Coach. Deeply against."

"Yeah, okay, well, I'm deeply not interested." He made little whistle sounds and gestured for them to just skidaddle.

"Alright, Coach, we need you." Scott insisted.

He put a hand on their shoulders. "I will never coach there again."

"That's okay, because we don't actually need you to coach the game." Stiles assured. "We need you to forfeit." Coach looked between them, slowly starting to consider the idea.

...

After Y/n had healed him some Jordan insisted on going to Chris for help and she and Lydia obliged. They take him to the Argent Bunker down in the tunnels where Chris examines Jordan's injuries while Gerard watches from a few feet away. Y/n hated the idea that Gerard was back in action, but he was unfortunately a necessary evil because, at the time, he knew more than anyone about what they were facing.

"He's healing." Chris announced, looking at the slash marks that were a little smaller after Y/n's treatment. "Slowly."

"Can you tell us what you remember?" Gerard asked Jordan.

"Just bits and pieces. Moments when I caught up with it." He drifted off as the memories played in his head.

"What else do you remember?" Chris questioned next.

"I was losing."

"You said you could help him." Lydia pointed out, looking to the older men.

"We have an idea or two." Gerard revealed, looking to his son.

"We've been wondering if resolving this internal conflict you're having could help resolve the external one you're losing against the Beast."

"Deputy, it's time you and your alter ego, all had a proper introduction." Gerard lead the way to a side room.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Y/n wondered, barely trusting anything he had to say.

"With this." Chris answered as he pushed open a gate to reveal a large machine that was vaguely coffin shaped, tubes and wires all along the sides of it. They moved it to the larger space they were in moments before and let Jordan get a look at it as he asked questions. "It'll bring your body temperature down to a level that would kill a normal human being."

"Why down and not up?"

"Something happens to someone like you when the body cools to extreme temperatures. Everything slows down. The heart, the mind. It lets you consciously access a part of you that's usually unconscious."

"The supernatural part." Gerard added.

"But that's dangerous, isn't it?" Lydia asked.

"Well, it's far less dangerous than if the Deputy can't evolve to face the Beast."

"Evolve?" Jordan repeated.

"I hate to agree with Hitler," Y/n started, sending a quick glare to the eldest Argent before looking to Jordan, "but this is the best thing for you. Yes, it's a little dangerous, but it sounds worse than it is. I've even done it before, and I'm fine. I can help heal you if you need it." She assured, but he was still just a little hesitant. "This is necessary, because the Beast isn't just getting smarter."

"Imagine it this way." Chris offered. "Each night, the teenage chimera-"

"The success." Lydia named.

"This teenager goes out into the night and transforms. Whether it's a young man or young woman, they become a werewolf. A very large, very powerful werewolf the people of Gévaudan called the Beast. Every night it transforms, it remembers a little more of who it used to be."

"It yearns for it's identity. It's name. Not just the Beast of Gévaudan, but the Man." Gerard said.

"The Man of Gévaudan who wants to live too. He wants to exist. So imagine that one night the teenager goes out and transforms again. But when the Beast transforms back, the Man of Gévaudan stands there instead."

"Fully realized. Alive once again."

"That's what Valack meant." Lydia realized. "He said, 'when the Beast remembers, the teenager would be gone'."

"Gone? Like, no longer exists? How's that even possible?" Jordan asked, but no one could answer, the witch giving a half-hearted shrug. "Forget I asked." He dismissed.

Chris moved around Jordan and opened the human sized freezer, and, with only a moments longer hesitation, Jordan stepped in, Chris closing it and sealing it shut behind him. Jordan turned towards the window to face Y/n and Lydia who were standing in front of the machine. Chris turned the dials and the machine hissed as fog started to fill the compartment, the space quickly cooling to a freezing temperature. Pretty soon Jordan was concealed from their sight, but as the machine beeped to let them know it was done, a hand was slammed to the glass. Lydia stepped forward to check on him when Gerard grabbed her wrist and harshly pulled her back making her grunt. Y/n grabbed his arm, eyes flashing in warning as she forced him to let Lydia go. Y/n made sure to keep herself between Gerard and Lydia from then on as the two girls looked towards the machine. The hellhound stepped forward from the fog, eyes burning fire as he stared ahead.

"Is he okay?" Lydia asked, and before Y/n could answer, Chris spoke.

"Talk to him. This part is for you both. You're the ones who can reach him."

"Jordan?" Lydia hesitantly called.

"No."

"What's your name, then? Who are we speaking with?" Y/n asked.

"Cerberus. Garmr. Black Shuck. I've had many names."

"How about Jordan Parrish?" Gerard asked, but the hellhound, Cerberus, paid no heed to him. Didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Do you know who we are?" Lydia asked.

"The banshee and the witch."

"What about Jordan Parrish? Why is it you and not him? What happened to Parrish?"

"Jordan Parrish died. There is no Jordan Parrish."

"What are you talking about? How is Parrish dead?"

"He's a body. A means to an end. I am beyond life and death. I am infinite. I have no use for your Deputy."

"That's not true." Y/n denied. "You may be infinite, but you do need him, or else you wouldn't be in his body. We need him, too."

"Your deputy won't kill the Beast."

"Neither will you." Lydia argued. "I'm a harbinger of death too. I know people are going to die. And if you do not let Parrish in, he will die too. You'll die!"

"You can't kill the Beast alone. You're losing with that tactic, you know this." Y/n pointed out. "You can tell, can't you? If you don't let him in, we're all dead."

"Tell him to remember." Chris suddenly suggested, making the girls look at him in question.

"What?" Lydia asked.

"Tell him to remember the moment Parrish died." Gerard elaborated.

They turned back to Cerberus. "When did he die?"

"When I was born." On opposite sides of the world, while a man was trying to deactivate a bomb, three teens were trying to save their parents. The teens went under water and the bomb went off. The room echoed with roars as Cerberus finally connected with Jordan, their minds meshing and becoming a cohesive unit. He pushed against the door and it gave way, letting Jordan fall out. Lydia and Y/n rushed forward to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Are you alright?" Lydia asked as he panted.

"I know who I am. I know what I have to do. I have to leave." Jordan revealed.

~~~
Published: 8/24/22