Chapter Forty-Seven

Foot to the brake pedal, Isaac slams the RAV4 to a halt in the rear parking lot of the hospital. In the back, with a still unconscious Cora, Peter glances up.

"You see the twins?" Isaac asks us. I looked around hurriedly.

"Firm no." I answer.

"No. But I see the Argents." Peter spoke, through the windshield, they spot Allison and Argent slipping out of the shadows, hurrying from the building just as a howl pierces the night, halting both Argent and Allison.

"What is it?" I heard Allison ask as I eye her carefully.

"A retreat." Argent responds. Retreat? Why would they retreat? I watch as they hurry towards us, not bothering to hear anymore of their conversation.

"Not to bring up any uncomfortable memories, wasn't the last time you saw them the time you killed Kate and they burnt you alive? Hm?" Isaac commented. We both looked back, only for the door to be left opened and Peter nowhere to be seen.

"Good riddions." I mutter. Isaac and I get out to meet Allison and Argent, all of us noticing the sound of sirens approaching from a distance.

"Where are the others?" Allison asked us.

"I don't know. Stiles and Scott went back for Derek and Jennifer. We had to get Cora out." Isaac informed me and my heart pounds with worry for Stiles.

Headlights blaze toward them, Derek's FJ Crusier racing out of the darkness. It skids to a halt next to the RAV. Derek jumps out with barely a glance at us.

Isaac opens the back door where Cora lies. Derek carefully lifts her up to transfer her to his car.

"Where's Scott and Stiles—"

"Stiles is back at the hospital. He's going to hold off the cops for us. We need to go." Derek informs us.

"What about Scott and Melissa?" Argent asked.

"Jennifer took Melissa." Derek spoke and my heart clenched. I let out a low growl, my eyes shining a bright golden-yellow for a second.

"What about Scott?" Allison asked. "Derek, where's Scott?"

Derek turned to Allison, giving her a look. "He's with them, isn't he?" I asked what everyone was thinking. "He's with the Alpha pack." Derek nodded in confirmation and my heart pounds.

⇉

The elevator doors clang open. Stiles, Allison, and I quickly follow Argent into the apartment. We were worried that Argent was going to be next, as Stiles informed us that on the hospital door, a name in red was printed and it was Argent. I don't know about you but that's a clear sign that Chris Argent is going to be take next.

"The word is Guardian, Allison. More than anyone, you know that's a role I haven't exactly lived up to lately." Argent informs Allison.

Leading us down the hallway, Argent heads into the office. "But she took Scott's mom and Stiles's father. That's not a coincidence." Allison argued back.

"Allie, it could be my father. Or mother." I added quietly from the side.

We pause at the desk to look down on the five fold symbol etched onto its surface. "I'd also consider the fact someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors. That kind of felt like a pretty big warning to me." Stiles added.

"I think it might have been Morrell." Allison looked at us. "She knows a lot more than she lets on, and I think she might be trying to help us."

"Again with the Guidance Counselor?" I groaned.

"Well, she needs to get on a lot faster, okay?" Stiles looked at Argent. "Since the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away." My heart pounds and Stiles looked at me worriedly.

We watch Stiles fall into a chair, trying to keep it together. I walked over to Stiles and stood behind him, beginning to give him a neck massage. Lord knows he needs to calm down.

"Stiles, don't give up hope." Argent tells him.

"They could already be dead." Stiles spoke and I slowly stopped the neck massage and took a seat next to him, feeling stressed myself.

"I don't think so. There's something about Jennifer's tactics. It's like she's still positioning. Still moving pieces into place." Argent spoke.

"And you're one of them." Allison tells her father.

"Okay. Then let's not wait around to see her next move." Argent agreed. He draws the map back over the desk, covering the symbol. "Everything she's done has been on a Telluric Current. So Melissa and the Sheriff have to be somewhere on one of the Currents, right?" Stiles barely pays attention. "Stiles, if we're going to find them, we need your help."

Stiles glanced at me and I give him an encouraging smile. "Come on, Stiles. You know we don't give up that easily."

"You seriously want to go after her? Have you even seen what she's been able to do?" Stiles asked. "She tossed Scott across a room like it was nothing." At the desk, Argent pulls open a drawer, reaching for an unseen object. "What if she just takes you like the others? I mean, no offense, but what's the difference between you and them?"

"I'm carrying a .45." Gun in hand, Argent slams in a new clip with a metallic clang. "Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face. But, personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off. We've got one priority right now. Find Melissa and your Dad. We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time. Which is why I need the three of you."

I reached out and squeezed Stiles' hand. "Stiles, we can do this."

Finally, he looks up and nods. "Where do we start?"

⇉

With a large energy drink in my hand, Argent holds a black light in his hand. Argent taps a finger to the marks on the map. I continue to drink my energy drink, because, if I'm going to do this I need all the energy I can get. And if it's not going to be from sleep and a healthy diet, then it's going to be my energy drinks. I've already at two in the past half an hour, but the others don't seem to notice until I cracked opened my third.

"I'm taking that one away from you." Stiles takes the third energy drink from me.

I pouted. "But I need it."

"I'll give it to you in an hour." Stiles tells me and I let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over my face.

Argent looks at us. "The place where the sacrifices have been committed have usually been different from where the bodies have been found. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the Current. So there's the School, the Animal Clinic, the Bank..."

"She wouldn't use the same place twice, would she?" Stiles asked him.

"Only if she didn't succeed the first time." Argent nodded. He moves a finger to the mark under Beacon Hills first National Bank.

"Scott's boss." I whispered.

"Deaton. It was her only failure. That could mean something." Argent nodded.

"But that's just one place so far. We need more help." Stiles added.

"What about Lydia?" Allison asked softly.

"Lydia? What can she do?" Argent questioned.

"She's got a kind of... talent. She's somehow ended up finding a couple of the bodies. Without actually looking for them." Stiles explained to him.

"What is she? Psychic?" Argent asked.

"She's something."

⇉

Black case click open. An arsenal of guns, arrows, crossbows, compound bows, knives. Stiles and I watched Argent and Allison load up.

"I thought you guys were retired?" Stiles asked.

"Retired, yes. Defenseless, no. Now make sure your phone's on. If you hear from Scott, let us know immediately." Argent looked between us.

"I'm thinking that's going to be kind of unlikely." Stiles answered.

"The three of you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right. I've see that seventeen year-old boy come through more often than most men I've known. Don't give up yet." Argent tells us, seeing the look the three of us give each other.

I turn around, hearing the sound of a footstep behind me. I inhaled softly as the others held up their guard, hearing it, too. I smirked a little, knowing it was Isaac.

"Hello, Isaac." I called just as he appeared in the entrance.

"I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow. But I'm starting to get pretty good with these..." Isaac snaps open his hand to reveal his claws unsheathed.

⇉

Light spills across the Celtic knot on the floor as the vault door slowly opens. Allison, Isaac, and I cautiously follow Argent into the darkened room.

"It's empty." Allison spoke.

"Be careful anyway." Argent informs us.

He pulls out his stun baton. With a flick of his wrist, he extends it to its full length. "I thought you only used that on werewolves." Isaac pointed out and I frowned slightly.

"I do." Argent swings the baton up, pressing it to Isaac's chest. Bolts of electricty arcing over his body, Isaac tumbles to the floor. Before I could have time to react, he does the same to me, pressing it hard against my rips and I felt myself twitch and turn before falling onto the ground in shock. I let out gasps of breathes, struggling to get up.

I watched as Argent opens his hand to reveal a pair of handcuffs. He swiftly locks one end to her wrist and another to the steel rail just behind her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Allison asked him.

"I'm sorry. But you're just going to have to trust me on this." Argent tells her. He tosses his gun to the floor. It clatters harmlessly near me as I struggle to push myself up. I eyed the shiny gun before looking back at Argent, feeling rather hurt that he did this to us. "I knew a long time ago that she didn't just operate on the Currents. She was in sync with them."

A shadow falls over the Celtic symbol on the concrete floor. All eyes turn to see Jennifer almost casually entering through the open vault door.

"Now this is a sacrifice."

Unable to help him, the three of us watched a shadow rise over Argent under the shriek of the Darach. Isaac eventually had healed and helped Allison as I healed back two seconds after. I reached out for the gun and held it in my hands. I knew how to use a gun, I wasn't stupid. I slipped it in my pocket after I put the safety lock on as I hear the sound of metal clanking, Allison being free from the handcuffs.

"Why did he do that?" Allison whispered.

"I don't know. But we need to get out of here. We need help, okay? Allison?" Isaac glanced at her. She was shocked, all over. I could feel her.

I walked over to her slowly, she latched onto my hand when I was near her, her eyes watering. "Allie, we have to go."

Finally, she peers up at us with the exact look of hopelessness that Stiles just described. "They're going to die. Aren't they?"

Neither of us respond, sending each other a quick look. I quickly wrapped my arms around her, and Isaac wrapped her arms around the back of her, the two of us holding her close.

⇉

I walked into Morrell's office the next day. Allison and Isaac weren't at school, I hadn't seen Ethan or Aiden. I haven't even seen Lydia or Stiles and right now, I feel totally alone and out of control. I closed the door behind me. I prayed that Morrell would be in today.

The one day I need her, and it doesn't look like she's here.

"Hey." I looked over as I stood in the doorway, frozen. There was girl sat there. "Sorry, but this my session, and Morrel ain't even here."

I pressed a smile. "S—Sorry..." I trembled. I tried to turn around but I bumped into Stiles and Lydia, who froze when they saw me. "Oh, thank God." I wrapped my arms around Stiles tightly. "Did you guy hear...?"

"Argent missing? Yeah." Stiles wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. "We're here for Morrell, knowing she knows more than she leads on." I pulled back, looking over at the other girl and then back to Stiles as we stepped further into the office. "You here for Ms. Morrell?"

"No, I thought this was gym class." The girl sasses back.

"Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny. Do you know where she is?" Lydia demands.

"If I did I wouldn't have been waiting here for twenty minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn." The girl snapped.

"We're not here for a session." Lydia replied.

"Well, I am. And I've got some serious issues to work on." The girl responds.

"You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend." Stiles looked at the girl, Danielle.

"I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week." Danielle informed us.

"Hold on. Did you say Morrell's twenty minutes late?" I asked her.

Danielle nods. "And I don't know why either. She's always on time."

"I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester. She was never late. Not even a minute." I looked at Stiles.

"Same with me, too." Lydia agreed.

"Then she's not late. She's missing." Stiles nodded.

"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?" Lydia asked.

"Then I want to know what she knows." Stiles spoke. He looks over the desk and begins rifling through papers. Then moves to her file cabinet, yanking open drawers.

"What are you three doing?" Danielle questioned.

"Trying to find her." Stiles answered.

"Those files are private." Danielle snapped.

"She's kind of right." Lydia spoke and I nodded in agreement.

"Here's yours and yours." Stiles hands us our files.

Lydia and I quickly glanced at each other before all our morels went out the door. "Let us see that." I quickly said, snatching the paper files from him. I watched as Lydia opened hers first, I peer over her shoulder. So does Stiles and Danielle. Among the pages they find a drawing of a tree.

"Wait. That's your drawing." Stiles pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. It's a tree." Lydia nods.

"You're good." Danielle complimented her.

Genuinely flattered, Lydia looks at her. "Thank you."

"That's the same one." I point out, recgonising the drawing.

"Same as what?" Lydia gives me a look.

"The same one we've seen you drawing in class." Stiles tells her.

"It's a tree. I like drawing trees." She states.

"No, it's the same exact one. Give me your bag." Stiles takes her bag, unzips it, and pulls out her notebook. Flipping pages, he finds a drawing of the tree and shows her. "See?"

Lydia stares at it in confusion. Then compares the two drawings. They're exactly the same down to each branch. Stiles flips the page to a third drawing. Then to another. He keeps flipping pages to reveal Lydia has been drawing the same tree over and over.

"Okay, you can have my session. You've got bigger issues." Danielle then leaves us alone.

"What is this?" Lydia questioned, her voice frightened.

Neither of us respond, gaze fixed on the drawing. Slowly and carefully, he rotates the notebook upside down. From this view, the branches of the tree don't look like branches at all.

They look like roots.

"I know where they are." Stiles spoke and I flipped through my notes, wanting to find something.

"I don't have insomnia!"

Lydia hurries after Stiles and I, the three of us rushing to the exit. "It's the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be—"

"Stilinski." An FBI Agent calls out. I turn to them as Stiles does. Two deputies are with him, the FBI Agent appears at the end of the corridor. Stiles turns to Lydia and I, speaking fast.

"Get to Derek. He and Peter know where it is. They've been there. Tell them it's the root cellar. They'll know." Stiles informed Lydia and I. We both nodded, turning to leave as soon as possible.

⇉

The steel door slides back to reveal Lydia and myself. Lydia stares at Peter, both of them surprised to face each other. I looked between them, watching their reactions.

"You." Lydia freezes.

"You." Peter repeated.

"Me." Peter spoke, his tone apologetically. I rolled my eyes. Lydia gives me a look, silently asking me why she didn't know about Peter sooner. "Derek, we have visitors."

He steps back to let us in. Lydia and I linked arms as we walked in slowly, Derek meeting us at the desk with Peter following us. "The root cellar... Um, the Nemeton." I begin, looking at Derek, hoping to feel any reaction from him. "It's where they're being held. Melissa, Argent, Noah. Stiles figured that you'd know where it is."

Derek pursed his lips. "Sorry to say, but I don't know where it is."

Lydia frowned. "You don't know where it is? But Stiles said you'd been there."

"We have. After a few memorable experiences, though..." Peter shares a look with Derek. "Talia—Derek's mother and my older sister—decided she didn't want us ever going back. She knew how dangerous it was. So she took the memory of its location from us."

"But then how are we supposed to find it?"

⇉

Underneath the examining room light, Deaton meets with Stiles, Lydia, Isaac, Allison, and I. "It has to be on a Telluric Current. Maybe even at the axis of two. Or where they all intersect. I know it's where Derek took Paige to die." Stiles explained.

Isaac sent a questioning look. "Other Paige..." I told him and he nods.

"My Dad and Gerard were there once. But Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. And my Dad obviously isn't going to be able to tell us now." Allison informed us.

"Mine either." Stiles added quietly.

"She took everyone who would remember." Lydia spoke. "But then why wouldn't she take Paige's Dad?"

I shrugged. "I guess... She doesn't know that he knows."

Stiles turned to me. "Your Dad is still here, right?"

I give him a worried look. "Why? You don't think he is?"

"I don't know!" Stiles waves his ahnds around. "Paige, just check, okay?"

I nodded and walked out of the room, leaving them alone for a little bit before calling my Dad. It went to voice mail the first time, my heart racing. I called a second time, then he finally picked up.

"Dad!" I sighed in relief, my heart beat starting to clam down.

"Hey, Paige." Dad greeted from the other end, sounding normal. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, despite him not being able to see me. "I—yes, yeah. I'm fine. I just wanted to check if you were okay, Jennifer hasn't touched you, has she?"

"No." Dad answered.

"Okay. Um... Where are you right now?" I questioned.

"At home." He responds.

There was shuffling behind him, I couldn't quite make out what it was. "Dad, are you sure you're okay?"

"Honey, I'm fine." He called me honey. That's a good sign, I think.

I let out a sigh. "Thank God. I'm gonna go, but, stay safe okay, Dad?"

"I will." His voice wavered, my senses picking up. "Goodnight, love you."

"Wait—" The familiar sound of the phone hanging up on me plays at the other end and I stare down at my phone, mouth agap. I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not. Maybe it's not my pariona kicking in.

"Hey," I whip around, turning to Stiles who stands with me in the small hallway, away from everyone. "Is he okay?"

"I think so." I tell him and he nods. "What's happening now?"

"Me and Deaton are gonna go find Scott. Are you coming?" Stiles asked.

I smiled. "Hell yeah. Someone needs to save your guys asses."

⇉

By the Jeep's headlights, Stiles, Deaton, and I wait in the darkness. Hearing the crunch of leaves underfoot, we turn to see Scott step into the light.

"How did you find out?" Scott asked us.

"Lydia. You?" Stiles questioned.

"Morrell. But none of the Alphas know where it is either." Scott explained to us and I smiled at Scott. It was nice to see him again after a few days of being apart. I feel like we're always together somehow, and being away from him this long, it makes me miss him realising he's not here.

"If this works, are you going to tell them?" Stiles questioned.

"I can't stop Jennifer without them." Scott tells us.

Stiles nods. An uncomfortable silence. "How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Deaton questioned.

Scott nods. "What's the plan?"

"Essentially, you, Allison and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents." Deaton explained to Scott and my eyes widen at the new news.

"So we die for them?" Scott asked.

"But he can bring us back." Stiles added hopefully, he looks at Deaton. "You can definitely bring us back, right?"

"Hopefully, yes." Deaton honestly said.

"Hopefully?" Stiles eyes widen.

"I can't believe we're talking about sacrificing you three." I mumbled to myself, beginning to play with my fingers. I twiddle them around.

"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton asked Scott. "If it goes right, the three of you will only be dead for a few seconds. But there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing in more ways than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton. A place that hasn't had power for a long time. When it did, Beacon Hills was quite different. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural. The kind of things that allow a family like the Argents to fill the pages of a Bestiary. It'll draw them here. Like a beacon."

"Beacon Hills." I mumbled, my eyes widening at the weird connection.

"Doesn't sound any worse than what we've already seen." Stiles added.

"You'd be surprised what you have yet to see." Deaton gives me a look.

"Is it too late to run?" I questioned. "Because, I was thinking, I'd move to like, New York. Wait, no that's in the same country, ooh! Bali! I've always wanted to go to Bali..." They give me looks and I take it as they don't want to hear about my dream life. "I'll shut up now."

Scott looked at Deaton. "Is that it?"

"No. It'll also have an affect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of darkness over your heart. And permanent. Like a scar." Deaton explained.

"Like a tattoo." Scott softly said.

I pressed a tight smile. "It just in a full circle, isn't it?"

⇉

Deaton, Lydia and Isaac pour ice into three tubs of water already filled with the leaves and berries of mistletoe. While they do that, I pace around nervously, and begin to chew my nails.

Scott, Allison, and Stiles steps towards their designated tubs, each holding an item in their hand. "All right. What did you bring?" Deaton questioned Stiles. Stiles raises Noah's Sheriff's Badge.

"Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand. I hammered it out a bit. Still doesn't look great." Stiles explained. I smiled warmly as Lydia grabs onto my arm, stopping me from pacing, she gives me a look.

"It doesn't have to look good if it has meaning." Deaton approves.

Stiles nods, eyeing the battered but still-shining badge in his hands. Next to him, Allison holds up a bullet. "Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked.

"My Dad made it. It's sort of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a Hunter, you forge your own silver bullet as a testament to the code." Allison explained to us.

"Scott?" Deaton looked at Scott.

He holds up his, a watch. "My Dad gave this to my Mom when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked." Scott explained to us.

"Okay, the three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially... well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back." Deaton informed us. My heart pounding. I couldn't bare the thought of losing either of them. They were too important to me.

Allison, the first girl best friend I had made. Scott, who had always been there for me, even from such a young age. He was always like the older brother (by three months) I'd never had. And Stiles, the boy who I hold so much fondness for, the boy who made me feel safe, loved, and wanted. I didn't want to lose him.

"Paige. You'll go with Stiles." Deaton spoke, his eyes shifting between us. I don't know why I'm acting surprised when I heard him say that. I moved towards Stiles and stood next to him, the two of us giving each other small smiles. "Isaac, you'll go with Allison, and Scott. You'll go with me."

The six of us moved postions as Lydia stands aside, watching this happen. She had her lips pursed and I could feel a little bit of jealousy and nervousness coming from her as she stood alone.

In silences, In silence, the three of them take their places. Scott, Allison and Stiles carefully step into the ice and mistletoe-filled tubs and sit back. Deaton, Isaac and I take positions behind them at the head of the tubs.

I nervously bite the inside of my cheek constantly, as I looked down at Stiles who submerges into water. I bend down, kneeling as I looked down at Stiles as he tilts his head back to look at me. He gives me a smile.

His hands reaches out and I take it firmly, squeezing his hand, trying to not let go. But I knew I had to. For the sake of their parents. I glanced around, seeing everyone in silent, minding their own business.

I lent forward and connected our lips together. This could be the last moment we will be together, I wasn't taking my chances on not getting another kiss. My heart was pounding. His lips were moist. It was the sweetest kiss I've ever had in my life.

I pulled away, giving him a soft smile as I stand back up awkwardly, the others looking at us. Isaac and Allison both in disbelief.

"By the way, if I don't come back and you do, you should probably know something. Your Dad's in town." Stiles looked over at Scott. I looked over at Scott, his whole body freezing up—quite literally, he's in an ice bath.

Deaton tells us to begin to slowly push them in and I could feel my hands shaking. My hands slowly takes Stiles' shoulder. He looks up at me, our eyes connecting again. I slowly begin to push him under water, Isaac and Deaton doing the same thing. At the same time, my three friends are under the water, their bodies going completely still after fighting it.