Chapter Thirty-Seven

Trees blur past as Scott, Derek, and I as we run with supernatural speed, hurtling through the forest. Still on the full moon, we are hurrying to try and find Boyd and Cora. Boyd had tried to attack innocent children, but Scott somehow saved them.

The mystery girl turned out to be Derek's younger sister, Cora. Suddenly, Derek comes to a stop, dropping down to a kneeling position. With an acrobatic flip, Scott lands right at his side to find him examining track in the dirt. I simply pause, rolling my eyes at how dramatic Scott was.

"Is it them?" Scott asked.

Derek nods. "We're not the only ones who decided to stick together."

"Is that going to make it easier or harder to catch them?" I questioned the other two werewolves.

"I don't know." Derek responded.

"Derek, I saw Boyd try to rip two little kids apart. Are they going to do that to everyone they find?" Scott asked.

"Everyone and anyone."

We begin to set off running again, this time getting Isaac to help us. We needed very werewolf we could to catch them.

I had ditched them while the boys were else where finding Boyd. I was on Cora's tail, who was on a poor innocent girl's tail, too. The girl was running, and I felt her fear. I yanked Cora to the ground, knocking her clear off her feet once I caught up to her.

The girl staggers back in shock, and Cora leaps up with an enrage growl. Crouched in an attack pose, I peered up with a small smile at the girl. I didn't mind fighting anymore, it was rather fun.

Cora comes at me, claws slashing. Digging into my jacket, she pulls me around and with a stunning display of strength, hurls me across the clearing, smashing me right into the trunk of tree. I let out a small groan.

Splinters and debris falling about me, I crumbles forward as Cora charges. But Scott leaps out of the darkness, hurtling right over me. He takes Cora down, sending her crashing back.

Even as Scott lands on his feet, however, Cora scrambles up to her own. Except now she rises to face Derek. He bares his fangs, roaring a challenge at her with Isaac standing behind him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cora sees Scott, Isaac, and I circling. She retreats back and decides to run, gunning for the darkness ahead.  

Derek launches after her with Isaac following quickly behind. Scott and I turned back to the girl who has witnessed everything with ever widening-eyes. "Are you okay?" I asked her gently.

"Wh—What—" The girl stammered out.

"Are you alright?" Scott asked this time. She gives a bewildered nod. "You have to get out here, okay? Get out of the woods. Get out as fast as you can." Scott and I ran off after Isaac and Derek. In a small clearing, Derek and Isaac watch Scott talk with Stiles on the phone. "Are you sure?"

"Throat, ripped out. Blood everywhere." Stiles explained. Lydia had found a body by a pool. "It's like The frickin' Shining over here. If two little girls walked out and asked me to come play with them forever and ever I seriously would not be surprised."

"Can you look a little closer? Make sure it was them." Scott asked.

"Make sure? Who else is ripping out throats around here?" Stiles questioned.

I take the phone from Scott. "Please, just look." I pleaded.

"Uh..." Stiles mumbled. "Yeah, I think it is."

"Okay, thank you." I thanked Stiles before hanging up and giving it to Scott. He takes it from me and we both turned to Derek and Isaac.

"This doesn't make sense. The public pool is on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there." Derek explained.

"Derek... they killed someone." Scott pointed out.

"But how are they moving so fast?" Derek asked.

"Derek—"

"They can't be that fast on foot." Derek cuts off Scott.

"They killed someone. Someone totally innocent is dead and it's our fault." Scott rushed out and my heart pounds. Its our fault...

"It's my fault." Derek shakes his head.

"We need help." I spoke up.

"We have Isaac now." Derek pointed to the boy who stands next to him.

"She means real help." Scott pipes in.

"No offense." I quickly added as Isaac made a an offended look.

"Not exactly sure how I could take that any other way." Isaac spoke. I give him a small, sorry smile.

"They're too fast for us," Scott continued. "For all of us. They're too strong, too rabid."

"We'll catch him." Derek promised.

"But what happens if we do? Are we just going to hold them down until the sun comes up?" Isaac asked.

The futility of the situation bearing down on him. "Maybe it would be easier to just kill them."

"Killing them isn't the right thing to do." Scott quickly said.

"What if it's the only thing to do?" Isaac looked at Scott. "If we can't even catch them, what else do we do?"

"Find someone who knows what they're doing." I spoke, my thought training back to Chris Argent.

"Who?" Derek cocked his head.

Scott and I looked at each other, having the same thought. "Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves."

⇉

Scott and I found Chris Argent dropping a bag outside in a parking lot, outside a store, late at night. We stand behind him, not sure how to make ourselves known. "It has to be the one with the eggs." Chris sighed to himself as he opened up the boot to his car. He packed his items in the boot and closed it.

Scott made a movement to step forward and Chris quickly pulled out the gun, aiming at him. "Uh... Hi." Scott awkwardly said. Derek and Isaac are sitting in the car with the engine off in a parking lot near us.

"Please, we need your help." I begged Argent. I then begin to explain the situation that we were in, and Argent glares at us.

"First of all, why would I care about anyone related to Derek? Second, I don't know this kid Boyd. I don't even know his last name." Argent snapped.

"His last name's Boyd." Scott pointed out.

"What's his first name?" Argent asked.

"Vernon." Scott answered. "And, just curious, is there a reason the gun is still pointed at us?"

"There's probably some part of me that wants to shoot both of you." Argent admitted, sending chills down my spine.

"I get that." Scott responded.

"I don't, I'm innocent." I tried to clear my name, my eyes widening. Argent sighed rgent lowers the gun and places it back into its hiding space in the hatchback.

"Scott, Paige, I watched my father brainwash my daughter and almost turn her into a killer." Argent tells us. "That world—your world—decimated mine. My wife, sister, father. My entire family. Why would I ever step foot in it again?" 

"Because people are gonna die." Scott pointed out. "And because you know how to catch Boyd and Cora without killing them."

"I'm sorry. I can't help you." Argent shakes his head. Finally, all Scott can do is nod. But, as he turns to go, he pauses. Then glances back to Argent. 

"Would it be okay if I asked you one tiny, little favor?"

⇉

After basically showing Argent the innicdnt that happened with Stiles and Lydia, Argent had agreed to help us.

In a small clearing underneath the full moon, a group of unlikely werewolf hunters gathers. Argent drops an equipment bag on the ground in front of Scott, Isaac and Derek. Then kneels to examine the numerous prints in the dirt. 

"You've been tracking them by print?" Argent asked.

"Trying to." Scott informed.

"Then you've been wasting your time. The only creature on earth that can visually track footprints is man." Argent explains. "And if you're not trained like me you have no idea that this print is Boyd's and these—"

"Are Cora's?" Isaac asked.

"No, they're yours. You trampled Cora's when you first walked over here." Argent continued. Isaac lifts his foot to back up. Then doesn't seem to know where to step. I smirked at the small action and brought Isaac to stand next to me where there were no foot prints other than mine.

"I know the four of you are probably focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon. But that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora who have fully given in. They've got the pedal to the floor, while you four are barely hitting the speed limit." Argent tells us.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey for up to a hundred miles a day by scent. The trained hunter can use scent to trap them..." Argent explained. "If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles. Which means we can draw them to us. Or into a trap..."

From the equipment bag, Argent pulls out a net and tosses it to Scott. He gathers it in his hands, pulling at it to test its strength. "The full moon does give us one advantage. They'll have a higher heat signature..." He continues. Argent pulls out a pair of night vision goggles. "Which makes them easier to spot with infrared." He tosses the goggles up as Derek drops the pair into Isaac's hands.

"Thanks, but I've got my own." Derek rolled his eyes. He flashes his eyes red.

"Just remember we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human being." Argent reminded. "Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed but it's there. Reminding them how to mask their own scent. How to cover their tracks... How to survive." Stepping toward the edge of the cliffside, Argent and the others look out to the brilliant lights of the town. "When was the last time you saw your sister?"

"Nine years." Derek informed. "I thought she died in the fire."

"You feel like you have a lock on her scent?" Argent asked. Derek shakes his head. "Scott, how confident are you in your skills?"

"Honestly? Most of the time I'm trying not to think about all of the things I can smell." Scott answered.

"All right, our real problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential areas. Once they're past the high school they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills." Argent explained. "

"They're not going to kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac questioned.

"No. But there's an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill. For some primal, apex predatory satisfaction that comes from ripping a warm body to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need is satiated." He explained.

The warning quiets us all. "We can't kill them." Scott pipes up.

"What if we can't catch them?" Derek asked.

"Then maybe we just need to contain them." Argent suggested. He turns back to the city below them, thinking. "There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they've had trouble hiring a new night janitor since Peter kind of killed the last one." I explained. 

"You want to trap them inside?" Derek asked.

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door. No windows or access to the outside." Argent answered.

"What about the bolier room?" Isaac suggested. "It's one big steel door."

"You're sure the school's empty?" Argent turned to me and Scott.

"It has to be. There can't be anyone there this late. Right?" Scott answered.

Kneeling, Argent drives a metal device shaped like a rail spike into the ground. At its tip a soft light flashes on and off. I put my hands to my ears, almost screaming at how loud it was. "These are Ultrasonic Emitters. It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run. It gives off a high-pitched frequency only they can hear."

He looks up to Scott, Derek, Isaac, and I all pressing our hands to our ears. "No kidding." Isaac shouts.

He gives us two each. "These will point them to the school?" Derek asked.

"And then it's up to you to get them into the basement." Argent nodded.

"Anybody else want to rethink the plan where we just kill them?" Isaac asked.

"Me." I murmur, starring at the Ultrasonic Emitters.

"This is going to work." Scott insisted. He glances at us, none of us seem to share his confidence. "It'll work."

"rgent slams the hatchback closed with a sound like a starting gun. A moment later, we were all off running, hopefully going to be pointing them in the right direction.

⇉

Gripping the handlebar to the school's front doors, Scott takes a breath and pulls back. The lock breaks with a metal wrenching and the doors swing free. We had successfully planted the Ultrasonic Emitters where they needed to be in hope to lure them here.

Isaac steps in to help prop them open. Trap set, we back off, hurrying to take positions about the school. 

By the edge of the parking lot, Argent places his last Ultrosonic Emitter in the ground. Scott  and I approached, noticing Argent focused on something. 

"Look." Argent gestures, Scott and I follow his  eyes to a soft glow moving about the shadows. "You see that?"

"It's a firefly." I point out.

"I know." Argent nodded. He keeps a curious eye on the glowing bug.

"What?" Scott asked.

"It's just really unusual. California fireflies aren't bioluminescent." Argent explained. "They don't glow."

"Does that mean something?" Scott questioned. Before Argent can respond, they hear a wolf's howl. A signal.

"They're coming." Argent notified. Scott backs up, the three of moving for cover. While Scott and I are together in our cover spot, Argent was in his car, two bodies come hurtling towards Isaac. It was Cora and Boyd. Their eyes were set on Isaac.

"Oh, great..." Isaac muttered.

But Argent's SUV roars past him, lights blazing. He pushes down on the horn, pressing them back, driving them like cattle toward the front of the school.  Cora and Boyd veer off to either sides. I rushed over to Argent's car, looking up. "They're not going through the school..."

"They're going over it." Scott finishes, standing beside me.

Argent, Scott, Isaac, and I race up the steps to join Derek as he rushes out from the lobby, all of us glancing about the roof for Boyd and Cora. "The rear doors—we need to get them open." Argent instructs.

With a nod, Derek disappears back into the school. "Someone has to drive them inside." Scott tells us.

Argent pulls a stun baton from his jacket. "I'll go."

"I'm faster." Isaac quickly spoke and whirls around, Isaac tears off for the other side of the building. Isaac had successfully done that, Scott, Derek, Argent, and I waiting in the corrdodior as they come hurtling in.

Derek grabs Cora. He shoves her back with brutal force, sending the snarling werewolf tumbling across the tile floor. Boyd whirls to attack but Argent moves in, brandishing the stun baton. Bolts of electricty ripple up the side with a threatening crackle. 

Boyd lashes out, but Argent whips the baton around like a trained swordsman. He presses forward, turning the furious werewolf around to face Scott who surges out of the darkness with fangs bared.

"Come on! This way." Derek yelled, gaining their attention. Cora and Boyd charge forward as Scott, Derek, and I turn to run, leading them through the corridor and racing down the stairwell into darkness.

Glowing eyes appear in the pitch black. Hulking figures in the shadows, Boyd and Cora move slowly, heads snapping about in search of prey when, hands rising to shield their faces, Boyd and Cora howl in response. But Derek and Scott use the extinguishers to force them back, pushing them all the way into the Boiler Room. 

Dropping the extinguisher, Scott slams the door shut as Derek shoves a steel desk in front of it. We turn to each other, breathless. Not sure why I was breathless, they did all the work.

"Did that actually just work?" Scott asked.

Derek nods. "It worked."