ACT TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY
Bend Over Backwards

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     WHEN ANDI GOT TO SCHOOL, THE FIRST PERSON SHE LOOKED FOR WAS STILES. She needed to give him the news on Heather as soon as possible and keep him updated. As soon as she saw him walking down the empty hallway with Scott, she flagged them down and ran to catch up to them.

     "Stiles, I did the locator spell," she said and the boys pulled her into an empty classroom.

     "Well? Anything?" Stiles asked and Andi could hear the hope in his voice.

     "As of right now, all I know is that she's still alive somewhere but whoever took her is fighting me," she said.

     "What does that mean?" Scott asked.

     "Somebody took Heather when I heard her screaming. Whoever took her is possibly another witch who was able to counteract my locator spell. It was working which is a sign that Heather is alive but the map was burnt before I could get a location," Andi explained and the boys sighed.

     "Can you try again?" Stiles asked.

     "If I could, I would but I can't. I don't have any more blood from Heather, that was all I was able to collect from the mess. My map is burnt so I need a new one and I don't have any of Heather's belongings or a photograph so I can't use the alternative either," Andi said.

     "Are you sure there could be another witch? As far as we know, you and your grandmother are the only ones in town," Scott said.

     "I could ask Grams if there are any others," Andi suggested while shrugging her shoulders.

     "Allison's father might know something too," Scott said.

     "And if there are others?" Stiles asked.

     "We flush them out, process of elimination and we narrow it down until we find out who it is. But right now, we need to come up with a plan to save Erica and Boyd and we need to do it fast," Andi said and the boys stood up straight.

     "What happened at Derek's?" Scott questioned.

     "Peter was able to tap into Isaac's memories but he couldn't get much. Isaac did find Erica and Boyd but Deucalion was there and he was telling them that they would be dead by the next full moon, which is tomorrow night so we need to find out where they are and get them out," Andi explained.

     "Well, I looked at Allison and Lydia's bruises and they're exactly the same. I called in Derek to take a look," Scott said and Andi narrowed her eyes.

     "So their bruises look the same. How does that help us find them?" she asked.

     "It could give us a clue to where they are," Scott said.

     "You really think Derek is gonna believe that? That matching bruises are gonna tell him where his betas are?" Andi questioned and the boys sighed.

     "We need to try something and right now, it's all we got," Scott said and Andi rolled her eyes.

     "Fine," she said.

     Speaking of the devil, the door opened and the brunette and strawberry blonde in question walked in. It didn't take long for Derek to show up but he wasn't very happy about seeing them. Andi and Stiles sat on the desks while Allison and Lydia rolled up their sleeves to show Derek their matching bruises.

     "I don't see anything," he said skeptically.

     "That makes two of us," Andi mumbled under her breath.

     "Just look again," Scott said.

     "How is a bruise going to tell me where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek asked.

     "They're exactly the same on both sides," Scott said while pointing to their arms.

     "It's nothing," Derek said bluntly.

     "Pareidolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia," Lydia said and Derek looked at Scott with his arms crossed.

     "They're trying to help," Scott said and Derek scoffed.

     "These two? This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thank you," he said sarcastically while looking at Lydia and then turned to Allison. "And this one, who shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack."

     "Okay, come on now. No one died. Sure, there might have been a little maiming, a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction," Stiles said and Andi sighed as she slouched forward.

     "My mother died," Allison said quietly.

     "Your family's little honour code killed your mother, not me," Derek replied.

     "That girl was looking for Scott. I'm here to help him, not you," Allison said.

     "You wanna help? Find something real," Derek said before walking towards the door.

     Scott tried to talk to him but he clearly wasn't having it as he walked out of the classroom. Andi sighed as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "I told you their bruises meant nothing," she said.

     "What is your problem? You got a bone to pick with us?" Allison asked and Andi laughed maniacally at her audacity to ask her that question before she slammed her hands on one of the desks.

     "You're damn right I have a bone to pick with you! Lydia is just straight up rude and arrogant and dare I say narcissistic. I have tried to be nice to her and get along with her and yet she's still a rude little bitch. What? Don't like what I have to say because I'm not bending over backwards to kiss your ass? Get over it! This is the real world where not everybody likes you and you're not the perfect little angel you like to think you are," she said while looking at Lydia and then she looked at Allison. "You are a completely different story. I almost don't care that you reminded me that my own mother sent me away the first chance she got because of what I am or that you tried to kill me that night at the warehouse district, but to attack Scott and Isaac after your mother decided to honour your family's screwed up code after Derek bit her was completely irrational, especially on Isaac's behalf. He had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to your mother and to shoot him with a crossbow and stab him repeatedly until he was spitting blood and trying to kill him is absolutely screwed up. So, excuse me if I have a hard time believing either of you are trying to help after how you acted."

     When Andi was done ranting, the boys stood there in shock while the girls just stared at her. "And you didn't even have the decency or the guts to apologize to me, to Scott or to Isaac," she said while looking at the brunette.

     "You want me to say I'm sorry? Fine," Allison said and Andi shook her head.

     "Don't just say you're sorry for the sake of it, apologize like you mean it. If you don't mean it, don't bother," Andi said before walking out of the classroom and slamming the door behind her.

     And what made things worse was that at one point, Andi thought she and Allison could be friends. But clearly, that wasn't going to happen.

     Students started piling in as they arrived and Andi stopped at her locker to grab her stuff for her first class. She tried to calm herself down as she opened her locker but she was still very upset, even after lashing out and telling them how she felt. She didn't even realize that Isaac was walking up to her and she nearly jumped out of her skin when he grabbed her shoulder.

     "Woah, relax. It's just me," he said and Andi sighed with relief when she realized that it was only Isaac.

     "I'm sorry. It's still morning and I already wanna break somebody's bones," she said as she closed her locker and Isaac bit his lip as she tied her hair into a messy ponytail.

     "Can I ask what's wrong?" he asked and Andi only shrugged her shoulders.

     "It's nothing serious, honestly," she said.

     She wanted to tell Isaac what just happened with Allison and Lydia but they had more important things to worry about than her personal feelings about the two girls. They still had two betas to find, a missing teenager and they still had to get into Isaac's memories in a way that will help them figure out where to find Boyd and Erica.

     "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But if you ever do wanna talk, you can call or text me," Isaac said as he pulled out Andi's phone from her pocket and added his number into her contacts.

     "Thanks, Isaac. I'll keep that in mind," she said with a small smile.

     As they were walking down the hallway, Andi saw two boys walking from the opposite direction towards them. She recognized them as the twins from the other day before she and Scott were called into the hospital and it was like the whole world had gone silent. She stopped in her tracks as she watched them carry on like normal but she got that familiar chill down her spine like she did before she heard Heather screaming. But what really confused her was that she couldn't hear their thoughts no matter how hard she focused.

     "Andi? Are you okay?" Isaac asked and Andi looked at him before looking back at the twins before grabbing his arm and pulling him behind the corner.

     "Does something feel off about those twin brothers to you?" she asked and Isaac looked at them as well.

     "Not really. Did you hear anything?" Isaac questioned.

     "That's the thing. I can't," Andi replied and Isaac looked at her confused.

     "What do you mean you can't?" he asked.

     "I can't hear them. I could block out everybody else and focus on them right now but I can't hear their thoughts. It's like they're protected or something," Andi said before stealing another glance at the twins.

     "How is that possible?"

     "Witches can use spells to read people's thoughts or if they're telepathic, then they don't need a spell. But they can also use other spells to protect that person's thoughts so nobody else can read them," Andi explained, recalling everything she learned over the summer.

     "Are you saying they might have a witch protecting their thoughts?" Isaac asked.

     "It's possible. The only other explanation for being unable to hear a person's thoughts is if the person is dead or they're too far away. And if they do have a witch protecting them, what are they hiding? They just showed up out of nowhere and we know nothing about them. Even though I can't hear them, something doesn't feel right," Andi said.

     "You think they could have something to do with the alpha pack?"

     "I don't know but whatever it is, I'll have to worry about it later."

     To Isaac, it almost sounded like she was planning to figure it all out on her own with no help. Maybe when all of this was over, she could just rest. She would bend over backwards to help Scott, Stiles, Isaac and even Derek if she had to. But who would do the same for her?

━━━━

     While Isaac was on the sidelines talking to Deaton, Andi, Derek, Stiles and Scott filled the bathtub with water and ice. Since the other method to regain Isaac's memories didn't work the way they wanted it to, they went to Deaton who knew another way to get them back. This way didn't seem as dangerous as having Peter's claws in his neck but she still worried it might end up doing more harm than good.

     "Obviously, it's not going to be particularly comfortable, but if we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trance-like state," Deaton explained.

     "Like being hypnotized?" Isaac asked.

     "Exactly. Think of it as another form of a compulsion spell," Deaton said and Isaac looked at Andi who was carrying another bag of ice to the tub. "You'll be half-transformed and it will let us access your subconscious mind."

     "How slow does his heart rate have to be?" Scott asked once they were done filling the tub.

     "Very slow," Deaton replied simply.

     "Well, how slow is 'very slow?'" Derek asked with his arms crossed.

     "Nearly dead," Deaton answered with a nonchalant shrug as if this was normal.

     Isaac dipped his fingers in the water but pulled them away quickly at the feeling and looked up at Deaton. "It's safe though, right?" he asked.

     "Do you want me to answer honestly?" Deaton questioned and Isaac sighed.

     "No. No, not really," he said.

     They all heard the sound of latex against skin and turned around to see Stiles with a latex glove on. "What?" he asked. Derek raised his eyebrows and Andi simply rolled her eyes as he took the glove off.

     "How effective is this? Will we actually get something out of it or will he only get glimpses?" Andi asked with her arms crossed to hide her shaking hands.

     "It's actually very effective so he'll get more than just glimpses," Deaton said and Andi nodded.

     "If this feels too risky, you don't have to do this," Derek said and Scott and Andi agreed.

     Instead of saying anything, Isaac took his shirt and shoes off and exhaled sharply. He got into the tub of ice water and started breathing heavily at the very low temperature. Scott and Derek were on the sides holding onto his shoulders and Andi stood there nervously chewing on her fingernails. The guys pushed him under the water but not long after, he came back up and this time, he was shifting. His eyes were bright amber and his fangs were on full display. Stiles held his legs down and Andi moved towards his head and put her hands on his shoulders to push him back down.

     "Get him back under," Deaton said while the others struggled against Isaac's strength. "Hold him!"

     "We're trying!" Derek said.

     "Isaac, it's okay!" Andi said as she pushed him down by his shoulders.

     He continued to struggle until eventually, he stopped moving. Andi let go of his shoulders and the others let go as well to let him resurface. He was still breathing which was a huge relief but his lips had turned purple from the freezing temperature. For this to even work, Deaton needed them all to be quiet.

     "Only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out," he explained and the others nodded. "Isaac? Can you hear me?"

     "Yes. I can hear you," Isaac replied.

     "This is Doctor Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" Deaton asked.

     "Yes," Isaac said while still under his trance.

     "I wanna ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again," Deaton said.

     "I-I don't wanna do that. I don't- I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that," Isaac said anxiously as he started kicking his legs.

     "Isaac, it's alright. Just relax, they're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory," Deaton said calmly.

     "I don't wanna do that," Isaac stammered.

     "It's all right."

     "I don't wanna do that."

     Andi placed her hands back on his shoulders to keep him still while Deaton tried to talk to him. "Relax," he said. "Good. Let's go back to that night. To the place you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"

     "No, it's not a house. It's stone. I think it's marble," Isaac said.

     "Perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?" Deaton asked.

     Isaac described the place as dusty and empty as if it was abandoned. Now they had an idea of where Boyd and Erica were but they needed more.

     The lights flickered and Isaac started to panic as he grabbed Andi's arm. "Someone's here! Someone's coming!" he said.

     "Isaac, relax," Deaton said calmly.

     "No, no, no, they see me! They see me!" Isaac panicked.

     "They're just memories. You can't be hurt by your memories. Just relax," Deaton said while Isaac squeezed tightly onto Andi's arm as he slowly relaxed. "Good. Now tell us everything you see."

     Isaac opened his eyes but it seemed like he was in a daze. "I hear him. He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises," he said.

     "Is he talking to Erica?" Deaton asked.

     "I think so. I can't...I can't see her, I ca-I can't see either of them," Isaac said, his teeth chattering from being in the ice cold bath for so long.

     "Isaac, can you hear anything else?" Deaton asked.

     "They're worried about what they'll do during the full moon. They're worried that they're gonna hurt each other," Isaac said as the lights flickered again.

     "If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart," Derek said quietly so he wouldn't draw out Isaac from his trance.

     "We're running out of time," Andi whispered.

     "Isaac, we need to find them right now. Can you see them?" Deaton asked firmly. "Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of a marker? A number or a sign?"

     Isaac gasped as he sat up and the lights flickered but they still held onto him to keep him grounded. "They're here! They see me! They found me! They're here!" he panicked.

     "This isn't working," Derek said impatiently. "Isaac, where are you?"

     "I can't see, it's too dark!" Isaac replied.

     "Derek, stop!" Andi said while Isaac gripped her arm even tighter.

     "Just tell me where you are," Derek demanded.

     "You're confusing him," Deaton said, urging Derek to stop.

     "I can't see!" Isaac said.

     "Isaac, where are you? Just tell me where you are!" Derek said loudly.

     "His heart rate...he could go into shock," Deaton said while looking at Andi who still had her hands on Isaac's shoulders while he still held onto her arm.

     "I can hear him slipping!" she said in a panic.

     "Derek, stop! Let him go!" Scott said.

     "Isaac, where are you? What did you see?" Derek asked but stepped back when he felt a sharp pain in his head.

     "They found me! They dragged me into a room. There's a dead body inside. It's Erica. I see it! A vault! It's a bank vault!" Isaac said and Andi looked at him as he came out of his trance and sat up straight. Scott and Andi helped him out of the tub and Deaton gave him a towel to dry off. "I saw it! I saw the name. It's, uh, Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside, inside the vault."

     Andi looked down at the ground while everyone else stood there in silence. "You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles asked.

     Isaac shook his head. "No," he said.

     "You said when they captured you, that they dragged you into a room, and that there was a body in it," Stiles said.

     "What body?" Isaac asked.

     Andi sighed. "Erica. You said it was Erica."

     "There's no way she's dead," Derek said as Isaac put his shirt back on.

     His hair was still a little damp but other than that he had dried off and was just sitting on one of the tables. Andi was standing there with her hands in the pockets of her jeans as Derek continued to deny that Erica was most likely dead.

     "Derek, he said 'there's a dead body, it's Erica.' Doesn't leave any room for interpretation here," Stiles said.

     "Well, then who else was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek asked.

     "Someone else, obviously," Stiles replied.

     "What about the girl who saved Isaac? Could it be her?" Scott asked but Isaac shook his head.

     "No, she wasn't like us. Whoever was in the vault with Boyd was," he said.

     "What if that's how Erica died? They pit them against each other during the full moon and see which one survives? It's like Werewolf Thunderdome," Stiles said.

     "But they said they'll both be dead by the full moon. If one kills the other, then they're still gonna die because the alpha pack will most likely kill the survivor," Andi said.

     "Either way, we need to get them out tonight," Derek said with his arms crossed.

     "Be smart about this, Derek. You can't just go storming in there," Deaton pointed out but Derek shook his head.

     "If Isaac got in, so can we," he said.

     "But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?" Deaton asked.

     "Look, we need a plan," Scott said.

     "That much was clear fourteen hours ago," Andi said with her arms crossed.

     "How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty-four hours?" Derek questioned.

     "I think someone already did. 'Beacon Hills First National Bank closes its doors three months after vault robbery.' It doesn't say how they did it, but it probably won't take long to find out," Stiles said after reading an article off his phone.

     "How long?" Derek asked.

     "It's the internet, Derek, okay?" Stiles chuckled. "Minutes."

     They had less than twenty-four hours to find out how the bank vault was broken into or else Boyd was dead as well as the mystery person inside there with him.