ACT TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Whole Picture

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     AFTER SO MANY PEOPLE FROM SCHOOL DIED—MORE SPECIFICALLY, MURDERED—THE SCHOOL WAS HAVING A RECITAL. Andi had no plans on going. She knew Boyd and Erica's faces were going to be there and her throat still closed up at the simple thought of them. She would tell her grandmother that she was fine and was still able to go to school so now here she was at her locker before it was time to head to her next class when Scott tapped her shoulder.

     "How are you feeling?" he asked and Andi sighed as she shrugged her shoulders.

     "I've definitely had better days," she replied.

     "Have you seen Allison around?" Scott asked but the blonde just shook her head.

     "What are we talking about?" Isaac asked as he walked up to the two of them.

     "Scott is worried about Allison," Andi replied as she shut her locker but Scott just shook his head.

     "It's just that she almost never misses a day of school," he replied and Andi sighed.

     "How about me and Isaac slip out and go check on her and you and Stiles stay here and try to talk to Ethan about druids? I'm thinking that it could be possible that the Darach might have been an emissary to the Alphas or one of them and Ethan is not as hotheaded as Aiden. Oh, and while you're at it, ask him what he knows about a deal that was made between Deucalion and Kendall Reid. From what I know, she went to him for protection but I don't know from what and I doubt she wants to talk to me after I kind of choked her to get her to talk about what the Alphas had planned that night," she said and Scott's eyes widened.

     "You did what to Kendall?" he questioned and Andi rolled her eyes.

     "You were there when I gave her a migraine on the bus that could've been deadly if you didn't stick your claws in my arm, which left scars by the way, so thank you for that," Andi said as she held up her right forearm that had puncture wounds all around that scarred over. "Besides, doing all that still didn't make a difference in the outcome."

     "Look, we'll go over there to check on her and we'll let you know if anything goes south," Isaac said and Scott nodded.

     "We'll see you guys later," Andi said before she and Isaac walked out of the school to head to Allison's place.

     "If you still have problems with Allison, I can go by myself," Isaac offered but Andi just shook her head.

     "I'm not leaving you alone with her. I know what happened with her at the warehouse district was a while ago and she did say she was sorry about that, but she's still a trained hunter," she said and Isaac laughed.

     "Aw, you must really care about me," he teased and Andi rolled her eyes.

     "I will turn around right now and leave you to deal with her by yourself," she said.

     "Come on, I was just playing," Isaac laughed and Andi smiled as well.

     "It's fine. I wasn't actually going to turn around and leave you by yourself," she replied. "And to be completely honest, I don't really have a problem with her anymore. She did say sorry for what she said or did to us and she really is trying to help us with the Alphas."

     "I know I already said this before, but I still think your parents were wrong to send you away because of the power you had. And this is just a thought, but maybe it wasn't because they wanted a 'normal' child. Maybe they felt threatened when they realized you were probably born with so much power so they forced your grandmother to suppress your magic, not realizing that it would build up into something stronger over the years. And when they realized their mistake, they sent you here," Isaac said and Andi sighed.

     "I don't know if that's supposed to make it better or worse but either way, they didn't want me. At least not like this. Even the person who I thought was my friend seemed pretty happy with me gone. To be honest, I completely forgot her name," she laughed and Isaac smiled.

     "I guess she's just not that important," he replied.

     Andi sighed as she saw Allison's place straight ahead and bit the inside skin of her lower lip. "You know, I never told anybody this, but my whole life, I just wanted to be good enough for someone. Whether it was for my parents or for the people at school, I just wanted someone to look at me and tell me I was enough. And then I came here to live with Grams. She didn't persecute me when I did something questionable or just straight up wrong, she would just tell me what I could do to avoid making the same mistake and how to do better next time. At first, I didn't want to be a witch but the more I learned, the more I realized how many people I could protect if I used this power. And then I met you, Scott, Stiles and everyone else. And it made me realize that I had more power than a lot of people could even dream of having, the kind of power some people would kill for. And I could use it to help people and protect the ones I love. And even though I failed to save some of our friends a few times, there were still more people I needed to protect," Andi swallowed the lump in her throat as she wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall.

     This was the first time she spilled her guts like this to anyone and a part of her wondered if it was even a good idea to do so in the first place. Part of her thought that maybe Isaac wouldn't really care but part of her also believed that Isaac had too much of a kind heart to just brush off her confession like that. So when Isaac stopped to pull her into his arms, she was both relieved and shocked. She almost forgot what they were supposed to do but just let it happen.

     "To be honest, when I met you, you seemed like the kind of person who does what they want or what they believe is right. You never needed anybody's approval before and you don't need it now," he said and Andi sighed as they separated and stopped right in front of Allison's place.

     "Here we are," she said as she looked at the slightly open window. "Sounds like she's home."

     "So, do we just go up there and knock on the door or—"

     "Don't scream."

     "What are you—"

     Before Isaac could finish, Andi used her magic to propel him into the air and onto the small balcony just outside the slightly open window. She shortly followed after him and gently landed on her feet but Isaac was just starting to get up. Before he could even ask what she did or why, the window suddenly opened and Isaac was pulled inside and thrown onto the floor. The second she saw a blade being held to his throat, she used her magic to knock it out of Allison's hand and it slid against the floor.

     "This is why I insisted I come with you," Andi said as she entered the room and Allison got off of Isaac so he could stand up.

     "What are you two doing here?" the brunette questioned.

     "You weren't at school," Isaac said.

     "Did Scott send you guys here to check on me?" Allison asked.

     "Actually, it was my idea but Scott was kind of worried. He said you almost never miss a day of school so it set off a warning bell in his head when you didn't show up," Andi said and Allison sighed.

     "I can take care of myself," she replied and Andi used her magic to grab the knife and held it in her hand as she inspected it.

     "Yeah, we noticed," she said.

     "More than once," Isaac added.

     "I mean, we all got something. Isaac has claws and fangs, I have magic, and you have guns, crossbows and Chinese ring daggers," Andi said as she smiled and gave the dagger back to Allison.

     "Look, the reason I wasn't in school is because I think my father might be up to something or may be involved with all the sacrifices because he seems to know too much about it and I need to investigate it," Allison said as she led them through the apartment.

     "Wait, so your father might be the killer?" Isaac asked.

     "No. I mean, I don't think he is, at least. I hope not," Allison said as she led them into another room.

     "You mean, you hope he isn't the serial-killing dark druid who's been slashing people's throats?" Isaac questioned and Allison nodded.

     "Chris Argent is a hunter. To be the Darach, he would've had to to be an emissary. I asked Scott and Stiles to talk to Ethan to get any information about that," Andi said as she stood there with her arms crossed.

     "Just look at the marks on this map," Allison said as she picked up a UV flashlight and held it over the map on the desk. "There are five more bodies to be found but it doesn't say who the bodies are."

     Andi noticed Isaac stepping away from the desk while he was still looking at it. "What are you doing?" she asked.

     "Something I learned from my father. Take a step back and look at the whole picture. Sometimes you'll notice some things you wouldn't notice when you're up close and only looking at the details," he replied.

     Andi and Allison stepped back and Andi stiffened when her body touched Isaac's. "You see that?" Allison asked.

     Andi looked at the design of the desk right under the map and moved everything to the side. "It's a five fold knot. I've seen this in the grimoire a few times," she said. "Pass the light."

     Allison handed her the flashlight and she held it over one of the knots, revealing the writing that would be invisible if it wasn't for the UV light. "Virgins," Allison said, reading the word aloud.

     "Warriors," Isaac said when Andi held the light over the next knot and then moved it to the one after.

     "Healers," she said as she moved the light over the fourth knot.

     "Philosophers," Allison said.

     Andi moved the light over the knot in the centre where the word guardians was written and Isaac said the word out loud. Andi started to think back on all the people who were already sacrificed. Heather, the boy Lydia found at the public pool and the girl who was the girlfriend of the girl she saw in the woods when she and Isaac were chasing down Boyd and Cora. Virgins. Mr. Harris, the music teacher and Kyle, who was a senior student and an Air Force Junior ROTC cadet. Warriors. She heard about an ER attending physician, Dr. Hilyard and a third person. Healers. The most recent death was a deputy from the sheriff's department. Andi already knew what kind of groups would be targeted but she just didn't know which one would be next after healers.

     Allison called Stiles and told him what they just found out. "There are two more groups, philosophers and guardians. Guardians have to mean something after last night, it has to mean something like law enforcement," Allison said but Andi shook her head.

     "No," she said. "Not guardians."

     "What do you mean?" Isaac questioned.

     "Look," Andi said as she ran her finger over the design, following the direction of the knots. "Virgins, warriors, healers, philosophers, guardians. The next group to be sacrificed isn't guardians, it's philosophers."

     "Either way, Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Warn him," Allison said to Stiles on the phone.

     Allison hung up and sat down while Andi looked around. While Allison and Isaac were discussing any possible moves, Andi heard a shrill, bloodcurdling scream that made her ears and her head hurt. It was almost like the tuning fork Kali used on her at Derek's loft and she screamed herself as she covered her ears to try and block out the sound but it didn't help. She didn't even register Isaac holding onto her and asking what was wrong and even after the screaming stopped, she could still feel the effects the screaming had on her.

     "What's happening to her?" Allison asked as she stood up.

     "I don't know. Last time something like this happened, Kali used a tuning fork specifically designed to stun witches but this is something else," Isaac said and Andi shook her head.

     "There was a scream. I heard it before on the night Scott and Derek got into the vault to rescue Cora and Boyd but no one else heard it. I think Peter and Stiles thought I was going crazy for a minute," Andi said while still rubbing her temples. "I'm fine."

     Allison's phone vibrated in her pocket and she read the text message she just received. "Mr. Westover is missing. Looks like Andi was right and it's not guardians," she sighed.

     "What exactly connects them? What puts them in the philosophers group?" Isaac asked.

     "Either way, I have to stop my dad," Allison said.

     "Are you sure that's a good idea? If he really is the one doing all of this—"

     "If?" Allison questioned. "Look at this. He knows everything, he's planned everything."

     Allison pulled out a folded map and put it down on the desk. "What are you doing?" Andi asked.

     "If Mr. Westover was taken from the school then there's got to be another point on a telluric current," Allison answered.

     "You mean where he'll be sacrificed," Isaac said as he grabbed the UV light and looked over the marks on the map and then pointed to one. "That mark's new."

     "Then that's where he is," Allison said as she took a picture of it on her phone.

     Andi sighed as they left the apartment and started heading to the location where they would find Mr. Westover. If he was still alive.