𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒
☽𓋼𓍊𓋼☾

Lyla sent a small smile up at Isaac as he opened the door of the Argents apartment for her, releasing her hand from his own to allow her under his arm and through the doorway.

He stepped ahead of her as she closed the door behind them, appearing in the doorway of Argents office where the others were, "I can't shoot a gun, or use a crossbow. Well I'm- I'm getting pretty good with these." He flicked his claws out, looking up at Argent with purpose. Lyla appeared behind Isaac with a nod.

"I'm actually really good with these," She sent Allison a small smile when she flicked her claws out, "We wanna help."

Argent nodded, "Stiles is gonna go find Lydia. We're gonna look for Jennifer at the bank vault." Lyla inhaled deeply, "I'll go with Stiles. A set of claws might be useful."

Stiles smiled at the girl thankfully as Allison and her father began packing up a couple weapons. Lyla walked up to Stiles slowly, placing a hand on his arm, "How'd it go with the cops? Have you heard from Scott?"

The boy shook his head, "Scott's dad is in town investigating the murders." Lyla raised a confused brow at the boy, who sighed, "He's FBI." She nodded, blowing air inter her upper lip awkwardly, "Great."

"Alright. We don't have much time so we need to be quick." Allison placed a passing hand on Lyla's arm following her dad out of the office and squeezing past Isaac.

"I didn't bring my bike, so you're driving." Lyla looked over at Stiles, who nodded and grabbed his keys and phone from his pocket. "And text Lydia, see where she is."

The five exited the Argents apartment building, waking towards Argents and Stiles' cars, which were parked next to each other. Allison and Argent quickly jumped in his Toyota, Stiles starting up his Jeep with a loud rumble. Isaac and Lyla paused between the two vehicles, "Text me." Isaac mumbled, grabbing her hand with his and staring down at her, "Anything happens, you text me."

Lyla nodded up at him, locking eyes through her lashes, "Same for you." The boy sighed, tongue darting out to lick his bottom lips nervously, before bending down and placing a soft, quick kiss on her forehead. Isaac spun around and hopped in the back seat of the Toyota, Argent quickly speeding out of the parking lot.

Lyla swallowed thickly, jumping up into the passenger seat of Stiles' Jeep, the boy peeling out of the lot before she got her seatbelt on.

"So," Stiles muttered, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and glancing over at her with a teasing smirk, "That's a new development."

"I'll bite you."

Stiles clamped his mouth shut, turning his attention back to the road.

𓋼

"I don't believe it. Scott can't really be with them. He can't be." Lydia shook her head, staring up at Stiles, who was leaning against the couch. "You didn't see the look on his face, though. It was-" Stiles paused, causing Lydia to shrug.

"Then what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some kind of like, human Geiger counter for death, but, I don't know how to turn it on and off yet." Lydia sighed, fidgeting with her fingers, "All I know is that she tried to kill me because-"

Lylas's head perked up when Lydia paused, tilting her head at the girl, "Because of what?"

The girl sat there thinking, not answering Lylas's question. Stiles sighed, "Hey, Lydia, what?"

"When she called me a banshee, she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?" Lyla raised an eyebrow, curious as to what Lydia was getting at.

"Then why did she?" Stiles muttered, Lyla glancing up at the boy who was leaning against the couch behind her. "That's what we need to find out."

☽𓋼𓍊𓋼☾

"Do we really have to be in school right now?" Lyla muttered, making Stiles roll his eyes, "Probably the safest place for us right now."

The two looked over at Lydia as she appeared around the corner, following them down the steps to the first floor, "Aidens not texting me back." Stiles halted his steps, looking around the hallway nervously. Lyla looked back at the boy, furrowing her brows.

"Maybe we could just, we could go over there and-" Stiles whipped his phone out, his face falling as his eyes read his screen, and Lyla took a small step towards him, "Stiles? Everything okay?"

"Stiles? Oh god, what is it now?" Lydia mumbled, now standing directly in front of him. "It's from Isaac. Jennifer, she t-" He paused, hands shaking as he held his phone, "She has Allisons father. She took him. She's got all three now."

Lyla's ears perked up when Stiles' heartbeat raised, now rapidly beating against his chest. He put his phone away, breath quickening as Lydia stared at him with wide eyes. "There's still time. We still have time, right?"

Stiles whimpered, and Lyla reached out a hand to place on his shoulder, "Stiles? Stiles, are you okay?"

Stiles moved away from the girls, spinning on his heel to look around the hallway. Lydia glanced over at Lyla before back to Stiles, "Stiles, What's wrong?"

"I think I'm having a panic attack."

Lyla's heart dropped, and she looked at Lydia with wide eyes, "I'll get a nurse." The strawberry blonde nodded, grabbing Stiles' arm and yanking him towards the locker rooms to their right.

Lyla paused, trying to remember where exactly the nurse's office was, before taking off down the hallway.

She slammed the nurse's door open, looking around anxiously at the empty room. "Shit. Hello?" Nobody answered, a breath of frustration escaping her at the sign next to the desk, Be back soon!

"Ugh!" She groaned, spinning around and bolting back down the hallways towards the locker room. When she entered, Stiles and Lydia were sitting on the floor, Stiles' breathing and heart rate back to normal. "Nurse wasn't there."

"It's fine. I'm fine." Stiles stood quickly. throwing his backpack over his shoulders, "We didn't even think about Morrell!"

Lyla's eyes widened, a gasp escaping her as he zoomed past her, "Okay! I'm, I'm so confused." She cried out, following the boy and Lydia towards the guidance counselor's office.

When Stiles opened the door, Morrell was gone, but there was a girl sitting in the spot across from Morrells desk. "Are you here for Miss Morrell?"

"No, I thought this was gym class." Lyla popped a smirk at the girls sass, but Lydia didn't find it very funny, "Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny. Do you know where she is?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "If I did, I wouldn't be waiting here for 20 minutes! So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn?" Lydia sighed, "We're not here for a session."

"Well, I am. And I've got some serious issues to work on." The girl looked Lydia up and down, Stiles pointing a small finger at her, "Hey, wait, wait, You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend."

This caught Lyla's attention, Heather was the first sacrifice, Stiles' childhood friend. "I was Heathers best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week."

"Hold on," Lyla frowned, stepping out from behind Lydia to look at Danielle, "You said Ms. Morrell's 20 minutes late?" The girl nodded at Lyla, "And I don't know why, either. She's always on time."

Lyla and Lydia sent a confused look at each other, "I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester. She was never late."

"Then she's not late," Stiles muttered, "She's missing." Lydia inhaled deeply, "What if we're not the only one who thinks she knows something?"

Stiles nodded weakly, staring at Morrells cabinets, "Then I want to know what she knows." Stiles shuffled over to the filing cabinets and dropped to a knee, "Uh, what are you doing?" Danielle sat up in a panic.

"Trying to find her."

Danielle raised an eyebrow, "Those files are private." Lyla nodded, pressing her lips together in a fine line, "Yeah, she's right, Stiles."

"You can't go through them." Lydia sighed, but Stiles just held a file out to her, "That one's yours."

Lydia snatched the file from the boy, Lyla looking over her shoulder to see the strawberry blondes file, "Let me see that."

Lydia placed it on the table, shuffling through the papers quickly. Lyla's lips drew downwards as she looked through them, eyes catching an a beautifully drawn tree. Stiles had seen it too, furrowing his eyebrows as Danielle stood to look at Lydia's file as well, "Wait, Lydia that's your drawing." Lydia raised a brow, holding her hands out, "Yeah, I know, it's a tree."

"It's a good tree." Lyla whispered, Lydia tilting her head towards her with a smile, "Thank you."

"No, but that's the same one." Stiles gestured to the drawing, standing up to stand next to Lyla. "Same as what?" Stiles sighed, "The same one I always see you drawing in class."

"It's a tree." Lydia deadpanned, "I like drawing trees."

"No, but it's the exact same one." Stiles grabbed the paper, holding it out to compare it to the other drawing in the file. "Give me your bag."

Lyla furrowed her brows as Stiles pulled out Lydia's notebook, opening it up to compare it to another drawing, "There, see."

Lydia paused with wide eyes, Lyla raising a brow as Stiles began flipping the pages of the notebook to show different variations in sizes and colors, all the same tree.

"Okay, you can have my session." Danielle grabbed her bag, and exited the office, "You got bigger issues." Lydia began breathing heavily at the many drawings, "What is this?"

Stiles shrugged, before pausing and flipping the notebook upside down, now showing the full tree as a stump and roots instead. Lyla raised a brow, mouth falling agape as Stiles looked over at the two girls, "I know where they are."

The three shuffled quickly out of the office, "The Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them, it has to be-"

"Stilinski!"

Lyla looked away from the boy to stare at the end of the hallway, where a man wearing a suit and an FBI badge on his hip was approaching them. Must be Scott's dad, he looks like him. Stiles sighed, turning to two girls, "Alright, look, go to Derek, okay? He and Peter, they've been there before. So, they'll know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar. Alright? They'll know."

Lydia nodded, Stiles motioning his head to the left as a sign to tell them to leave. Lydia lightly grabbed Lyla by the arm, guiding her down the hallway towards the parking lot. Lyla pulled her arm back from Lydia, an idea popping in her head, "Hey, go to Derek's, I'm gonna find Allison and Isaac." Lydia nodded, yanking her bag further up her shoulder and eagerly exiting the school.

Looking around quickly, she turned on her heel and headed back in the direction of the guidance counselor's office.

"Lyla." The girl's head swung back, face falling when she saw Deaton walking up to her, "Dr. Deaton. Uh- What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you. And Stiles, and Lydia."

Lyla swallowed thickly, "W-Well, Lydia left, and I think Stiles is being questioned by Scott's dad." Deaton nodded with a small, warm smile, "Show me."

Lyla nodded quickly, pulling her bag further up her shoulder and listening around her for Stiles' voice. When she picked up on it, her eyes wandered to the empty history class a few classrooms down from Morrells office.

"That one." She pointed at the class, and Deaton walked over to it, Lyla following hot on his trail.

"Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?" Scott's dad asked just as Deaton entered the doorway, "He's with me."

Lyla peaked over Deaton's shoulder eagerly, making eye contact with Stiles.

☽𓋼𓍊𓋼☾

"It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even an axis of two or where they all interact." Stiles stuttered, leaning against the examination table in the animal hospital, "I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."

"My dad and Gerard where there once but Gerard said it was years ago, he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now." Allison muttered the last part, staring sadly over at Stiles, who frowned, "Yeah, mine either."

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac spat, Lyla looking up from the floor to stare up at him from her spot next to him. "There might be a way. But it's dangerous." Deaton sighed, looking back at the group pointedly, "We're gonna need Scott."

"Okay, I'll call him." Stiles mumbled, pulling his phone out and moving to the other room. Deaton looked over at Lyla, "We're gonna need ice, a lot of it."

The blonde nodded, "We can go get it."

☽𓋼𓍊𓋼☾

Lyla watched nervously as she poured the last bag of ice into the final tub. The metal tubs were filled with freezing water and a variety of herbs, the looming fear of the sacrifice hanging thick and heavy in the air.

"Alright, what did you bring?" Deaton nodded towards Allison, Stiles and Scott. "Uh," Stiles cleared his throat, "I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of, crushed it, in her hand. So, I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

Deaton nodded, "It doesn't need to look good it if has meaning."

Stiles frowned, looking down at the dented metal, Lyla 's stomach turning as the reality of this sacrifice began to set in.

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked, looking over Allisons shoulder in slight disgust at the werewolf-killing bullet. "My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

"Scott?"

The boy looked up nervously, "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in her marriage that ever worked." Lyla frowned sympathetically at the boy, before looking back over at Deaton. "Okay, the three of you will get in." Deaton looked from Allison, Scott and Stiles, and then between to Lydia, Isaac and Lyla. "And each of them will hold 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. Someone that has a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether."

Allison and Lydia moved forward to approach each other, Lyla giving Stiles a comforting nod, signaling she would go with him.

"Lydia." The strawberry blonde paused, "You go with Stiles." The group looked over at the boy, Lyla's mouth falling open in confusion.

Allison frowned, "Are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under." Deaton nodded lightly, looking between Allison and Isaac. Lyla's heart dropped, realizing that Isaac and Allison obviously had a connection she didn't understand. Isaac's mouth was open as he looked between the two girls, but Lyla shook her head, "It's okay."

Allison stared over at Scott sadly, in slight shock and confusion, but the boy also nodded a sad reassurance, "It's okay."

Lyla pulled her lips to the side, moving to stand the other side of the room so she was out of the way, but Deaton shook his head, "Lyla, you go with Scott."

The blonde paused, shaking her head, in confusion "All respect, Deaton. But I barely know Scott, and you know him a lot better. I could mess this up-"

"You're a lot more connected than you think, Lyla. You're with Scott."

Lyla looked over at Allison, the brunette giving her a remorseful look as Lyla moved over to Scott. The Hispanic boy smiled down at her nervously, before the three of them began removing their shoes and jackets. Lyla was so, utterly confused. She's more connected than she thinks. What does that even mean? She met Scott 3 months ago and has spent maybe a week total with him. Why couldn't Deaton do it? She didn't want to question the man who obviously knew what he was talking about 98% of the time, but Jesus, could he be any vaguer?

They stood in front of the tubs, Stiles looked back at Lydia who gave him a small smile, before over at Lyla, who was nervously looking at Scott's back. Scott crawled into the tub, just as Stiles and Allison did, gasps and hisses coming from each of them from the temperature of the water.

Once the three were settled in the water, Lyla looked over at Isaac, who was already staring at her. He sent her a warm, but nervous smile, before turning his attention to Stiles, who had spoken up in a shaky voice, "By the way, if I don't make it back, and you do. You should probably know something. Your dad's in town."

Scott inhaled deeply, looking away from his friend with heavy breaths. "Okay, hands on their shoulders." Deaton nodded, and Lyla looked down at Scott, rolling up the sleeves of her sweater and placing her hands firmly against his shoulders.

"Now."

In a breath, Lyla was shoving Scott under the icy water, the ice nipping at the skin of her hands; she could only imagine having your whole body emerged under it. Lyla looked up nervously at Deaton, who stood across from the tubs in front of the one Stiles was in, watching them with an odd sense of calmness. She swallowed thickly, looking to her right just as Lydia did, the two girls looking at each other with wide eyes.

Scott thrashed around for a moment, as did the others, before they were each still, floating to the top of the water unconsciously.

"Oh god, are they dead?" Lydia cried, removing her hands from the water. Lyla shivered as she removed her hands, wiping the water from her arms off with a towel that sat on the table behind her.

"No, they're running through their memories. It's bringing them each back to the first time they encountered the Nemeton." Deaton spoke, Lyla shaking her head nervously, "How long will they be under?"

"Could be 30 minutes. Could be 3 hours. I'm not sure."

Deaton wiped his face with his hands, stepping out of the room quietly and swiftly. "Lyla..."

The girl spun to look at Isaac, shaking her head at him, "It's fine, I get it. You guys have known each other a while, and I'd be delusional to say I haven't seen the way Allison looks at you, okay? I don't want to talk about it right now." She shook her head, leaving Isaac with Lydia to follow after Deaton.

When she entered the front room, he was standing there, leaning against the front desk. "I need to ask you something."

Deaton nodded at her, turning towards her and leaning back against the desk, "My mom. She was a Druid?" Deaton inhaled, before sending her a nod. "Did you know her?" He nodded again.

"Why'd she leave Beacon Hills? Why didn't you tell me that first time we met? Why did she never say anything to my father, or me and my sister? Why did she run?"

Deaton dropped his head, before gesturing her to come closer, which she did. She was now only a step or two away from him, "Your grandmother ran away from her family when she turned 18 and married into a family of brutal werewolf hunters. They were unaware that your grandmother had Druid blood, and discovered it when it was passed on to your mother. They trained her as a hunter and used her Druid abilities as an advantage to them." Lyla sighed, running a hand through her hair and leaning back against the wall behind her.

"The night your mother was bitten, on her first hunt, she couldn't do it. She didn't believe in the morals of her family and she refused to shoot. The Alpha bit her, so she ran from her family and came to me. She knew she couldn't go home, her family would kill her. So, I gave her the only advice I could think of at the time; run. I'm not sure why she decided to not tell anyone she was a Druid, but I know why she didn't tell anyone she came from hunters. I recognized you the moment we met, Delilah, you have her eyes. She was a wonderful woman, and I'm so sorry you had to lose her so young."

Lyla sighed, holding back her tears as she stared up at the ceiling. "There's just so much I didn't know. So much we probably could've done."

Deaton shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Your mother died protecting you and your sister. The information she kept from you wouldn't have changed that." Lyla looked up at Deaton, eyes flooding with tears as she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

"I need a moment." The girl stepped away from Deaton, rounding the desk and stepping out of the Clinic.

The blonde girl sucked in the cold, stormy air, her lip trembling as she took in the information. Her mom was a druid, part of a hunter family. When she was young, she remembers asking her mother where her other grandparents were, because everyone at her school had two sets of grandparents, but she only had her nana and papa from her dad. And she remembers her mom bending down and moving her blonde hair from her face, "Well, baby. Sometimes people's mom and dad pass too early."

Rachel Matthews had told her 6 year-old daughter that her grandparents were dead, when they were actually just murderers.

"Lyla..."

She sniffled, wiping her teary eyes before spinning on her heel to look up at Isaac, "Are you okay?" Lyla frowned, before shaking her head, "I know you're nosey, so I'm sure you heard."

Isaac smiled weakly, being caught in the action of eavesdropping, "Yeah, I heard." The blonde blew out a shaky breath, a sob following it, "My grandparents were hunters. They killed people like us for sport. I have killed someone, it's like it's in my blood. What does that make me?"

Isaac shook his head, placing his hands on her cheeks and tilting her head up to look at him, "It doesn't make you anything, Lyla. You're a great friend, you're smart, you're loyal, determined, kind. You have jumped at every opportunity to help anyone you can, and I see the way you look at our friends." He smiled down at her reassuringly, swiping his thumb over her cheekbone, "I have no idea what happened to you or why your eyes are blue, and I don't care. You're a good person, Lyla. I have no doubts about that and I'm sure not a single person here has any reason to doubt it either."

Lyla huffed, pressing her forehead against his chest, "I'm not sure what I'm gonna tell my sister."

Isaac sighed, leaning down and pressing his cheek against the side of her head and wrapping his arms securely around her waist, "The truth."

☽𓋼𓍊𓋼☾

A sigh escaped Lyla, the girl wiping a hand over her tired eyes as she stared at her three friends, still emerged in the cold, icy water. "This is taking too long. What if they're dead?" Lydia worried, and Lyla listened in, three weak, but steady heartbeats echoing from each of them.

"Nope, they're alive."

Lydia groaned, sitting down in the chair and leaning her head back, "Goodnight. This is too stressful to be awake for."

A laugh escaped Lyla, the blonde girl turning around to enter the front lobby where her phone was charging. She picked up the device, frowning when no notifications popped up. Jo must've picked up another shift. Putting the down payment on the house was a piece of cake, but keeping up with the payments was getting harder and harder. So hard, Lyla was considering getting a job to help out.

"Hey," Lyla gasped when hands touched her waist, turning around to look up at Isaac. "Hey,"

"Do you think they'll wake up in time? It's already been 7 hours, and I'm kind of starting to freak out a little. We're cutting it too close to the full moon." Lyla shrugged, "I'm debating yanking them out of the bathtubs myself." Isaac huffed with a roll of his eyes, his face softening as he stared down at her, "I'm gonna kiss you now."

Lyla smiled with a weak nod, "You should do that."

Isaac chuckled, moving a piece of her hair that had fallen from her braid behind her ear, before leaning down and placing his lips against hers. It was slower than she'd have liked, but she savored it nonetheless. She smiled when she felt his tongue poke her top lip, the girl opening her mouth slightly to make room for him.

"Uh," The two pulled away from each other, Lyla quickly wiping her mouth as she smiled nervously as Lydia. The strawberry blonde's confusion turned into a small smile, "I knew it."