CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
A KANIMA

     "CAN'T YOU DO A LOCATION spell for this thing?" Stiles groaned as the duo continued to search around in Gerard's office, the book no where to be seen.

     "Locator spell." Elaine corrected. "No, I can't. That's just for people. Well, at least I think. Anyways, the point is, no."

     "What's the point of being a witch if it isn't helpful." Stiles retorted, making Elaine narrow her eyes at him as he quickly texted Allison, telling her the book wasn't there.

     "Hello, Stiles, Elaine." The voice of Erica filled their ears, making them turn their heads towards her. Before they knew it the girl was dragging them both down the hallways and towards the pools, where Derek was at, a basketball in his hands.

     "You're lucky I didn't blast your little guard dog into the lacrosse field." Elaine growled, snatching her arm from Erica's grasp and glaring at her, Erica sent a growl in response, though stopping upon receiving a look from Derek.

     "Stiles, Elaine." Derek greeted the duo.

     "Derek." They both muttered.

     "What did you see at the mechanic's garage?" Derek asked, his attention focused on Stiles whilst Elaine stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

     "Uh, several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting." With his claws, Derek quickly made the basketball lose all of its air making the Stilinski boy say, "Holy God."

     "Let's try that again." Derek spoke. Elaine and Stiles stared at one another, sharing a silent conversation before Stiles sighed and turned his head back towards Derek.

     "All right, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark, kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales. Is that enough?" Stiles asked, glancing between the two before Derek simply looked at him making the boy groan in frustration. "All right, fine. Eyes. . . Eyes are, um, yellowish, and slitted. Um, has a lot of teeth. . . Oh, and it's got a tail, too!"

     "A tail? You didn't tell me it had a tail." Elaine spoke, furrowing her eyebrows.

     "Are we good?" Stiles asked, however neither wolf answered, panicked looks covering both of their faces as they looked upwards. "What? Wait, have you seen it? You have this look on your faces like you know exactly what I am talking about." That's when a hiss could be heard, making the two teenagers follow the sound, only to see the creature that Stiles had been talking about on the railing right above them. The blood drained from Elaine's face as her eyes widened slightly. The creature let out cry before jumping down, making Stiles and Elaine quickly move towards the two wolves.

     It went for Erica first, quickly swiping at her feet and sending her flying into the walk, knocking her out. Derek let out a growl before turning towards the two, pushing them back before yelling, "Run!" The creature was quick to slide his claws across the back of Derek's neck, making the wolf quickly turn around, standing up.

     "Derek, your neck!" Stiles called towards him. The alpha brought a hand up to the cut that now resided there before his body started to go numb, making the two teenagers grab onto him, quickly rushing away from the creature. "Where is it? Do you see it?"

     "I can smell it. Please, hurry. Call Scott!" Derek told them. Stiles pulled out his phone only for it to fall from his hands, dropping on the concrete. Stiles was quick to throw Derek into the pool, the man yelling for them before going under water, being cut off. Stiles looked down at his phone before he glanced up at Elaine who swallowed.

     "Go. Get Derek so he doesn't drown. I'll go get Scott." Elaine spoke, nerves in her voice as she glanced towards the water before looking back towards Stiles. He looked at her for a moment before glancing around and nodding his head before diving into the water and Elaine made a run for it.

     Derek and Stiles resurfaced and Stiles was quick to ask, "Where did it go? Do you see it?"

     "No." Derek answered.

     "Okay, maybe it took off?"

     "Nope, definitely not." Elaine's voice could be heard as she listened to the loud howl that had fallen from the creatures lips. She swallowed thickly before letting out a huff and quickly turning around. "Come on, get out of the water before it gets back."

     "Yeah, can you get me out of here before I drown?" Derek requested.

     "You're worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth?" Stiles questioned.

     "Did you notice I'm paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?" Derek shot back.

     "Okay, I don't see it." Stiles spoke before starting to swim towards Elaine was kneeling. He was so close before Derek was quick to stop him.

     "Wait, wait, wait! Stop! Stop!" They all turned their heads only to see the creature crawling around the pools once again. Elaine sat there, staring at it with wide eyes. She tried not to move in hopes of it not seeing her.

     "What's it waiting for?" Elaine whispered, looking at the creature when it stopped. The creature looked down at the pool water before placing it's hand on the water only to violently scurry backwards and away from it.

     "Wait, did you see that? I don't think it can swim." Stiles informed.

     "Great, I have something somewhat in common with this thing, how lovely." Elaine muttered.

     "You can't swim?" Derek asked her.

     "No, she's afraid of big areas of water, including that of a pool and ocean." Stiles explained.

     "That's why I took up Latin." Elaine spoke, swallowing thickly as she continued to eye the creature as it walked around the pool, she carefully moved backwards every time it took a step forward. 

     "Okay, okay. . . I don't think I can do this much longer. . ." Stiles huffed before his eyes landed on his phone that was still beside of the pool.

     "No, no, no. Don't even think about it." Derek snapped.

     "Would you just trust me this once?" Stiles snapped.

     "No." Derek snapped back.

     "I'm the one keeping you alive, okay? Have you noticed that?" Stiles asked.

     "Yeah, and when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna be able to fight that thing―︎you or me?"

     "Elaine can fight it." Stiles suggested, making Elaine snap her head towards him, looking at him as if he were crazy.

     "I'm not going near that thing, and I'm not making it angry by throwing it into a wall because my only escape is water and that's not happening." Elaine hissed at him.

     "Sorry. Inconsiderate of me." Stiles spoke, waving the girl off.

     "You don't trust me. I don't trust you. You need me to survive, which is why you are not letting me go." Derek sternly told the boy.

     "Elaine, can you get to the phone?" Stiles asked.

     "Not exactly, but I can try something better." Elaine swallowed before holding out her hand. She glanced towards the creature before softly muttering, "Dimiterre" and instead of pushing her hand forward, she pulled it back towards her, sending the phone sliding towards her direction. She grabbed it before swallowing thickly and picking up the phone, dialing her brothers number and glancing towards Stiles who was struggling to keep both himself and Derek above water.

     "Come on, Scott." Elaine muttered before she noticed the creature looking at her. When the phone answered, Elaine was quick to say, "Scott, you―︎"

     "I can't talk right now." And then he hung up on her. The phone fell from her hands as she eyed the creature that had started to make his way towards her. She was trying not to panic, wishing that Erica would get up and help, but the female was both knocked out and paralyzed at the same time.

     "Tell me you got him." Derek asked. Elaine shook her head, slowly standing up as she kept her eyes on the creature. Stiles' heart rate picked up, cursing under his breath knowing there wasn't anything he could do in order to save both Derek and Elaine. He wanted to drop the Alpha, letting him drown and suffocate in order to save the girl that he loved―︎did he just admit that to himself? He wasn't sure, but he swallowed and kept his eyes on her, begging for her to just run away, or jump into the water. But he knew she wouldn't. Elaine wasn't a runner―︎minus the whole part of her being in love with her best friend and him not knowing about it. She was a fighter, and like her brother, she would do what it took to keep her friends and family safe.

     "Elaine." Stiles warned, glancing between the creature and the female. "Elaine, get the hell out of there!"

     "I can―︎I can keep it locked up enough for you two to escape." Elaine called towards them, her eyes never leaving the creature.

     "Absolutely not! I'm not leaving you behind!"

     "Stiles, this isn't up for debate!" Elaine yelled. "When I cast the spell, you have to go, alright? I don't know how long I can keep it up. Or if it will even work." She mumbled the last part to herself. Stiles wanted to protest, wanted to argue, he wanted to yell at her that she was his responsibility and he needed to keep her safe, not vice versa, but Elaine was stubborn. And it annoyed him to no end. She ignored the phone that was ringing beside of her, focusing on the creature and the spell that she was trying to remember. The spells flashed through her mind, trying her best to look through her head for the one that she needed, and then she found it.

     "Phasmatos veras nos ex malom. Terra mora vantis quo incandis per vasa quo errum signos." Elaine chanted before glancing towards Stiles. He looked at her for a moment before clenching his jaw and quickly swimming towards one of the poles that would helpfully help pull them both out. However, he slipped, and both he and Derek fell through the water. Elaine watched the creature trying to attack her, bouncing against the boundary spell as she continued to chant the words. "Phasmatos veras nos ex malom. Terra mora vantis quo incandis per vasa quo errum signos."

That's when Scott appeared, quick to pull both Derek and Stiles from the water, putting them on the ground before looking towards the creature that his sister was keeping trapped, letting out a roar. Elaine stopped chanting, stumbling backwards at the amount of power that that one spell needed. Blood ran down her nose as she watched Scott attack the creature only for it to wrap its tail around Scott's leg, sending him flying into the wall, shattering the mirror on the wall. The creature turned towards Elaine, starting towards her, angry. She swallowed thickly before holding out her hand.

     "Patere!" The girl shouted, throwing out her hand and sending the creature away from her. The creature hissed before turning its attention back towards Scott who was quick to grab one of the mirror shards, holding it up as the creature stalked towards him. However, it stopped upon seeing itself in the reflection. It let out a hiss before quickly jumping onto the wall, up onto the railing, and then onto the roof before making its quick escape. Elaine sighed before falling forcing herself to stand up. She brought a hand to her nose, pulling it away and noticing the blood that covered her hands. She met eyes with Scott who looked at her worriedly. Stiles stood up as well, making his way over to her, furious.

     "I'm fine." Elaine assured them both, wiping away the blood.

     "What the hell was that, huh? You could've gotten yourself killed!" Stiles snapped.

     "And I didn't." Elaine calmly told him. "In fact I took part in saving your asses."

     "And what if you had gotten hurt, huh?"

     "For a good cause." Elaine argued. "Stiles, I'm not having this argument with you. I'm perfectly alright, see?"

     "Yeah, because blood wasn't dripping from your nose three seconds ago!" Stiles shot back. Elaine clenched her jaw, looking at the boy, shaking her head.

     "If you want to argue about this, fine, we will, but we have more important matters at hand." Elaine quickly brushed him off before moving past him and walking out of the room with Scott, and with a frustrated sigh, Stiles followed as well. They all made it outside, Scott opening a laptop and inserting the USB drive into the computer to reveal the bestiary, only it wasn't in English.

     "Is that even a language?" Stiles quizzed, cocking his head slightly.

     "How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?" Scott huffed.

     "It's called a Kanima." Derek appeared with Erica by his side. Elaine gave him a blank look, shaking her head slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

     "You knew the whole time?" Elaine growled.

     "No. Only when it was confused by its own reflection." Derek responded.

     "It doesn't know what it is." Scott mumbled in realization.

     "Or who." Derek nodded.

     "What else do you know?" Stiles asked, annoyed.

     "Just stories. Rumors."

     "But it's like us?" Scott questioned.

     "A shapeshifter? Yes. But it's-it's not right. It's like a. . ."

     "An abomination." Stiles muttered.

     "Derek?" Scott asked, making the alpha look at him. "We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents."

     "What?" Elaine snapped in disbelief, quickly turning her head towards her brother with her eyes slightly widened.

     "You trust them?" Derek asked with a scoff.

     "Nobody trusts anyone! That's the problem! While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us, and it's killing people, and we still don't even know anything about it!"

     "I know one thing―︎when I find it? I'm gonna kill it." And with that the alpha and his beta walked away.

━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎

     "You really want to argue about this?" Elaine spoke, her arms crossing over her chest as she stood in front of her house, Scott having gone to pick up their mom and Stiles offering to take the girl home.

     "I don't want to argue at all." Stiles shook his head. "But it seems that you don't realize how dangerous what you just did was."

     "Why are you saying it like that, Stiles?" Elaine huffed. "I know that I'm a new witch and all, but I think I know what I'm doing."

     "No, you don't!" Stiles snapped.

     "Alright, what the hell is wrong with you?" Elaine snapped, furrowing her eyebrows. "I thought you were excited that I was a witch."

     "And I never took that statement back." Stiles told her.

     "Then what's the problem, Stiles? Because all I was trying to do was be helpful, help you from getting killed. Please tell me what the hell was wrong with that?! A thank you would be very much appreciated."

     "Thank you." Stiles spoke. "Laney, you just can't use so much power at one time―︎"

     "Why not?" Her anger seeped through. "Let me take advantage of this, Stiles. Please."

     "El―︎"

     "Look, I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." Elaine sighed before turning on her heels and entering her house before Stiles could say anything else.  He clenched his jaw before getting back in his Jeep, slamming a hand against the steering wheel with a sigh.

     "Damnit." As he backed out, Rebekah's words echoed in his head. "Because of the fact that she has faced death, there will be a darkness that will slowly start to take over until she drives herself into insanity. When she wakes, her full power will be revealed, and she will be troubled, struggling as she tries to control it. The more she uses her power, the quicker the darkness will spread. She will be violent with the urge to kill, and you'll have to let that urge take over."