CHAPTER TWENTY:
A WITCH

ELAINE SAT IN HER ROOM, the leather book back in hand as she continued to read the last few pages that were left. She wondered silently to herself if maybe she should try one of the spells out. She knew that she was a witch―︎or at least she'd like to believe that her birth mother wouldn't lie to her the first time they met―︎because of the spell she accidentally yelled out in order to shut Rebekah up. And it had worked, and the teenager hadn't a clue what she was doing then, or why it just came to her so naturally. The girl glanced up when she heard the sound of Stiles' voice coming from her brother's room.

"Stiles?" She frowned. The girl having completely forgotten about the full moon and how it affected her brother. She closed her book, standing up from the bed and walking into the hallway and down towards her brother's room, where Stiles was inside with a bag at his feet, Scott sitting in a chair in front of him with a look in his eyes that made the girl's skin crawl. She decided to stand there and listen.

"I'm fine." Scott spoke. "You should go now."

"All right." Stiles nodded. "I'll leave." He was about to stand up before he paused and quickly said, "Well, look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I brought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

Scott went through the bag before pulling out a large chain, looking at Stiles and continued to speak with emotion void in his voice. "You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no." Stiles answered before lunging and quickly placing a hand cuff around one of Scott's wrist, quickly moving in order to hook the other cuff onto the heater.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Scott yelled as Stiles quickly stood up and backed away, looking down at his best friend with worry.

"Protecting you from yourself. . . and giving you some payback. . . for making out with Lydia." Elaine closed her eyes at this, biting down on her lip with a frown. Stiles walked out of the room, almost falling back in surprise when he saw Elaine standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. "Jesus!"

"You're really going to chain him to the heater?" Elaine asked in disbelief as the two walked downstairs in order for Stiles to grab a water for Scott, frowning as she watched him grab a dog bowl that held Scott's name on it. She gave the boy a blank look. "You're being overdramatic, don't you think?"

"I'm taking necessary precautions." He simply told the female.

"Yes, because giving my brother a dog bowl with his name on it is a necessary precaution." Elaine deadpanned.

"Look, he kissed Lydia."

"I know. You've told me this already." She answered.

"You've never dealt with full moon Scott like I have, alright? I know what I'm doing." He told the girl. Stiles looked at the McCall sibling as if he was trying to reassure her that he would be alright. She bit her lip, sighing as she looked up at him.

"Just, be careful, alright? I'm going to get out of the house while you deal with. . . him." Elaine mumbled, wincing slightly at her own words before turning on her heel and walking up the steps with Stiles following her. The girl went into her room, grabbing her book before walking back out and going down the steps and out of the house. She walked on the sidewalk, glancing up at the sky and smiling gently as she looked at the stars. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her brother, and having to go through this alone. Well, he wasn't necessarily alone, Stiles was there, Elaine was there. . . well, she sort of was. She was too focused on this whole witch thing that her birth mom proposed to her.

She found a bench, taking a seat on it and glancing around to make sure no one was around before she opened up the book. She would try one, she decided with the nod of her head. She flipped to a random page before finding one that seemed easy. She huffed before nodding her head and closing her eyes.

"Incendia." She mumbled before opening her eyes only to see nothing. She frowned, repeating the phrase one more time only to get nothing once again. She scoffed, shaking her head. "I knew that woman was a lunatic. But, three times a charm, am I right?" She repeated the phrase one last time, and much to her panicked surprise, it worked. However, it was a fire spell, and now the grass in front of her was quickly spreading with flames. "Oh shit! Um. Wow, bad idea. I chose a fire spell out of all the spells I could've chosen?"

Elaine quickly flipped through the book, muttering curses on her breath before deciding on another that would hopefully stop the spread of the flames. "Glacies corporis!" She threw her hand out towards the flames, and much to her relief, the flames were quick to die out. She continued to sit there on that bench, practicing different spells, trying her best not to turn the grass to crisp once more. And she liked to believe that she was getting the hang of it, not realizing how natural it felt just to flick her wrist and say a few Latin phrases before something supernatural took place. She was enjoying this, maybe a little too much. What she didn't know, was that Rebekah stood out of sight, a gentle smile falling on her face as she watched her daughter play with magic. Maybe Elaine didn't need her help after all, but oh, how wrong she was.

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When Elaine went back home, she was surprised to see Stiles' jeep no longer there. She frowned before entering and walking up the steps. She walked down the hallway, passing by her room and going further down the hall right beside her brother's room. She swallowed before carefully peeking around the corner to see him sitting there.

"Scott?" She carefully asked, her heart rate seeming to pick up which immediately grabbed the boy's attention. He stood up, and Elaine jumped back out of habit, making her close her eyes after she realized she had done it. "Sorry. I just didn't know if you were. . ."

"If I were me?" He tried. She nodded her head.

"Yeah."

"I'm fine now. Uh. . . Derek saved me from doing something stupid, which knocked me back to normal, I guess." He answered. He then noticed the book that was in her hand. "What's that?"

She looked down at it, and her heart rate jumped before she quickly smiled at him. "It's just another one of my Latin books."

Noticing the speed of her heart rate, he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Uh huh." She looked at him for a moment before sighing and handing it to him. He took it, pulling it open to see that it was in fact another book written in the dead language, however there was something different about this one. A lot different. He frowned, noticing some words were in English that were ingredients for something. For spells. "El, what is this?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Elaine mumbled as she entered the room, taking a seat at the bottom of Scott's bed.

"Try me." He shrugged, sitting down beside her and looking at the book whilst occasionally glancing towards his sister. The girl bit her lip, debating about whether or not she should tell him the truth. Either way, he was going to find out eventually. So, she might as well, right? But, what if he freaked out? What if it was all just a coincidence with what happened at the park, and she wasn't a witch, and Rebekah had lied to her? She wouldn't be surprised.

Scott glanced towards his sister, frowning at her hesitancy. Did she not trust him? Was it because it was still a full moon and she thought he was going to do something irrational? Was Elaine still scared of him and what he was? Honestly, he wouldn't doubt that part one bit. But whatever this was, whatever she wanted to tell him, it seemed like she was terrified of it. But why was she terrified of it?

"El?" Scott carefully questioned. "You know you can talk to me. That's never changed. A-and whatever it is, you can tell me. It'll stay between us."

"I know." She nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Look, I don't really know that much, alright. And you can't laugh at me."

"Never." He shook his head.

Elaine looked at him for before letting out a breath. "Alright. Well, I, uh, I think I'm a witch."

Scott looked at her, blinking. "A-a witch?"

"Yes."

"Like, magic and spells, type witch?"

"Yes."

"Like Harry Potter witch?"

"Have you even seen that series."

"No."

"Then you would know a male is a wizard and a woman is a witch."

"Sorry." He mumbled. There was a moment of silence before he looked at her again. "A witch?"

"Yes! A witch!" Elaine yelled, letting out a groan of annoyance. She took her book from his hands, shaking her head slightly before going to walk out of his room.

"Wait!" Elaine stopped, turning on her heels to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Can I tell Stiles?" Elaine gave him a blank look before turning on her heel and walking out. Scott sat there for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows before looking back towards the doorway, "Was that a yes or a no?"

"NO!" Elaine yelled back.

"Oh, o-okay." The boy sat there for a moment before mumbling to himself and then humming with the nod of his head. "Huh, a witch."