Chereads / Scar | Teen Wolf / Chapter 32 - Fireflies

Chapter 32 - Fireflies

Scarlett wanders around the woods alone looking for any sign of Boyd and Cora. Derek, Scott, and Scar split up looking for them. They figured this would allow for the trio to cover more ground and give them the best chance in finding the two werewolves before they caused harm to anyone.

Derek called Scarlett about 15 minutes into the search, "Hey, I'm by the trails at the entrance to the preserve. Come meet me. Scott thinks we should stick together."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Scarlett hangs up and starts making her way towards the Alpha. Once Scott, Derek, and Scarlett are back together, they quickly run through the woods chasing after Boyd and Cora. Derek stops short, dropping to look at something on the ground.

The twins stop next to him to see tracks in the mud, "Is it them?" Scott asks.

Derek nods, "We're not the only ones who decided to stick together."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Scar questions.

"I don't know."

"Derek, I saw Boyd try to rip two little kids apart. Are they going to do that to everyone they find?" Scott asks, clearly worried.

"Everyone and anyone." Derek sighs.

"Well, we're going to need more help then." Scarlett says as she pulls out her phone calling Isaac.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Following the sounds of a girl yelling for another girl, the group quickly makes their way towards her to make sure she gets out of the woods safe. Isaac makes it first, just in time to save her from a transformed Cora.

Cora grips onto Isaac's jacket and throws him into a tree. She moves to attack him once more but Scarlett leaps over Isaac, taking Cora down. Cora scrambles back up quickly but now comes face to face with Derek. Scott, Isaac and Scarlett circling the brother and sister.

Cora carefully watches the four werewolves but rather than staying to fight she makes the wise decision to run. Derek quickly charges after her, Isaac and Scar close behind. Scott stays for a brief moment to make sure the girl isn't hurt.

They wait in a small clearing as Scott talks to Stiles on the phone. Scarlett quickly checks her phone to see a missed call from Lydia. She sends the strawberry blonde a message to let her know that she will call her back later but is busy at the moment and can't talk.

Once Scott finishes the call Derek speaks up, "This doesn't make sense. The public pool is on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there."

"Derek... they killed someone." Scott says.

Scarlett shakes her head, "I don't think so. Like Derek said it doesn't add up. They can't possibly move that fast."

"They killed someone. Someone totally innocent is dead and it's our fault." Scott says.

"It's my fault." Derek takes full blame.

"We need help."

"We have Isaac now."

"I mean real help." Scott pauses and looks at Isaac, "No offense."

"Not exactly sure how I could take that any other way." Isaac replies, pulling his lips into a thin line. Scar instinctively grabs his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

"They're too strong for us. All of us. They're too fast, too rabid-"

Scott is cut off by Derek, "We'll catch them."

"But what happens if we do? Are we just going to hold them down until the sun comes up?" Isaac asks.

"No, we tie them up. Find somewhere to keep them." Derek trails off, "Maybe it would be easier to just kill them."

"Derek, we won't kill them. There needs to be somewhere we can keep them." Scar says.

"What if it's the only thing? If we don't know how to catch them, what else do we do?" Isaac questions.

"We find someone who knows what they're doing. Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves." Scott replies.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Derek, Isaac and Scarlett sit in Derek's Camaro watching Scott and Mr. Argent talk. "You think this is going to work?" Isaac asks.

"No." Derek answers simply.

"Me either." Isaac replies.

"It won't work with that attitude." Both guys turn to look at Scarlett, "Look all I'm saying is, it's the best plan we have. We need to do something. Might as well try it." The two werewolves stay silent as they turn to watch Scott and Mr. Argent once more. After a minute they watch as Scott gets into Argent's car. "What the hell is he doing?" Scarlett asks. Though neither Derek nor Isaac have an answer.

They follow the hunter and werewolf to the crime scene of the teenager at the public pool. Next thing they know Argent now joins their group in the woods to help them find Boyd and Cora. He kneels down to examine the prints in the mud, "You've been tracking them by print?"

"Trying to." Scott confirms.

"Then you've been wasting your time. The only creature on earth that can visually track footprints is man. And if you're not trained like me you have no idea that this print is Boyd's and these-"

Isaac interrupts, "Are Cora's?"

"No, they're yours. You trampled Cora's when you first walked over here." Isaac lifts his foot up and gingerly places it back down, not quite sure where to step. "I know the four of you are probably focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon."

At Argent's words Scarlett glances down at her clawed hands; she still hasn't fully learned how to stop the change. She only knows enough to make sure she doesn't go killing innocent people or fully transform. "But that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora who have fully given in. They've got the pedal to the floor, while you four are barely hitting the speed limit."

"So what do we do?" Derek asks the hunter.

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey for up to a hundred miles a day by scent. The trained hunter can use a scent trap." Argent turns his attention to Scarlett, "Scarlett, it may actually be beneficial for you to turn into a wolf if you can control it."

Scar nods, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Scar, are you sure? You-" Scott starts.

"Scott, I can control myself. You don't need to worry about me. Turn around, I need to get undressed." Scarlett mumbles, slightly embarrassed to be saying that in front of Allison's dad.

Everyone except for Isaac turns around. Scar gives him a pointed look but ends up rolling her eyes and stripping, "Can you not check out my sister in front of me?" Scott asks.

"I could, but I don't want to." Isaac replies, a smirk on his face. Scarlett shakes her head, quickly folds up her clothes then hands them to Isaac. She steps away from him, takes a breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she is in her wolf form. "You guys can turn around now." Isaac says.

As Scar was getting undressed and changing form Argent continued to talk, telling them about tracking by scent and that in Scar's wolf form they would probably have the best results. As the conversation continues, Scarlett's nose twitches catching a scent. She takes off quickly, "Scarlett!" Scott yells out for her.

"Let her. If she needs help she'll howl. We need to focus on this first." Argent says.

Scarlett runs around trying to find the smell, blood, but she's unable to locate it. As she pauses to try and catch the scent again, she starts hearing a high pitched noise as the trap that the others are setting starts to come together. 

Scarlett turns her attention to the emitters and heads to the school. She sits crouched, hiding in the bushes waiting for Boyd and Cora. She howls when she sees them racing towards the school, letting the others know that they're coming.

She waits for them to pass then starts chasing after them to help corral them as they get closer to the school. Scar snarls when the two werewolves stop in front of Isaac. Before any of them can react though, Argent moves in with his SUV.

They watch as Boyd and Cora move to climb over the school rather than inside. "The rear door, we need to get them open." Argent states.

Derek nods and heads inside to open the back doors. "Someone has to drive them inside." Scott says.

Argent pulls out a stun baton, "I'll go."

But Scarlett is already moving to the back as she hears Isaac reply, "I'm faster." He follows after her to the back of the school.

Scarlett makes it just in time to see a flash bolt go off. She closes her eyes and tilts her head away from the bright light. When she doesn't hear anymore bolts hitting the pavement, she opens her eyes to see Allison kicking the doors closed and wrapping chains over the handle. Scarlett tilts her head, Isaac next to her staring at the young hunter.

She stares back before lifting a finger to her lips causing Isaac and Scarlett to both nod. Isaac and Scar stay waiting by the front doors. After a few minutes of silence they hear fighting begin. It's loud and they can both quickly tell that something is wrong. Scarlett focuses her energy on Scott, trying to figure out what he's feeling. He's not in pain but he's worried.

That's when Scarlett realizes that he's safe but Derek isn't. She automatically starts making her way down to the boiler room. At the same time she uses her mental connection to find Derek. She immediately has a sense of pain spread through her chest. 

"Scott! Scott!" Isaac calls as they make it to the basement. Scott starts to open up the boiler room, the sun now up. Making their way inside they see Derek laying bloody beside Boyd and Cora, who are both alive and now transformed back into their human selves.

"There's... a teacher... back there." Derek starts saying, "I'll take care of her." Derek stumbles as he tries to stand up, Scott moving forward to help, but Derek catches himself. "Get these two out of here." The two boys hesitate, "Go!" Scarlett starts to make her way out of the room as Scott and Isaac pick up the unconscious Boyd and Cora. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

Once the two werewolves were safe, Scarlett privately changed back into a human. She gives Isaac a quick kiss goodbye and the twins head to the hospital to talk to Stiles. The trio stood in the morgue looking down at the body of Stiles' friend Heather. "So Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?" Scott asks.

"You're going to wish they did." Stiles replies.

"Why?" Scott and Scar question in unison.

"I'm not totally sure yet, but that other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? They're eventually going to find her..." He pauses, "She's one of them. Emily, Heather, the guy Lydia found at the pool. All three were virgins. All of them are going to have the same three injuries. Strangled. Throat slashed. Head bashed in. It's called the Threefold Death."

"So if they're not random killings, what are they?" Scott asks.

"A serial killer." Scarlett answers.

Stiles nods, "But more than that. Human sacrifices."

"Maybe it will be over then. I mean don't these things usually happen in threes?" Scar questions.

The two boys look at her, "When is anything ever that simple?" Stiles asks.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Once they were finished at the hospital, Scarlett heads to Lydia's to spend the night. "So you don't know how you found the body?" Scar questions.

"Nope. I left to go to the store and once I was out of the car I realized I was at the pool." She replies, biting on her lip.

"Well maybe this is something to do with the bite." She tilts her head in confusion so Scar continues, "Well Derek said that he's never heard of anyone being immune. So maybe the bite made you into something, just not a werewolf."

"I guess, but what creatures are associated with death? And why couldn't I become something different? I don't always want to find the dead bodies."

Scarlett gives her a gentle smile, pulling her into a hug. Lydia rests her head on Scar's chest while she combs her fingers through Lydia's strawberry blonde hair. "Finding the bodies isn't ideal but maybe once we learn how to control it you'll be able to save them before they die."

She hums, "That would be better."

"Let's see... A phoenix has an association with death. Zombies and vampires too. But for both of them you would have had to die which you didn't."

Lydia cuts her best friend off, "What if I did?"

"What?"

She turns to look at Scar properly, "When I was in the woods, I don't remember anything. I could have died and come back to life."

Scarlett's eyes soften, "Lyds, you haven't been craving blood or human flesh. The sun doesn't bother you. Your body temperature hasn't changed. I'm pretty sure you aren't dead. But hell even if you are, you'll still be my best friend. I'll always be here for you."

She softly smiles then leans over to kiss Scar's cheek, "Love you." She mumbles, then lays her head back down on the brunettes chest. "So the best option right now is a phoenix. Anything else you can think of?"

Scarlett pauses, thinking, "A banshee. I don't know a lot about them but I do know they are associated with death. I can start looking up things tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Thanks Scar."

"Of course." Scarlett smiles down at her as they both close their eyes and drift off to sleep.