"You sure you know where you're going?" Brett spoke up as the four walked through the woods later that night.

"I know where I am." Liam said with a sigh, leading the group.

"Liam, not that I don't have completely faith in you." Eli spoke up from behind Brett. "But this is starting to feel like when we went camping and we went to pee and we couldn't find Mason and the tents."

"Oh my god, stop, I don't want to think about it." Mason spoke up quickly from behind him.

"Doesn't it look familiar from the other night?" Liam looked over at Eli as they walked. "You almost fell right over there."

"I don't know, I was just following Stiles." Eli said honestly with a shrug, looking around the woods. "Just watch out for the hole you fell in. That'll come-"

He stopped when he heard a loud groan, the three turning back and seeing Mason gone. Eli grinned. "There it is."

The three walked over in Masons direction, looking down into the hole that he was in. "I think I found it."

"See the necklace?" Liam asked him after he and Brett shared a look.

Mason took a second to look around. "Nah, I don't see it."

Eli hit Brett in the arm, nodding down toward Mason. The tall boy reached his arm down, yanking Mason from the hole with ease. "Liam, I thought you said this was a sinkhole."

"It's a hole. What's the difference?" Liam shrugged as Mason crouched down.

"I mean, look at all these handprints." Mason nodded toward the dirt around the opening.

"I thought you said you fell in after Liam?" Brett looked at Eli.

"I did." Eli agreed.

"I don't have your scent. She didn't fall in here." Brett looked in Masons direction.

"She was buried." the Dunbar boy confirmed a second later.

Mason nodded. "Intense."

"Want me to go down?" Eli looked over at Liam.

"No, just give me extra light." he nodded, Eli flipping on his phone flashlight and gave it to him before he jumped down into the hole to look around more.

"Why isn't it here?" Liam sighed.

"She probably came back for it." Brett shrugged.

"Do you really think her necklace was something she was concerned about?" Eli crossed his arms with an eyebrow raise his way. Liam jumped back up with a long exhale.

"I don't think this is the one." he said honestly.

"What do you mean?" Mason frowned his eyebrows.

"It was closer to the bridge. Much closer." Liam then looked at Eli. "Wasn't it? It only took us a little bit to get there."

"Not even a full minute." the Foxx boy gave a slightly agreeable look. "You think this is a different one?"

Liam nodded before Mason spoke up. "Then who crawled out of this one?"

"Lydia!" Eli yelled out in a panic, seeing the strawberry blonde being rolled from the sheriffs station quickly as she bleed terribly. "Lydia!"

"You're gonna have to stay back." the paramedic said quickly as Eli ran up to her side.

"Lydia, hey, hey, are you okay?" Eli grasped her hand quickly as she looked up as him. "What happened?"

"Scott's inside." Lydia squeezed his hand tightly as her eyes filled with pain. "Tracy."

"Are you family?" the paramedic asked as Eli shook his head. "You'll have to meet us at the hospital then."

"I'm fine." Lydia promised as she looked up at him. "Find Malia."

Eli nodded quickly. When his mom called, saying there was a disaster at the station, he had asked what happened. When she mentioned Scott and his friends, Eli had Brett speed him over immediately.

"Malia!" Eli yelled as he ran into the station, seeing the hurt officers and the trashed station. "Scott!"

"Eli!" Theo came around the corner, helping a few officers off the ground. "She's down the hall in the back."

Eli nodded, taking off quickly and only getting there in time to hear Malia. "There were these people...they had masks. Um, there-there-there were three of them. I think there were three."

"What..what are you talking about?" Stiles gave him a confused expression.

"Jesus, she's scared." Eli shoved between Stiles and the sheriff to wrap his arms around Malia, who had been crying and shaking as she held onto his waist. "What was it? Did they hurt you?"

"They-they had a weapon. I didn't do this." Malia cried, Eli then noticed Tracy dead on the ground.

"I know." he promised her, hands pressing into the back of her head to hold her. "I know. It's okay."

"She's not changing back." Deaton spoke from down on the floor with Tracy. "We need to get her out of here."

"Absolutely not! This is a crime scene. We call the coroner." the sheriff spoke, dressed in a nice suit.

Eli then realized. "Where's my mom?"

"She's in the back, she's okay." Scott promised him quickly. "Kira's with her."

"I think the coroner might be very confused by this girls rectillion tail." Deaton spoke calmly up at him.

"I don't care!" Noah snapped.

"You should. Unless you're prepared to hold a press conference and announce the presence of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills." Deaton pointed out, keeping his voice the same tone of calmness the entire time. Eli figured that's where Scott learned it from.

Eli pulled Malia head back from his neck, looking at her eyes to make sure she'd been okay. It wasn't long until she ducked away In the crock of his neck again, arms tightening around his waist.

"Dad, he's right." Stiles looked over at Noah.

"Meet me at the clinic, we can figure out how to change her back then call the coroner?" Scott asked, but it was clear that was more a statement then anything.

"There's-theres-there's a line-there is a line that we have to draw." the sheriff paced around with a point of his finger.

"Dad, you've already crossed it. More then once." Stiles reminded him.

"Sheriff, please." Deaton begged. "Let me help."

"Go to my mom. Make sure she's okay, keep her safe." Eli spoke up to get his attention. "By the time you check on her, and she checks on you, we'll be done and ready."

He hesitated with a sigh. "Just do it fast."

Scott was quick to help Deaton pick up Tracy, hurrying her away.

"Stiles." Melissa came down the hallway of the hospital quickly.

"How bad is it?" Stiles rose to his feet, from next to his girlfriend, who didn't seem like she wanted anything to do with him right now with the way she hadn't let Eli go since the station.

"It could have been worse. Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life." Melissa looked to the Reaken boy, who joined them at the hospital not too long after they left. "All right. She's about to go into surgery. So it's going to be a while. Any other supernatural details that I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"

"It was the tail." Kira spoke to her.

"Yeah, Tracy cut her with the tail, if that makes a difference." Scott added, looking at his mom.

"Okay." Melissa nodded, hurrying off soon after.

"But it wasn't just Tracy. There were the others." Malia spoke up when she left, looking around the group from Eli's side. "The guys in the mask."

Scott and Stiles shared a look, giving small nods, but it was clear they weren't strongly confident in what Malia was saying was entirely true or real.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Eli asked when Stiles had gotten into the jeep, waiting for Malia as she spoke to Eli.

"Thanks for knowing what to say. Again." Malia nodded her head as she looked at him. "I'm glad you were there. I'm glad you're okay."

Eli cracked a grin. "I mean are you sure you're not gonna be too scared tonight?"

Malia sighed. "I'll be okay."

"You sure?" he nodded at her, eyes staring intensely into hers. "It's okay if you're not."

"I will." she then promised with a single nod. "If not, i'll call. Like you said."

"Instead of listening to me breath?" Eli cracked a grin, making her laugh slightly. "I'm really glad you're okay. And I believe you. About the guys in the mask."

"I don't think anyone else does." Malia admitted honestly.

"I do." he promised with a nod. "I promise."

Her arms went around his waist again, hugging tightly as Eli rubbed her back. Malias breath was hot on his neck before pulling away. "Let us drive you home."

"Theo said he was gonna drop me off." Eli nodded. "But text me when you get to Stiles."

"I will." she nodded, letting him open the door for her as she climbed into the jeep. Stiles gave him a nod and a wave, making Eli do the same before the jeep speed out of the hospital parking lot.

"You ready?" Theo asked, his truck not too far. "I've got a GPS if you just wanna type in your address."

"Thanks for bringing me home." Eli got into the passengers seat. "And for saving Lydia. She's, like, amazing but she can't heal like the rest of them can."

"I'm just glad she's gonna be okay." Theo said, pulling out of the parking lot like Malia and Stiles had. "Malia looked pretty freaked out."

"Yeah, i've never seen her like that." Eli said honestly with a shake of his head. "She was really shaken up."

"Yeah, but she calmed down when you showed up." Theo nodded his head, driving with one hand down the dark road. "Are you her anchor?"

"Everyone says I am, but I think a lot of it is just herself doing a lot of the work." Eli bit his fingernails in the front seat. "Do you have one?"

"Not really. I just got better at controlling it over time." Theo looked over at him for a split second. "It's just the first few times you really need someone. Someone to make sure you don't hurt yourself. Someone to ground you. You know?"

Eli wanted to give him a weird look, because of course he knew that.

"Yeah, definitely." the Foxx boy agreed. "I'm trying to be there for Liam, but they keep me away from him on full moons because he's stronger and a lot more angry."

"That's probably a smart idea." Theo agreed slightly, taking a turn. "But don't you need to be there for Malia?"

"She's gotten better. Like, she doesn't need me right there with her anymore." Eli nodded his head, wincing when he bit too hard on one of his nails and tasted the blood on his tongue. "Do you believe her? About what's she saw."

Theo cleared his throat. "She hit her head really hard. I'm not saying she didn't see something, but it isn't likely, after hitting her head so hard, that that's exactly what she saw."

Eli mind was simply too clouded that night to remember the photograph in the dark room.

"I think you're a strong person, Eli." Theo said suddenly as they stopped infront of his house. "I think that you're really important to your friends and that you have a lot of potential."

"Potential?" the Foxx boy gave an odd look.

"To protect people, more then how you do now." Theo pointed out with a small nod. "Isn't that what you want?"

Granted, he had no clue what he was really hinting at at the time.

"I'd do anything to be able to protect them more. I feel like i'm not really doing anything right now, like i'm just useless." Eli shrugged honestly, unbuckling his seat belt. "Just emotional support."

Theo nodded understandingly. "I know."

Eli looked at his house before giving him a small grin. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Theo through him a half grin as he got out.

•

kylie speaks

IM SORRY I DIDNT
FEED YOU GUYS
YESTERDAY, I WAS TOO
BUSY WATCHING THE LAST
THREE EPISODES OF GOSSIP
GIRL!