iii. FIREFLIES

○ ○ ○

"WAIT. HOW DO YOU KNOW?"

Carter stepped away from Peter, gingerly pulling up her tank top to access the damage done to her abdomen. Deep claw marks traveled straight up from her naval to the lining of her black bra, blood covered her entire stomach, soaking the top of her pants. She sighed, pulling the shirt back down and turned to face Stiles.

    "I-I don't know," Carter began, grunting as a she felt another painful surge of warmth flash through her. "I just know that Derek found Erica's body. All of my instincts are screaming at me that she's dead."

    "Where are you going?" Stiles asked, watching as Carter wiped the blood off of her lips with the back of her hand, but a trail of red still led from her chin, down her neck and settled on her chest.

    "I have to find her," Carter announced, looking at him as though he were crazy. "If my sister's alive, and she's out there trying to kill people, that means I have to go out and try to find her."

    Peter snorted from his position beside Carter, "You won't last ten seconds out there with Boyd and Cora on a killing spree. You may heal quickly, but you're not a werewolf."

    "I don't care!" Carter shouted, tired of Peter's meaningless bullshit. "At least I'll die trying to save my sister. Seeing as though she's the only sister I've got left - remember, Peter? Remember how you killed the other one? I would rather die with them ten times over than be alone like you."

    And with that, she stormed out of the loft, not even glancing at Stiles as she rushed out the door.

○ ○ ○

    Carter stumbled through the Beacon Hills Preserve, trying to find a single werewolf in the dense forest. She needed to find someone; she knew that she wouldn't last long alone in the woods with two werewolves that had completely given into the full moon. But most of all, she needed to see Cora for her own eyes.

    "Got one!" the sound of a little boy's voice cut through the air.

    "What are you doing, dumbass?" another voice sounded, but it was a girl's voice, she sounded a little older than the boy. "You're supposed to put holes in the lid."

    Carter instantly began to follow their voices, stumbling upon a small clearing in the trees. She saw the two kids running around attempting to catch fireflies in glass jars, but immediately stopped when a low rumbling growl erupted. Carter's eyes widened, quickly scanning the horizon for the werewolf - Boyd. He was crouched on top of a large rock, staring hungrily at the small boy.

    The boy screamed as Boyd slowly and intimidatingly rose to his feet. Carter rushed over to the kids, quickly grabbing their wrists before yelling at them to run. They ran through the woods, trying hard to avoid tripping over rocks and stray branches, they kept running until they approached a small shed of some sort.

    Carter yanked the door open, "Hurry, get in," she ushered them inside before she followed and slammed the door shut and bolted the lock. The two kids clung to her body, shaking like loose leaves.

    "He's gonna get in. He's gonna get inside," the boy sobbed, his arms tightening around Carter's waist as she placed herself in front of the small children, attempting to block them from Boyd if he entered.

    "Shh, be quiet, okay? Be very quiet," Carter whispered softly while smoothing out the boy's hair comfortingly. She looked down, where the walls met the floor, to see a small opening - big enough to see Boyd's feet as he walked along the side of the shack.

    Every time a growl could be heard the kids buried their faces in Carter's back, she could hear their pounding heartbeats, along with her own as Boyd circled around the building - circling his prey. If she didn't come up with a plan soon all three of them would be dead.

    Before a thought could even enter her mind, she saw Boyd reach his hands through the small openings on the wall. He slowly began to rip the building right out of the ground, when they were fully exposed; Boyd snarled and roared at them. The children screamed and cried while Carter stood her ground in front of Boyd.

    He tossed the metal shed off to the side, a loud crash sounded as it slammed onto the ground. Carter tilted her head in confusion as a glass jar filled with fireflies rolled toward them, ceasing its roll when it was in between Boyd's feet. Boyd began to swat at the air as the fireflies swarmed around him.

    Carter took that as their chance to get away. She quickly grabbed their hands before bolting off in the opposite direction. Once she thought they were far enough away from the werewolf, Carter stopped and decided she needed to call Scott.

    "Carter, where the hell are you? Stiles called me freaking out, saying that you took off and went looking for Cora. What the hell were you thinking running into the woods alone?" Scott's voice rose from frustration, anger, and concern. Carter felt her eyes sting with tears and she shook her head, glancing down to see where her problem resided.

    The two kids still clung tightly to her, mumbling incoherent sentences to one another. She wasn't exactly sure what she needed to do with them at that point. Which is why she called Scott for help.

    "I know I shouldn't have run off into the woods alone, but it doesn't matter now. Y'all can scream and yell at me later all you want-"

    "Wait, I see you," Scott announced, Carter whirled around to see Scott emerging from the trees. He hung up the phone before rushing over to Carter and engulfing her in his tight embrace. Her body instantly relaxed, flooding with relief knowing that he was okay and that she was slightly safer with him around.

    Before words could be exchanged, Scott quickly dialed Derek's number and told him how he had lost Cora and Boyd, but ended up finding Carter in the meantime.

    "You lost them?" Derek asked in disbelief. "And why the hell is Carter out in the woods alone?"

    Scott glanced down at the two kids who were still latched onto Carter's waist. "Yeah, I kind of had to. And I don't know, Stiles called me earlier saying that Carter had run off."

    Derek sighed, before stating: "Wasn't exactly the plan."

    "I know, which is why Carter and I think we should stick together." Scott replied, placing a hand on Carter's back.

    Carter leaned forward slightly, "Trust me, he's too strong, too fast, and way too angry for one person to handle. We've got to do this together."

    It took a few moments to convince Derek to allow Carter to help. But, they eventually persuaded him to agree. He let out a long breath and said: "Look, I'm at the trails by the entrance to the preserve. Can you guys meet me here?"

    "Yeah," Scott replied, looking down at the two kids once more before saying: "Just got to drop something off first."

○ ○ ○

    "He's going to get himself shot."

    "Wow, good way to remain optimistic, Carter."

    Carter jammed her knee into the back of Isaac's seat. "Shut up, Isaac."

    "Both of you shut up," Derek snapped, glancing between the two. Carter narrowed her eyes and childishly stuck her tongue, sinking further into the seat. After they had found Boyd and Cora's tracks in the woods and after Isaac and Scott had to stop Cora from tearing apart two young women, Scott decided it would be a good idea to call Chris Argent to see if he would help catch them.

    Carter was becoming impatient and annoyed, she had been trying to get ahold of Stiles, but he hadn't replied. She was concerned, after finding out that Lydia had found a dead body at the Beacon Hills public pool. Carter knew that Stiles was with her, but she didn't have enough courage yet to try and get ahold of Lydia.

    "Do you think this is gonna work?" Isaac asked, the three of them staring out the windshield watching as Chris pointed a gun at Scott's head.

    "Nope," Derek said simply.

    "Me neither," Isaac and Carter quipped simultaneously.

    "So your, uh...your guys' sister," Isaac began. Derek glanced over, his dark eyebrows raised his while Carter scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry, yeah, it-it's bad timing. I'm sorry. I'll ask later. It's fine." Derek looked at him again, ready to punch in him in the face so he would shut up. "Or never. Yeah, yeah, I'm good with never."

    "Are you sure that he's not gonna shoot him?" Carter asked, leaning forward in the seat so that her head was wedged between the driver and passenger's seats.

    "He won't shoot him," Derek dismissed.

    "Are you really willing to take that chance?" Carter question, narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Because I'd rather walk away from this with no bullet holes in my body - oh, never mind." Carter quickly corrected, watching as Argent put away his gun and Scott got into the car with him.

    If they had told her that Scott getting into a car with a werewolf hunter who had previously just been pointing a gun to his face was the craziest thing that had happened that night...they'd be lying.

After Chris and Derek shared an awkward greeting, they went straight to business. Carter was actually quite interested, despite the current situation, she wanted to know how to keep a werewolf in check on a full moon. She knew certain things, but not everything. She hadn't been around Derek and Laura when she was old enough to learn the proper skills.

    She wasn't too great at knowing how to fight a werewolf. She could fight a human all day, but not a werewolf with supernatural strength and speed. If Carter were ever in a situation, like earlier that night when Boyd tried to maul her and two kids again, she would die. Carter didn't know if being a Pheanix gave her inhuman strength, from what Deaton had said, her body was still transforming into her true form. So, Carter was guessing that she had a lot more in store for her than just surges of heat and experiencing other peoples' pain.

    "You're tracking them by print?" Chris asked, setting down his duffle bag filled with weapons. He crouched, getting closer to the ground so he could get a good look at the shoe prints in the mud.

    "Trying to."

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

    "Are Cora's," Isaac added, leaning against a nearby tree. Carter stretched out her neck slightly, tilting her head to see the prints right in front of Isaac. It was obvious that those prints weren't Cora's, they were too big and too deep, Cora's prints wouldn't have been that deep because she didn't weigh as much.

    "You're an idiot, Isaac," Carter chimed playfully, crossing her arms over her chest. "They're yours."

    Chris nodded in agreement with Carter, "She's right. You trampled Cora's as soon as you walked over here. Listen, I know the three of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon, but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora, who have fully given in. They put the pedal to the floor while you three are barely hitting the speed limit."

    "So what do we do?" Derek asked.

    "Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to one-hundred miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to track them. If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles, which means we can draw them to us or into a trap." Chris explained.

    "Woah-" Carter mumbled, surprised when Chris flung a bundle of rope her way.

    "Full moon does give us one advantage. They'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared." Chris pulled out two pairs of infrared binoculars, tossing one to Isaac and the other to Derek.

    "Thanks, but I've got my own." Derek announced, his eyes glowing a bright red.

    Carter snorted.

    "Just remember, we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed, but it's there, reminding them how to mask their scent, how to cover their tracks, how to survive."

    Carter followed as Chris moved toward the cliff that overlooked the town. Carter frowned, wiping off the sweat on her forehead as felt the returning surge of warmth come over her. It was a dull warmth, not painful, but enough to make someone quickly break into a sweat.

    "When's the last time you two saw your sister?" Chris asked.

    Carter glanced up at Derek, seeing that he was already looking down at her. They realized how long it had actually been since another family member alive. Derek took her hand and squeezed it, and then answered Chris: "Nine years. We thought she died in the fire."

    Carter remembered that day as if it were yesterday. She remembered playing soccer with Cora in the front yard, their laughter cutting through the cool air around them. Carter recalled Derek being upset that Carter and Cora were allowed to stay home from school that day and he wasn't - but the two girls were the youngest, the babies.

    That's when everything happened, the screams of agony, inhaling the smoke and ash had burnt Carter's lungs. She remembered Cora telling her to hide in the woods and that she would come back for her, and with that, she ran inside the blazing house. Carter waited for hours; sobbing silently behind a large quince tree, desperately waiting for Cora to return.

    "Do you feel like you have a lock on her scent?" Chris asked, and Derek shook his head. Argent sighed, turning to Scott next. "Scott, how confident are you in your skills?"

    "Honestly," Scott began, scoffing slightly, "Most of the time, I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell."

"All right," Chris exhaled, glancing at the area around them. "The problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school, they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills."

"They're not going to kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac asked.

"No," Chris denied. "But there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point, they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill, for some primal apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need gets satiated."

"We can't kill them."

"What if we can't catch them?" Derek asked, looking over at Scott.

"Then maybe we just need to contain them." Chris suggested. "There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

"You want to trap them inside?" Derek asked, catching onto what Argent was thinking.

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door, no windows or access to the outside."

Isaac's eyebrows furrowed, "What about the boiler room? It's just one big steel door."

"You're sure the school's empty?" Argent repeated, glancing over at Scott, Carter, and Isaac to confirm that he wasn't setting up a death trap for anyone that might be inside.

"It has to be. There can't be anyone there this late, right?"

○ ○ ○

"These are ultrasonic emitters," Argent announced, sticking something that looked similar to a stake in the ground. "It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run."

Chris pressed down on the button, and all four of them clutched their heads in pain. Carter let out a small whimper; the ringing was so intense to her eardrums that she felt blood trickling out of her ears.

"Gives off a high-pitched frequency that only they can hear."

"No kidding!" Isaac spluttered out.

"I'm not a werewolf, but I can still hear it!" Carter hissed in pain. "Turn it off. Turn it off!"

When Chris pressed the button again, Carter instantly let out a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded as blood slowly trickled out of her ears. She stumbled into Scott's side, who instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist. He sent her a small smile, and Carter's cheeks flushed.

"Carter, I have something for you," Chris called. Carter's ears perked up, staring at the man questioningly as she stepped away from Scott. He dug around in his duffle bag, pulling out a gun, her jaw instantly went slack. "There are wolfsbane bullets in the clip," he pulled out the loaded clip, showed it to Carter before slamming it back into the gun. He cocked the top of it before holding it out for her, "And now there's one in the chamber."

Carter slowly raised a finger and pointed at the weapon as if it were going to lash out and bite off her finger. "That-That's a gun."

Chris nodded, "Yes it is."

Carter gingerly took the gun from Chris, seeing Isaac take a large step back away from her. "I've never shot a gun before, I've shot with one, but have never actually fired one."

"I don't know how I feel about Carter holding a gun in my presence," Isaac muttered, stepping cowardly behind Scott. Carter made a face and stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

"It's simple," Chris grabbed Carter's hands, placing them in their correct positions before turning off the safety. He trained the barrel of the gun for her, positioning it toward a tree; he removed his hands and slowly backed away. "Now, Carter, all you have to do is squeeze - not pull - but, squeeze the trigger."

Carter stiffly nodded, she took a deep breath before she situated herself mentally. She spread her feet shoulder-width apart and slowly, but surely, squeezed the trigger. She kick of the gun was more severe than she had thought, jerking her wrist back enough that a bolt of pain shot up her entire arm. She lowered the gun before turning the safety back on.

Before she would even look to see where the bullet had landed, Chris placed his hand on her shoulder. "Well, done. I don't think I've ever seen someone hit a target that accurately on their first time." Carter had shot the tree perfectly in the center of the thick trunk.

Derek rolled his eyes, moving past his little sister and toward Argent's SUV so he could grab a pair of emitters. He definitely didn't like the idea of Carter learning how to shoot a gun, but he kept his mouth shut if it meant keeping her safe.

Scott enthusiastically draped his arm across Carter's shoulder, pressing a lingering kiss on her warm cheek, "Congrats, that was pretty badass." He bowed his head closer to her ear, his breath tickling her neck.

"These are gonna drive them to the school?" Derek asked.

Chris nodded, picking up more emitters. "And then it's up to you to get them into the basement."

"Does anyone else want to rethink the plan where we just kill them?" Isaac suggested, taking the emitters Chris had been offering him out of his hands.

"It's going to work," Carter pressed, leaning into Scott's side.

"It'll work."

While Derek, Scott, and Isaac were using their supernatural speed to place emitters, Carter was stuck with Chris. They were on their way to the high school after placing all of the emitters around the perimeter of the forest, leaving Boyd and Cora nowhere else to go. Carter still couldn't believe that Cora was alive and breathing.

When they got to the school, Isaac, Derek, and Scott were already there. They all huddled up and Argent began to explain the plan and where everyone was supposed to be. Carter was with Isaac, the two of them would wait for Boyd and Cora. Scott and Argent would be waiting to drive them into the school, once they were inside Derek would push them toward the basement.

After the explanation, everyone dispersed to go to their designated positions. Carter and Isaac stayed where they were, by the side entrance of the school. They knew it wasn't going to be long before Boyd and Cora showed up.

Isaac opened his mouth to start up a conversation with the brunette beside him, but he didn't get a chance. From behind them, low growls erupted through the still air around them. Carter's body stiffened, she slowly pulled up the front of her shirt, removing the gun from her waistband before turning off the safety.

"Oh, great," Isaac mumbled, turning around to face the out-of-control werewolves with glowing gold irises.

Before either of them could attack, Chris came barreling through the parking lot, his horn blaring and headlights blinding them. Boyd and Cora growled at the vehicle before rushing toward the school.

Their planned seemed to be going smoothly, until the two werewolves jumped onto the roof of the school, instead of running inside of it.

"They're not going through the school," Scott announced, suddenly appearing behind Carter. "They're going over it."

The four of them ran over to meet Derek as he jogged out of the school, already cooking up a Plan B. Chris immediately said: "The red doors, someone has to get them open."

Derek nodded, quickly turning around and rushing back into the school. Scott turned to look at Chris, stating: "Someone has to drive them inside."

"I'll go," Chris announced, his electric, in lack of a better word, light saber crackling to life.

"No," Isaac said, shaking his head. "I'm faster."

Carter watched anxiously as Isaac took off, she felt as though she were going to throw up from as her nerves mixed with the heat surges that were becoming more intense by the second. Derek and Isaac were both gone, and she had no idea what was going to happen to them.

Scott and Carter followed after Argent, Scott rushed upstairs while Carter stayed close to Chris. They took the main entrance, hiding behind a wall of lockers, waiting for the two Beta werewolves to enter into the main hallway. Carter didn't know how Chris and Allison did that, how they could stay calm while they hunted something that could literally tear them to shreds. Chris was trying to turn Carter into a hunter, and she didn't know if she was cut out for the job.

She didn't know if she could pull the trigger against her own sister.

"Now," Chris said, hearing Derek slam Cora against the wall. Carter and Chris moved away from the wall and into the hallway. Derek held Cora against the wall before tossing her to the ground, Boyd stood growling. Carter had her gun trained on them, prepared to fire as Chris zapped his light saber to life.

Scott and Derek stepped forward, trying to keep Cora and Boyd's attention on them. Derek snarled, "Come and get us."

Then, all four of the werewolves disappeared as Scott and Derek led them down to the boiler room. Carter watched for a moment, her chest heaving before she chased after them. Ignoring Chris as he shouted her name, she knew someone was about to get seriously injured. A painful groan escaped her lips as an extreme wave of heat surged through her causing her steps to falter and stumble into the wall.

She quickly regained her footing, racing down the hallways, tripping and nearly falling when a new surge of warmth came over her. She made it to the stairwell leading down to the basement, she yanked the door open before struggling down the steps, but stopped and stared wide eyed at the open boiler room door. She stood upon the last step, her heart pounding her in chest as she heard fast paced footsteps running toward the exit. Scott and Derek came barreling through the doorway, scurrying to seal the door shut before Cora and Boyd had the chance to make it out.

A breath of relief escaped her mouth as she stared at Derek and Scott. Scott leaned his back against the wall, trying to calm down his racing heart, whilst Derek pressed his body against the door. "Did that actually just work?" Carter asked, causing both Scott and Derek to snap their heads in her direction.

Derek slowly nodded his head as he stared at the panting brunette, "It worked." He backed away from the door before sliding down the wall and sitting with his back against the wall. Scott stepped forward, closing his eyes as he honed on the sounds coming from inside the boiler room. "What are you hearing?"

"Heartbeats," Scott answered quietly.

"Both of them?"

"Actually," Scott's eyes snapped open, panic settling on his features. "Three of them." Scott and Carter watched with wide eyes as Derek stood up from the floor and moved over to the door. "What are you doing?"

"Close the door behind me and keep it shut," Derek instructed, Carter gulped thickly, already feeling her eyes sting as her heart pounded against her ribcage.

"You-You go in there alone, and you're either gonna kill them, or they kill you." Scott announced, a small whimper came out of Carter's mouth at his words.

Derek turned to look back at Scott and Carter with a sorrowful glance, "That's why I'm going in alone."

"Derek, no," Carter tried to make her voice sound strong, but failed when a sob escaped the same time as began to speak. Derek reached out, cupping her cheek with his hand.

"Whatever happens to me in there - whatever you experience, I need you to stay strong, okay? Can you do that for me?" Derek asked softly, a pleading look in his eyes as he stared down at his younger sister. She nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. Derek gave a simple nod before placing a kiss on her forehead, opening the door and disappearing inside.

Seconds felt like hours, Carter's eyes continuously flickered from the door to Scott, the two of them nervously stood in front of the door. A scream of pain escaped her lips, feeling five long slashes being cut into her left shoulder. Blood oozed down her back, she gingerly leaned against the wall as Scott supported her with his arms.

A loud roar erupted from within the boiler room and everything quickly stilled after that, but the silence was short-lived when Carter felt ten claws go to town on her abdomen. Lacerations were continuously made every-which-way, Carter doubled over, and clutching her abdomen in excruciating agony as bloodcurdling screams ripped their way out of her throat.

Scott slowly eased Carter to the floor, watching as numerous gashes appeared on the entire upper half of her body. He positioned her between his legs, laying her back against his chest, feeling her back arch every time a fresh wound would appear. Scott's eyes widened as five deep slits sliced across her chest, Carter threw her head back and howled out in pain. Tears streamed down both of their faces, Scott desperately listened to Carter's heartbeat, listening to her heartbeat as it pounded in its abnormal way.

Carter closed her eyes; her mouth gaped open knowing that she didn't have the strength to keep screaming. She wanted to; the pain in her throat was distracting her from the torture Boyd and Cora were doing to her abdomen. Her shoulders shook softly as she quiet began to sob, Scott gently wrapped his arms around her waist and silently began to rock her as she cried.

He felt a stingy pain in his chest as he watched her writhe in pain, knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop her pain without giving it all right back to her through their link. All he could do was comfort her until it stopped.

She couldn't move, so she listened. That was all she could do. She listened and waited for the pain to magnify when the moment came where Derek could no longer hold on and he would be gone. She hazily began to wonder how much it would hurt that time. If it would be worse than experiencing Jackson's death - if the emotional pain would outweigh the physical, unlike Jackson's death. When Jackson killed himself, Carter felt more physical pain than emotional. She knew it would be much worse when Derek died; if she would even be able to breathe when the moment came where Derek would no longer exist in her life.

Her sobs were blocked out as her ears began to ring, her entire body numb, barely even feeling the incisions being sliced into her skin. "I can't...lose...lose him," she cried out softly, not having the strength to bring her voice to full volume. It was true, she couldn't bear to lose Derek, because in the end it had always been him. It would always be him. Derek gave up his whole life just to create a safe and supernatural free one for Carter. He refused to give up on her, even when she gave up on herself. She would rather be left on that planet alone than lose her brother.

Her vision began to darken before she was lulled into unconsciousness.

It was then that Isaac threw open the door that revealed the stairs that led to the boiler room as he shouted Scott's name. Isaac immediately stopped when she saw that Carter was lying in a pool of her own blood, her body leant up against Scott's. He quickly regained his composure before scrambling down the steps, kneeling next to Carter's unconscious body.

Scott wiped away his tears with the back of his bloodied hands before looking up at Isaac, "Can - Can you pick her up and carry her inside the boiler room. We need - We need to check on Derek."

Isaac nodded his head numbly, feeling his own tears prick at his eyes, gingerly wrapping an arm around Carter's shoulders and the other under the knees before hoisting her off the ground. He instantly felt his shirt and jacket become soaked with blood, and he almost gagged at how intense the cooper smell was in the small area.

Scott rose to his feet, unlocked the door and ripped it open. He and Isaac rushed into the boiler room, turning to see Derek on his knees, shirt ripped to shreds as he kneeled in the center of Boyd and Cora's unconscious bodies.

Derek felt their presence, but didn't look up from the ground. "Where's Carter?" He asked through his labored breaths. Neither Scott nor Isaac spoke, not knowing exactly what to say. Derek sheepishly looked up, his eyes instantly landing on Carter's bloodied and unconscious body in Isaac's arms.

Isaac glanced at Scott, silently asking him what he needed to do. Scott nodded his head toward Derek, and Isaac slowly moved forward, gently placing Carter down on the ground in front of Derek. A different kind of pain erupted in Derek's chest as he stared down at his sister, she was mirroring his exact injuries. Blood was smeared on her arms, chest, and face - but Derek didn't care about the blood, his eyes were locked on her chest, watching it rise and fall slowly.

Carter was alive.

And in that moment, that was enough for him to fight and stay alive. He would keep himself breathing if it meant that she could live.

○ ○ ○

"So Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?"

Scott stood next to Stiles as they stared down at Heather's body. He came after getting a distressed call from Stiles about the two deaths not being werewolf related at all. Carter was only capable of standing at this point from pure curiosity and adrenaline, she knew that she was crashing but she needed to know what Stiles had found. Scott and Stiles had yet to notice her presence, while she silently watched them converse.

Stiles gulped thickly, pulling the sheet back over Heather's body. "You're gonna wish they did."

"Why?" Both teens turned at the sound of her voice. Carter stood, leaning against the doorway tiredly, clothes ripped, her skin was dirty and bloodied as though she had just made it through a warzone. Her hair was sticking out every-which-way, sheen of sweat on her forehead, and her skin looked
sickly pale.

Stiles cleared his throat, still staring at Carter. "I'm not exactly sure yet. The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily, eventually they're gonna find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather, the guy Lydia found at the pool - all three were virgins. And they're all gonna have the same three injuries, strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in. It's called the threefold death."

"So if these aren't random killing, then what are they?" Scott asked.

"Sacrifices," Stiles announced.

"Human sacrifices?" Carter suggested, her voice was severely hoarse due to the amount of screaming she had done, Scott and Stiles stared at her as she made her way over to them.

"Yeah."

After a long moment of silence, Stiles' voice cut through the air. "I've gotta go talk to my dad," Stiles announced, glancing between Scott and Carter.

Scott nodded, "Okay, we'll see you later."

Stiles turned his attention to Carter, "Text me and let me know that you made it home okay."

"Yeah, I will," Carter agreed, smiling softly. Stiles nodded, pulling the girl into his arms for a hug. She squeezed him tight, and finally let go, watching as the boy left the morgue. The room grew silent immediately, and she turned to look over at Scott. "Do you think you can give me a ride to the loft?"

"Yeah, of course," Scott nodded, leading her outside. The two got onto his motorbike, and rode in silence all the way to the loft. Carter knew that Isaac and Derek weren't there. Derek was dealing with the teacher that had been trapped inside the boiler room, and Isaac disappeared to God-knows-where. Carter was too emotionally and physically drained that all she wanted to do was go to sleep.

Scott walked Carter up to the loft, following behind her as she slowly began to take off the jacket she had taken out of Derek's car in order to hide to all of her injuries. Immediately, he saw the long and deep lacerations trailing across her back, the edges of the wounds were slightly swollen and would take a couple of hours to heal completely. Scott closed his eyes, trying to rid his mind of the images of her bloodied body lying in her arms. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Carter had stopped in the middle of the loft.

Her entire body trembled, shoulders shaking as she tried to fight off the sobs that were rushing to the surface.

Scott took quick steps toward her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he felt his heart lurch at the sight of her breaking down. His fingers tangled themselves in her hair as she cried into his chest, her strangled sobs echoing loudly through the empty loft. He quickly realized that a piece of her had broken that day, whether it had been her strength or her blazing soul, but he knew that she wasn't going to be the same.

And that's what scared him the most.