Playlist:

Outside ~ Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding

Cool Kids ~ Echosmith

I drove Derek and Scott to the train depot once Scott was able to move around.

"This isn't working," Derek said as we descended the stairs.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you just want to give up?" Scott asked.

"I'm saying we need a new plan because next time one of us is going to be too hurt to heal and we won't have Trish or Deaton around to help us out."

"So far every plan we've had has backfired," I said.

"Thank you, Trish," Derek replied sarcastically.

I gave him a smile.

"I get it," Scott sighed, he sounded almost defeated. Derek sat down on one of the sideways seats as Scott leaned against a pole. I leaned against the pole on the other side of Derek. "We can't save Jackson."

"We can't seem to kill him either. I've seen a lot of things, Scott. I've never seen anything like this." Derek was sounding just as defeated.

And I will admit, I was at a loss as well. I had no idea what to do. Nothing was working. I'd combed through my bestiary maybe a hundred times, but there was nothing on how to save a Kanima or help him resolve his issues to become a wolf.

"Every new moon is just gonna make him stronger," Derek added.

"Then how do we stop him?"

Derek shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know if we can," I said.

"Yeah, maybe we should just let the Argents handle it," Scott suggested.

"I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault."

"Yeah, but you didn't turn him into this. I mean, this happened because of something in his past, right?"

"That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple."

I looked at Derek.

"What do you mean? What aren't you telling me?"

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?" Derek asked, actually sounding offended.

"Because you usually are," I muttered.

"Because you always are keeping something from me," Scott argued.

"Well, maybe I do it to protect you."

I didn't have any room to comment. I was keeping something major from everyone, including Derek.

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?"

"Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. 'Cause the full moon's coming. And with the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

"No kidding," I commented.

"You too, Trish. Go home. Make sure Anna's safe."

"Derek."

"There's still the off chance that you could be one of the Kanima's targets. I want you to focus on protecting yourself for once."

I glanced at him. I couldn't do that.

"Go home, Trish."

I sighed and left with Scott.

~~~

"Are you okay?" Scott asked as I headed towards his house.

"I don't know," I sighed. "Nothing is going right. The only thing that actually went right tonight was the barrier. I'm at a loss as to what to do." I pulled up in front of his house. "I don't know if we can save Jackson. I don't know if we can even stop him."

"We have to try." Scott got out of the car and headed into his house.

"Yeah, we do."

~~~

I know how the targets are being picked! You're safe! Stiles cried when I answered the phone.

"How much Adderall have you had today?" I asked.

Not enough. Bennet, Tucker, Sean, Jessica, and Kara were all on the swim team. Lahey was their coach. You're safe!

"Well, thank God for that. How did you figure it out?"

Dad noticed all the victims were on the swim team. I then noticed that Isaac's dad was the coach.

"Maybe that's where the fear of water comes into play?"

Maybe. What are you doing?

"Heading over to Derek's to help him restrain three Betas for tonight. I'll let Derek know what you found. Maybe he'll have insight on it. You and Anna just keep an eye on Scott and make sure he stays in control tonight."

I went down into the depot. Isaac was examining a set of chains.

"Good thing I had my period last week, then," Erica said. The boys just looked at her and Boyd gave a small laugh.

Derek held up a ring. "Then this one is for you," he said.

"I don't think I've seen Isaac that quiet in a long time," I commented.

"Don't you know better than to sneak up on a pack of werewolves?" Isaac retorted.

"You know my scent. I'm not sneaking up on you if you can smell me."

Derek chuckled as I looked in the box.

I pulled out another set of chains. "How much of this crap do you have?"

"Enough." Derek took the chains from me.

"I guess it's better than handcuffed to a radiator."

He gave me an odd look.

"Don't ask," I looked around. "Um... where are you planning on retraining them?"

Derek looked at the car they were standing in front of.

"Alright then."

~~~

We had Boyd in place. As the youngest of the Betas, we restrained him first. Derek was getting the headband for Erica ready. Isaac was standing behind her and I was standing between her and Boyd, finishing up restraining him.

"What if we break free?" Boyd asked.

"Then you'll do anything you can to get out of here. Probably try to kill me, then kill each other and kill anything else with a heartbeat."

"Way to inspire your pack, Derek," I quipped.

"Will she be here the whole time?"

"I'll be gone as soon as we finish restraining the three of you," I answered. "So don't worry about your bloodlust hurting me."

"If not before," Derek added. He turned to Isaac and I. "I need you to hold her."

Isaac put his arms under hers and I held onto her shoulders.

"So how come she gets to wear the headband thing?" Isaac asked.

"Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you."

Erica snickered.

"I've got an extra one if you really want it."

Isaac shook his head. "I'll pass."

I snickered this time and Erica rolled her eyes.

"You ready?"

Erica nodded. "Yeah."

Derek placed the headband on Erica and began to tighten it. It wasn't long before she started screaming and I was glad that Isaac was helping me hold her.

~~~

Erica and Boyd started screaming as we started on Isaac.

"Trish, you're going to have to go now," Derek said.

I glanced over at the two Betas, who were starting to transform.

"How do you not feel this?" Isaac asked.

"I feel every second of it. Trish, get out of here now. I'll finish Isaac."

I stood, knowing I was pushing it. "Call me if you need anything."

He nodded and I took off. I'm pretty sure I haven't run that fast since my final high school track meet. I really hoped that Derek was going to be able to handle this.

ANNA

Allison picked me up for Lydia's party, since Trish was helping Derek restrain his Betas for tonight. We were the first ones there and Allison seemed nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's... nothing." We walked up the drive. This was going to be the first Lydia Martin party since she'd been bitten. "For Lydia."

We both jumped at a kid whooping. "Whoo! Party!" he cried as he and a girl ran by. There really weren't many people at the party and Allison commented on it.

"Maybe we're just early?" I suggested.

I saw Scott and Stiles walk out onto the patio.

"Hated the swim team," Stiles was saying. "Specifically, the 2006 swim team."

Scott sighed.

"So it could be another teacher. Maybe, like, a student back then."

Allison and I approached them.

"I mean, who are we missing? What haven't we thought of?"

Allison and Scott gave each other tight-lipped smiles.

"Uh, Jackson's not here," she said.

"Yeah, no one's here," Stiles commented.

"Maybe it's just early," Scott suggested like I had before he got here.

"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town wack job."

"Well, we have to do something," Allison said. "Because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks."

"She's completely ignored Stiles for the past ten years," Scott said and I decided that it was the full moon talking.

"I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet."

I chuckled.

"We don't owe her a party," Scott said.

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison asked.

"As long as she still doesn't know, she can still go back to normal," I said. "Wouldn't you want that?"

"She wouldn't be the town wack job if it wasn't for us," Allison added.

"I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here," Scott suggested.

"Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going," Stiles said. "Like really going."

"You do?" I asked.

"Who?" Scott asked at the same time.

"I met them the other night. Let's just say they know how to party."

~~~

The party was hopping now as Lydia went around passing out punch. It was really good punch. I watched as everyone danced and had a good time. Stiles had told me that all the victims were on the 2006 swim team. The only connection Trish had to the swim team was the brief time she dated Bennet. I was relieved to know that Trish was no longer a target.

"Allison," I whispered. Jackson had just walked in. Lydia walked up to him and handed him a glass of punch.

"I'm glad you could make it," she said before turning away.

~~~

I wandered around, trying to avoid being bumped into. Almost everyone was making out as I drank another glass of punch. Allison disappeared and not long afterward everyone started acting weird. I saw one guy caressing a tree. I set the unfinished glass down. A couple of girls were caressing each other's cheeks and giggling. A random guy started smelling my hair.

"Okay, no touching." I retreated from him.

"But it smells so good. Like coconuts."

"And you're wasted."

What the hell did Lydia put in the punch? I turned and saw Trish. What was Trish doing here? She was supposed to be helping Derek. She looked pissed and was pushing her way through the party-goers. I knew something was wrong, Trish wasn't that aggressive. At least I hadn't seen her that aggressive. We locked eyes.

"You." She pointed at me. "You, Anna. I wanted to lead a normal life. But instead, I got saddled with taking care of a teenager. I got saddled with you. You weren't happy unless you knew everything I knew."

I gaped at her. Why was Trish saying that?

"You had to know everything. You just had to know about the supernatural, didn't you? You couldn't be happy with being blissfully ignorant about the real world. You had to have that burden, didn't you? You, a stupid human that was lucky enough not to be born with supernatural powers."

By this point, everyone was staring at me and my eyes were full of tears.

"That's all you'll ever be. A stupid, powerless human in love with a dead, psychotic werewolf."

I closed my eyes, the tears falling. How could Trish say those things? When I opened them, Trish was gone and the party was still going on as if nothing had happened. I squealed when someone grabbed my arm.

"Anna? You okay?" Scott asked.

"I..."

"You saw something, too?"

"Trish..."

"I think Lydia put something in the punch."

I noticed he looked like he was struggling to keep in control.

"Scott, are you okay? Do we need to leave?"

Scott shook his head. "Have you seen Lydia?"

"Not for a while. I haven't seen Allison or Stiles in a while either." I caught sight of Stiles sitting next to the pool. "Oh, never mind, there's Stiles."

Scott turned around. "He's wasted. I'm going to get him some water."

I sat down next to Stiles. "Hey, hyperactive spazz."

"It's not my fault," he mumbled.

"I know." I had no idea what he was talking about. "I know it's not your fault."

Scott seemed to appear at my side with a bottle of water. "Stiles, look at me. Drink the water."

Stiles made a face.

"Stiles, drink it."

Stiles brushed his hand away.

"Something's happening and I need you to sober up right now. Come on, Stiles."

A heavy-set black girl knelt next to us. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked. Scott and I looked at one another. "If you want to sober him up fast, that's not the way to do it."

"You have a better method?" I asked. She only smiled.

"You can do better?" Scott asked and I could feel his annoyance.

"I can do best, boy." She grabbed Stiles and dunked his head in the pool. Scott and I just gaped. She brought him up a second later and Stiles gasped, but was fully aware now. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Are you kidding!?" I asked.

"Like I might have to revisit my policy about hitting a girl," Stiles remarked.

"He sober."

Scott nodded at her and she went about her business.

"Huh," I commented. "I never would have thought about that."

Allison ran towards us. "Guys, I have to go. My dad just called," she was distraught. "My mom... I... I have to go."

"Go, I'll get a ride with Stiles," I said.

Allison was in tears as she ran towards the front door.

"What was that about?" Stiles asked.

Scott shook his head. "We need to find Lydia," he said.

"What? Why?"

"We think she put something in the punch."

"Great."

We split up, looking for Lydia.

~~~

After we searched through the whole house, we met back at the pool.

"Hey, I can't find her," Stiles said. "And, dude, everyone who drank that crap, they're freaking out."

The party-goers started throwing each other and jumping into the pool.

"Oh, crap," I muttered.

"I can see that," Scott commented.

"What the hell do we do?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know, but we gotta..."

"No! I can't swim!"

Scott cut off as the three of us looked for the source of the screams.

"No, no, no, stop, guys! I can't swim! I can't swim!" Matt was thrown into the pool. He was in the water flailing. "I can't...," His head went under the water. "I can't..."

I went over to the pool's edge and reached for Matt. He was flailing so much that I couldn't grab him. Jackson ran over and grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him towards the edge. The two of us pulled him out of the pool, Jackson glaring at everyone in the vicinity. Matt shoved away from me. Everyone was staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" Matt started to walk away then stopped in front of Scott and Stiles. Scott and Stiles were looking at him with shocked looks on their faces. He moved past them and I joined them. We heard sirens in the distance.

"The cops are here!" Someone yelled. "Party's over!"

Scott darted towards the door. Stiles grabbed my wrist and we followed. Stiles lost his grip when we were bumped into and we were separated. I found Scott. He was looking around like he was searching for someone.

"Scott!" He turned towards me. "It's Matt, isn't it?"

Scott nodded.

Stiles joined us. "We have to go."