Griffin's POV:

"Come on! Don't stop!" Scott shouts as he jumps over the tree root with ease. "She's right behind us!"

Somehow I trip over the tree root but a pair of hands quickly pull me up. "I got you, kiddo." Olivia grunted as we continued to sprint. "Aren't you glad your mom and I signed you up in track and field when you were in middle school?"

"This is so not the time to start thanking you!" I exclaim. "I have so many questions! One of them includes how Mom isn't buried underground and suddenly wants to kill us! And why are you not terrified of how Scott and Eli's eyes just glowed? And they have fangs that can practically rip our throats out!"

Scott and Eli slide down the narrow ditch and Olivia carefully helps me down.

"Okay, okay." She breathes out, taking a quick look over behind us. "I'll answer every single one of them after I deal with your mother. You and Eli need to keep going."

My eyes widen. "You can't be serious."

"She's right." Scott panted. "Your mom is our only shot to get through to Allison. Just in case it backfires...I'm the plan b."

"She's trying to get an arrow through you." Eli emphasized as he pointed at Scott's chest.

"Scott, your hand." Olivia lifted his hand, showing the darkened scrape in the back where the black veins trickled across.

"What is that?" I worriedly ask.

"Wolfsbane." Scott muttered. "She coated the arrowheads in wolfsbane."

"My dad told me you almost had to cut his arm off once because of wolfsbane poisoning."

I slowly look over to Eli in disbelief. "I'm sorry...what?"

"Guys, focus." Olivia grabbed my shoulders so that I could look her in the eyes. "You and Eli need to run. We're not far from the road. We'll stall enough for you guys to get away."

"I can't. Scott, I can't do it without you." Eli worriedly spoke. "I can't--"

"Hey, you're gonna be all right, okay?" He reassured. "Remember, you just learned how to heal."

"You did that for me."

He shook his head. "I gave you a push. Find your dad. I think we're gonna need his help, okay?"

Eli reluctantly nods and moves to stand but I grab Olivia's arm. "Mom, please. Come with us at least. I don't--I can't--"

"Hey, breathe with me for a second." She whispered as she comfortingly placed her hand on my shoulder and I shakily took a deep breath. "Griffin, you're going to be okay with Eli. As soon as you get back to town, find your grandfather, Aunt Phoebe, or Kira. They'll get you to safety."

"How do you know if Allison will even remember you? Mom, she pointed an arrow at me--"

She cups my face. "She's not herself right now which is why I have to make her remember. If she has any chance of remembering who she is, she's gonna need the same push Scott did with Eli. If you're still scared," She digs into her pocket and pulls out a switchblade, placing it into my hands and then handing me her cell phone. "you have something to protect yourself. Once this is all over I'll call you from Scott's phone to make sure you're okay, I promise."

"A switchblade against werewolves?"

"Olivia, we have to go." Scott urged.

She nods before she turns to me again. "Anyone that seems like a threat."

"B-But wait—"

"We'll see each other later, okay? I love you." She whispered and pressed a quick kiss against the top of my head before pulling away. "Be safe. Now, go!"

I reluctantly nod and follow close behind Eli, ignoring the ache in my heart as we run off further into the woods.

I didn't get to apologize.

After what felt like an endless clearing of trees and sprinting through the woods, we finally reached the main road.

"Griffin, look out!"

Luckily, a car suddenly swerves around us which causes me to stagger back. The car screeches to a stop and once the person steps out of the vehicle, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Why am I not surprised to run into you two?" Sheriff Stilinski dryly chuckled and gestured for us to get inside. "Come on in!"

Phoebe's POV:

"That's...scarring." I mutter, quickly looking away from the cell where the disfigured corpse of Deputy Ishida laid. "Don't know why I was knocked unconscious."

Lydia ruffles my hair with a chuckle. "Thankfully only."

The sound of the entrance doors open which causes us to immediately stay still.

"What do you smell?" A woman worriedly asked.

"Fear." Another voice spoke up which causes Jackson to step out.

"That would be me." He replies as Lydia and I make our presence known as well.

I immediately smile once I see it was only Liam and some other girl. "If only our reunion was in a better circumstance."

"You're gonna want to see this." Lydia adds, nodding her head behind us.

They quickly follow after us and their eyes widen in surprise at the deputy's body.

The woman crouches down to Deputy Ishida's level, getting a better look of his form. "He was a kitsune," She whispers, tilting her head to the side. "probably didn't even know it. If the Nogitsune murdered him--"

My eyes widen in remembrance and I crouch down to his level as well. "He wanted his tails." I cut in and the girl turns to me in surprise. "I...did some reading about the Japanese folklore when I wanted to learn more about the supernatural. Also with a little help of the pack's stories of villains they faced."

"Interesting." The woman chuckled before she held her hand up for me to shake. "Hikari Zhang."

I shake her hand as well. "Phoebe Jimenez."

"Well the tails only get him one thing," Liam spoke up. "the Oni."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I have a tail." Jackson nervously stammered. "No one's planning on stealing my tail, right?"

"Will you please shut up?" Lydia muttered, not bothering to look him in the eyes. "There's more going on and I think it's all connected."

"More what?" Liam curiously asked.

"Well if you follow me," I stand up from my spot as I gesture for them to follow. "the only reason I've been in town is because someone's been setting fires. I need a second--well, three pairs of eyes to help me solve this case."

"Don't you mean four?" Jackson asked as we all walked to Sheriff Stilinski's office where I had the evidence bulletin board set up.

"With your earlier concern about your tail...I still mean three pairs." I chuckle, watching as the others examined my evidence board.

"Based on your notes and what Kira texted me before the service went down," Lydia spoke up, taking a step back from the board. "the fires all happened right after the jar was taken from Japan."

"Liam, that's him." Hikari points to the blurred photos of the hooded figure.

"That's the guy who stole the jar, the one who freed the Nogitsune." Liam added.

"Also our suspect of who's been setting the fires." I remark in annoyance.

"And not the Nogitsune?" Jackson questioned. "Why don't we catch him and kill the Nogitsune? That sounds like a pretty good plan to me."

"Well, the Nogitsune's not a person. It's an ancient power, so old it's practically elemental." Hikari explained. "It might not be possible to kill him.

"Well, I'm willing to give it a shot." He countered.

"We're wasting time." Liam spoke up. "You guys can figure out who's starting the fire. We need to find Scott."

"I'll come with." I say with a small smile as I follow behind them to the exit. "The longer I stay in this office, the more it'll drive me insane."

"This is sort of different than hitting the books. Besides your brain, what's your power?" Hikari asked.

I detach my bo staff from my belt and swiftly extend it with a grin. "Don't need one."

Olivia's POV:

"Jesus christ, how many arrows does she have?" Scott grunted as he ducks again, barely missing the arrow as it whizzes over our heads.

"Way too many!" I leap over the tree root and glance behind in disbelief once I saw Allison only speed-walking towards us.

She fires another arrow but Scott and I dive over a fallen log.

"Shit!" Scott painfully clutched onto his poisoned hand as I quickly helped him stand. "It's getting worse."

I worriedly look up at Allison, pushing Scott to keep moving. "Please, you don't have to do this. We can talk it out! I can help you remember who you are!"

Allison slings her bow behind her back but unsheathes her ring daggers from her belt.

"Sure," She skillfully twirls the daggers with her fingers until she firmly grasps the handles. "let's talk."

"Okay but perhaps without the knives!" She breaks into a run which causes Scott and I to continue sprinting away. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Griffin's POV:

As soon as Stilinski puts the car in Derek's driveway, we immediately get out of the car and rush inside the house.

Eli swings open the door, seeing only Kira and Deaton in the living room. "Dad?" He worriedly calls as Stilinski shuts the door behind us. "Dad?"

"Eli!" Eli turns to the kitchen and doesn't hesitate to practically tackle Derek into a tight embrace. "You're safe, Eli. You're safe."

"Yeah, but Scott and Olivia aren't." Eli muttered.

"Yeah, we got a problem." Sheriff Stilinski added and as he went over the details with him, I worriedly look around the living room but didn't see any of Chris's stuff.

"Where's my grandfather?" I ask. "My mom said he'd be here."

"Judging by your shaking hands and panicked demeanor, I assume you know the truth now?" Deaton asked.

I wince. "I would say yes but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that there's probably more to werewolves."

"Way more." Kira chuckles as she guides me to sit down on the couch. "To answer your question, Argent was worried about the Nogitsune springing a trap so he, Melissa, and Peter went after Scott and Olivia just in case." She explained with a small smile. "Trust me, your mom knows how to protect herself and you're safe here."

"I wouldn't be so sure of the second part." Deaton trailed, eyeing the darkened hallway as the lights flickered above us. "We have four uninvited guests."

I follow his line of vision and my eyes widen in horror at the sight of four ninja-like figures appearing from the shadows making the sounds of an eerie clicking.

"Ninjas?" I ask in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Not ninjas." Kira protectively moves to stand in front of me and unclips her belt, my eyes widening in surprise as it extended into a katana. "Oni."

Phoebe's POV:

"So Hikari," I lean forward with a smile. "did Liam tell you all about our fun adventures we had in high school?"

"You call it fun? I call it traumatizing." Liam scoffed, keeping his eyes on the road and his hands firmly on the wheel.

"Just the basics." Hikari chuckled. "Berzerkers, assassins, evil doctors, his best friend turning into a beast, you dying twice, ghost cowboys that erase you from existence, an entity that turns you to stone, hunters--"

"So all of the above." I cut in with a laugh. "And yet, here we are again. How exactly did you guys meet?"

"Well back when Monroe and her army of hunters were after us, I didn't want to put my parents in danger so I figured what is the last place they'd expect me to be in...Japan. Even once Monroe's hunters were history, I grew to love the place and stayed longer than I intended to so along the way, I ended up befriending someone running a ramen joint near my place." Liam chuckled. "Plus now that I work there, I don't have to worry about dinner. Being buds with the owner has its perks."

Hikari jabs his shoulder. "So you're using me for food? Noted. That's a quarter of your paycheck deduced."

"Hey!"

"Only a quarter?" I snort. "Make it half. Let's see how much he can survive."

Hikari turns around with a smile. "I like you." She teased, ignoring Liam's glares as we both bumped our fists. "After this, I'd be more than happy to show you around Japan if you ever decide to visit."

"For you, I'll make the exception." I playfully wink. "Now I have a reason to go."

"I knew I should've said no to you tagging along." Liam muttered. "I set myself up for endless headaches by introducing you two."

"More like you made things better!" Hikari laughed as she glanced at me. "What do you do for work, Phoebe? Do you live in Beacon Hills?"

"Heck no! As soon as I finished school, I moved to San Bruno." I snort. "But I'm a forensic scientist at a local police department. I decided to visit just to see my dad but because of the fires, I offered to help Sheriff Stilinski with the case. As much as it's been a headache to solve, being back here has been pretty interesting."

Suddenly, the car jerks to the left which causes Liam to quickly fight the resistance of the abrupt turn as the vehicle roughly shook until we finally screeched to a stop.

"Okay, I take it back!" I groan, rubbing the side of my head as it ached. "What did you even hit, Liam?"

We all get out of the car but the sounds of a hiss causes Hikari crouches down to the front tire on her side. "You might want to rephrase that sentence."

I grab my staff from the car and close my door before I walk over to Hikari, seeing a large slash across the tire. "Great. Something hit us."

"It was done by a sword." She mutters but suddenly, the faint sounds of clicking causes us to look ahead.

Dark swirls of shadows instantly shape into three ninja-like figures with menacing masks made out of metal and the sight alone made my eyes widen.

So that's the Oni.

Liam lets out a roar as Hikari expertly twirls her sword around before the three of us lunge at the Oni.

I duck underneath the slash from the katana blade but block the second hit with my staff. It attempts to push against me to knock me off balance but I tightened my grip with a glare.

I quickly disconnect the staff and click the buttons, causing the blades to extend on both sides before I slash across its abdomen.

Through a flurry of swings and slashes, it moves in swift like speed managing to block each hit until the Oni eventually harshly strikes against the staff I held on my right hand enough to knock it out of my grip.

"Liam!"

Hikari's cries causes me to turn, watching as the Oni barely yanked its katana out from his chest.

The action alone caught me by surprise which gave the Oni the opportunity to kick down at my chest, sending me rolling across the floor beside Hikari, who painfully clutched onto her stomach.

I weakly push myself up but my heart sinks at the sight of the three Oni around us.

"So much for our reunion, huh?" I rasp to Liam before I sadly look over to Hikari. "I'm glad I got to know you, Hikari."

She nods with a sad smile. "Me too."

I shut my eyes and instantly a sword pierces through my back, making my surroundings cloud with black smoke.