a/n: ....heyyyy~ LMAO

Olivia's POV:

"So..." I trail and lean forward to the middle console since I was in the backseat. "how's life?"

"Nothing new really. Saving lives for--well, you know...animals. Almost like you." Scott shrugged. "I'm running a clinic."

"Except hers are humans." Lydia snorted.

"Come on, there has to be something interesting. Like, how are you and Malia doing?"

He winced. "Uh...we broke up two years after we finished high school."

Oops. "Is it too much to ask why?"

"Because someone got too busy trying to handle Monroe and her psychotic army." Lydia snorted.

"It wasn't just that." Scott lightly chuckled. "We sort of...ended up on different pages, I guess. We wanted different things for our future, in a sense. I think we're good though. I am, at least."

"So no dating?"

He shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to it but I haven't found the one yet."

As Scott pulled in to the preserve, I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the familiar figure I hadn't seen for so long.

Just before I could get out of Scott's truck, my brows furrow in confusion at his stiffened posture.

"Don't tell me it's gonna be awkward." I whine, seeing that Scott didn't dare to move a muscle. "Scott. You literally just said you were good."

"We are!"

"Oh for the love of God." Lydia grumbled, pushing open her door so that I could get out as well. "Come on."

The three of us get out but Lydia is the first to sprint to Malia, pulling her into a tight embrace which earns a grunt from the werecoyote.

"I missed you!"

"I...missed you too." Malia forced out and I couldn't help but laugh.

Lydia caught on to her tone as well. "No, you didn't."

"Okay, I wanted to."

"Well, that I can believe." Lydia lightly chuckled as she pulled away so that I could hug Malia next.

"Did you shrink? I could've sworn you were taller."

"I could've sworn you were old enough to lose the jokes."

"Still blunt." I chuckle, pulling away from the embrace.

Malia awkwardly locks eyes with Scott, the two standing still for a moment until he took the initiative to hug her first.

"Hi."

"Hi."

The hug barely lasts for a couple of seconds before Malia quickly pulls away with an unreadable expression.

"It's...good to see you."

"It's kind of awkward to see you."

"I know." Scott answered Malia, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Jesus christ." Lydia whispered to me in annoyance, moving the katana sling over her shoulder so that she wouldn't have to hold it in her hand.. "It better not be like this the whole time.

"Okay! Let's go find a tree in the woods. " Malia clapped her hands together and started to walk ahead first through the clearing before we quickly follow behind. "Come on. You said we need to find this thing by nightfall."

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With the amount of time spent walking through the woods, I didn't bother to keep track of our time anymore. Hell, when we first arrived the sun was still out but now it's already close to dark.

Thankfully the full moon illuminated enough for us to see our surroundings but everything started to look the same at one point.

Probably which is why Malia couldn't find the nemeton she supposedly knew where it was.

"It's me. Um, hey, we're still looking. Just getting a little worried about meeting up on time." Scott trailed off with his cellphone pressed against his ear. "So just give me a call or text, anything."

He hangs up the call with a sigh. "Still nothing from Argent?" I ask, stopping in my tracks once more since Malia started to walk into a different direction again.

"Nope."

"That's so weird. He at least should've been here first."

"Mm. Okay." Malia muttered before she crouched to the floor and looked around. "Ah! It's this way." She stands up again but I stay in my spot, watching as she continued to walk her original path until a second later, she switched again. "It's this way."

She growls in frustration, pausing in her steps once more as she looked around the field.

"I thought you said you passed by the stump thousands of times?" I ask.

"I did! I just...forgot which direction."

Before I could scold her,

"What is it?" Lydia suddenly asked and I follow her stares, seeing that they were on Scott's as he looked around with his brows furrowed.

"Someone's following us." Scott spoke up as he walks a bit backward away from us to get a better scent of them. "They've been following us pretty much the whole time."

"Who?" Lydia worriedly asked, quickly moving to stand behind Malia.

"Yeah, that would've been a great heads up a while back!" I scold.

Scott stays silent as he quietly moves to one of the large bushes before he grabs ahold inside. "Here, come here!"

He yanks out two somewhat smaller figures for us to see, causing my eyes to widen in disbelief.

"Wait, wait, we weren't doing anything!"

"I knew this was a bad idea!"

"It is you." Scott emphasized, releasing his grips from their shirts as they dusted themselves off.

Lydia questioningly looks at Malia and I. "Eli, Derek's son." Malia answered for her, pointing to the teenage boy wearing the flannel. "The other? I don't know."

"Actually, you've all met him when he was younger." I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest. "When he was ten."

"H-Hey mom." Griffin awkwardly greeted.

"Wow, you've gotten really big." Scott lightly chuckled, glancing between the two teens. "Both of you have."

Eli gestured to himself. "Yeah, It's probably because I was only three the last time you saw me."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that as well. You were supposed to be with your Aunt Phoebe." I emphasize with a glare. "Grounded. Most likely longer after this."

"She still had paperwork at the office Sheriff Stilinski needed her to do so she pawned me off to Derek." Griffin explained before he clapped his hands together. "But now that we're asking questions, what are you guys doing out here?"

"Hiking. Can't you tell?" Malia countered and nodded her head to the sunset barely finishing. "It's a really nice night for hiking."

"I know what you're looking for. The tree, right?" Eli asked, causing our eyes to widen. "That huge stump's that's like 20-feet wide?"

"You know how to find it?" Lydia questioned.

"Kind of. I was showing Griffin around and coincidentally, we were on our way there." Eli shrugged. "Also I sleep walk. I don't know why. But I've just been doing it for the last few months."

"I used to wake up in the woods too." Scott tried to reassure.

"After you were bit by Peter, right?" Eli's eyes land on mine and I send him a pointed look. "Erm, from the role play board game of course. Practically immersive

"Yeah...your dad tell you a few stories?"

"Yeah, all of 'em!"

"What about the tree?" Malia reminded, her tone filled with annoyance.

"It's not far from here."

"I knew we were going the right way."

"No, you were going the wrong way." Eli snorted and pointed behind her. "It's that way."

"We were circling back." Malia countered but Lydia sarcastically muttered something under her breath. "Thank you." The pair begin to walk down the path Eli pointed to.

"Well, I can help you find it!" Eli chased after her, along with Scott following close behind with Lydia, Griffin, and I. "Hey, come on!"

Eventually, the sun had fully gone down which left the moon to brightly illuminate our surroundings as we continued to follow behind Eli in reluctance.

"So aren't you the screamer?" Eli asked Lydia before he quickly cleared his throat. "Erm--In that role play board game you played as well."

"Banshee." She simply answered, thankfully not going too much into detail.

"Yeah, but banshees scream, right?"

"Well, they wail if you want to get technical, but...yes." She muttered.

"So...how loud can you scream?"

"Loud enough to create a burst of acoustic energy that could crush your skull." Lydia emphasized in annoyance before walking a bit ahead of him since he slowed his pace.

"Good to know."

"Your friends get stranger and stranger." Griffin muttered but I stay quiet as I continue the pace. "Okay, I know I should've stayed with Derek after Aunt Phoebe got stuck at work but to be fair, you lied to me too."

I scoff in disbelief. "I lied?"

"Yes! You said you had errands! What does hiking in the woods have to do with your errands?"

"Griffin, that is my personal business. You had no right to spy on me."

"I only spied because you lied to me."

"Okay well the difference is that I lie to protect you." I emphasize. "You made me believe you were with Phoebe all day but instead, I find you running around the woods with Eli! Derek's probably freaking out!"

"Oh don't start to pretend you suddenly care about my wellbeing." He scoffed. "And it's not like we were even doing anything bad! Eli was just showing me around. Something you'd never bother to do."

That's it. "Okay, you know what? Once I'm done with...this, we're gonna go home and not only are you grounded for three months, I'm taking away your art supplies." I state which causes his eyes to widen. "No more canvases, no more using the basement for your art room, no video-games, no Luna, Luca, and Stephanie, none of it."

"What! You can't be serious! For how long?" He exclaimed. "You can't do this! Video games, okay fine! But please, let me work on my art--"

"There it is!" Malia exclaimed, quickly sprinting over to the large tree stump in the middle of the empty clearing.

I turn to Griffin. "You're grounded until I say so. End of discussion." I state before I quicken my pace to reach the others.

"So what should we do about Argent?" Malia curiously asked.

"Uh--I mean, I'm never gonna get a signal now." Scott explained and shoved his phone in his pocket. "Even if he's texting me, I wouldn't know."

"Well, we're going to have to do this now. We can't wait for him."

"Olivia, I know how much this means to you but..." Scott trails as he worriedly looks behind, seeing as Griffin and Eli were earshot away from us talking amongst themselves. "It's Argent's daughter."

"And she's her wife. Besides, you said it has to be tonight." Lydia panted. "He would want us to do this without him."

Malia glanced behind, taking note of the teen boys now standing close to us. "Don't you two have something to do?"

Griffin winced but Eli sheepishly smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I have a lacrosse game to play. Well, more like a lacrosse game to show up to since I--like, I never get to play."

"And...technically Eli's supposed to be my tour guide, I guess." Griffin muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Malia blankly stares at the two which causes Eli's eyes to widen. "Oh! You want us to leave? Okay--uh, I got it!" He nervously laughed, holding up the peace sign. "Okay, well, I'll tell my dad that I saw you guys?"

"No, don't." Scott immediately shook his head. "Don't tell him anything. This is kind of..."

"Personal." I finish for him before I look over to Griffin. "Get back to town. I'll pick you up later and you better be at Derek's. We can talk later where maybe I'll think about giving back your canvases."

"Momma would've took my side." He harshly stated. "She would have taken my side or at least listen to me--"

"Well she's not here, okay!" I interrupt which causes his eyes to soften. "She's gone! Now get the hell out of here! I'm not going to tell you again, Griffin."

"I hate you." My heart winces as his words but he slowly shakes his head in disbelief as he backed away. "It should've been you." He grumbles before he steps around Eli, continuing down the path we came from.

I take a deep breath, ignoring the ache in my heart before I turn to the others, meeting their solemn expressions until Lydia took a step closer to me.

"Liv, maybe you should--" Lydia hesitantly spoke up but I shook my head.

"I'm fine. I'll talk to him later." I dismissively wave my hand before I look over to Eli. "Please don't mention what we're doing to anyone. Just take Griffin home once the game is over."

"All right, I won't say anything but do not worry Ms. Flores." Eli waved off and snapped his finger at me. "I'll keep him safe." He says before quickly following after Griffin. "Griff! Wait up!"

Scott pulls out the pouch of the dirt we gathered earlier and dumps it into his hand as Lydia removes the cloth from the katana blade.

"All right. Now what?" Malia asked.

Lydia holds the blade in front of her for a couple of seconds, furrowing her brows in concentration. Her eyes flicker at each of us until she lets out a huff. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't write the instructions."

"Yeah, you did. You literally wrote the instructions." 

"Okay, you know what I mean."

"All right, let me try. I died with this thing anyway." I say as I take the sword from her but accidentally graze my palm against the blade enough to leave a cut which causes me to hiss. "Agh! Why is this thing still sharp? What the hell!"

"It's a sword, genius!" Lydia scolded. "Why would you grab it by the blade?"

"Well I didn't think it would still be sharp over ten years later!"

"Wait, wait. Guys, do you feel that?" Scott asked but soon followed with a gasp and we turn, seeing that the dirt in his hand flew out of his hands. It spirals into the air and goes straight into the tree stump, causing a surge of wind to blow behind us. "Woah!"

The katana rips out of my hand and shoots to the sky, hovering in the air for a moment as it skillfully twirled around.

"Shit!"

"What the hell!"

The katana strikes down in the middle of the stump and the action alone causes the dust to swirl around us.

However, the cut on my hand suddenly lifts up and forces me to crouch in front of the stump, slamming my hand close to the sword.

"Agh!" I cry out, feeling what seemed to be thousands of needles burning through my hand and trickled across my arm. Almost as if it was absorbing the blood from my hand which caused brief flashes of red to cloud my vision. "Get my hand off of this death trap!"

I feel strong grips tug on my waist and arm, trying to tear me away but all I could do is helplessly watch as the katana blade sank deeper into stump.

Finally, the hilt disappears and as soon as the rest of the dust went inside the stump, my hand finally breaks free and we stumble to the ground.

"Ugh..." I hear Lydia mutter, but I tightly clutch onto my bloodied hand in discomfort.

The four of us carefully push ourselves up to stand, expecting something to appear but the stump seemed untouched. Normal even.

"Okay...that was fun. Um," Malia sarcastically remarked and pointed behind her as she began to walk backward. "you guys want to go get something to eat now?"

Scott lets out a sigh before he turns away from the stump as well.

"That can't be it..." I whisper, fighting the familiar ache in my heart as it resurfaced. "Not even a confirmation that it worked? Are you serious?"

I was holding on to at least a thread of hope that I'd see her. One last time.

I feel a hand place on my shoulder and turn, meeting Lydia's solemn expression. "I know."  She whispered, patting my shoulder a few times before she begins to walk as well.

"I hope you get to see my mom along with everyone else," I let out a sigh and nudge my foot against the stump. "mon amour."

I reluctantly turn away from the stump and begin to walk but the sounds of pouring sand causes me to pause in my steps. I glance down and my eyes widen in surprise, seeing trails of a blue light trickle across the floor.

"Guys, the floor!" I quickly speak up and they look down, seeing the glowing blue light as well.

It eventually trails back to the stump and I quickly turn, watching as the sparkles of the blue light shifted into a bright human-like form.

"What the...?" I hear Scott behind me but I froze in my spot.

The light finally fades and I almost crumble to the floor at the unconscious exposed figure laying on her side. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Allison?"