❛ If you could find a reason, a reason to stay standing in the pouring rain. ❜

SEASON 1, EPISODE 4
magic bullet

IT DIDN'T TAKE long for Starla to realize the gravity of the situation. Once she regained her senses, assessing the situation as quickly as she could, she led the group of teenagers into a room downstairs. Willow realized they had gone into Rowan's room, her older brother, who was away for college.

⠀⠀⠀Willow helped lead Stiles to the bed, setting Derek down onto it. Starla took their place, standing in front of Derek as he looked around the room with a nostalgic gaze in his eyes. Willow raised an eyebrow but chalked it up to the pain.

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked around the room as well. It looked the same as he had left it for college. Off-black walls, his bed, his desk with papers scattered, knick knacks on every surface, and his altar by the window.

⠀⠀⠀"What happened?" Starla asked, turning to the four teenagers clogging up the room.

⠀⠀⠀"I was shot," Derek explained, and Starla turned to look at him. "It wasn't a normal bullet. Scott is trying to find what it was."

⠀⠀⠀"Is the bullet still in your arm?" she asked, taking his arm to look at the wound.

⠀⠀⠀"No, it went straight through," Derek sighed in relief.

⠀⠀⠀Starla nodded, then sighed.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, we need some bandages for now," Starla muttered. She looked back at Starla, furrowing her brows. "How will Scott know where to find the bullet?"

⠀⠀⠀"He's at the Argent house," Derek explained. "They're the ones who shot me."

⠀⠀⠀"Argents?" Starla spat. "I heard they moved back."

⠀⠀⠀"Who are they?" Willow asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Hunters," Starla stated, and all three of the girl's shoulders coiled into fright. "Don't worry. They only hunt werewolves as long as you don't get in their way. Which, no doubtedly, you'll end up doing now that you're friends with some," she sighed fretfully, rubbing her forehead out of anxiety.

⠀⠀⠀"We've kept out of their issues so far," Laurel commented, glancing at Willow with a frown. "Well, Bridgette and I have."

⠀⠀⠀"It's not her fault," Starla scolded Laurel, turning back to them. "Could you get us bandages?"

⠀⠀⠀Laurel took a deep intake of breath, straightening her shoulders. She nodded her head and said, "Of course."

⠀⠀⠀"If we can't find what the bullet is, I have a last resort," Derek assured Starla, flexing his hand in front of him.

⠀⠀⠀Starla turned to him, looking unimpressed.

⠀⠀⠀"Cutting your arm off?" she asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, no," Stiles exclaimed, putting his hands on top of his head, going pale again. "No, no, no, I can not be in here for that!"

⠀⠀⠀"I was gonna make you do it," Derek told him around a small, wicked smile as Stiles continued to squirm at the idea.

⠀⠀⠀"Stop messing with him," Starla scolded Derek, swatting her hand at him. Derek turned to her and suppressed his smile into an innocent one. "Will you heal on your own?"

⠀⠀⠀"I should," Derek sighed, looking down at his arm. "I have no idea what's happening to me."

⠀⠀⠀"Alright," Starla sighed. She turned to Stiles and asked, "Have you heard from Scott?"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles fumbled to pull his phone out of his pocket, nearly dropping it before he caught it and read the text from Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"He says he needs more time," Stiles scoffed.

⠀⠀⠀"This is not going to end well," Starla muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You two," she continued after a second, pointing at Stiles and Willow. "Go to the pantry and pick out the ingredients for the sleeping draught. If I'm going to do this, I want him unconscious."

⠀⠀⠀"No, I can't—"

⠀⠀⠀"You will be," Starla cut Derek off, barely standing an inch over him as he sat on the bed but looked ten times more intimidating than Derek ever had. "Don't act like you aren't still a child. I will not let you go through this in pain."

⠀⠀⠀The room was silent for a moment before Starla turned back to her daughter, and Willow nodded. Then, she and Stiles exited the room, leading him into the pantry, leaving Starla and Bridgette with Derek.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, wow," Stiles muttered as they stepped into the room full of cabinets and containers of ingredients.

⠀⠀⠀Willow moved through the room, easily grabbing what she needed, then handed it to Stiles to carry. By the time she had finished picking what she had needed, Stiles had to cradle the pile of jars in his arms like a baby.

⠀⠀⠀They left the pantry, walking back to the kitchen. Willow headed for a cabinet in the kitchen while Stiles let the jars fall from his arms and onto the dining room table. Willow pulled out two mortars and pestles before heading back over to him. She sat at the table and handed him a set.

⠀⠀⠀"Uh, what is this?" Stiles asked her, holding the items awkwardly in his hands as he looked over them.

⠀⠀⠀"Mortar and pestle," Willow explained.

⠀⠀⠀Willow set her mortar onto the table and reached over to the jars. She cut her arm between the pile, pulling half of them to her, and left the other half to Stiles.

⠀⠀⠀"Ask me how much you need before you start, but all you need to do is grind it into a powder," she explained.

⠀⠀⠀"I thought we were making a potion?" Stiles asked. He furrowed his eyebrows but followed her process. He picked up a jar to show her, and she glanced at the chamomile flowers then back to him. 

⠀⠀⠀"A tablespoon," Willow told him. "And we are. You don't make tea by putting a leaf in some water, do you?"

⠀⠀⠀"Is that not how you make tea?" Stiles asked.

⠀⠀⠀Willow stared at him for a second, wondering if he had even had tea before.

⠀⠀⠀"No, you pick the leaves, dry them and mix them with other kinds to make a blend," Willow explained, returning her gaze to her work. "It's similar to this. Crush the ingredients and their essence releases so that the potion is potent enough to work."

"IGNIS," WILLOW WHISPERED, standing at the stove and setting the cauldron on top of it.

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Stiles had finished crushing the ingredients fifteen minutes later, and now she could start to brew the actual potion. She collected her mortar and poured the contents into the pot, followed by Stiles'.

⠀⠀⠀Willow stirred the pot with a wooden spoon. She watched as the crushed pieces of herbs floated through the water, letting them steep for ten minutes before she cast over it.

⠀⠀⠀"Meus in somnum adjuvas, in chasmam cadeo somniorum et dulcis nihilorum. Meus in somnus adjuvas, fingis locus diversum hic unum et meus sicut ego linquo."

⠀⠀⠀Willow stirred the pot for another ten minutes and repeated the spell before leaving it to continue to brew on its own. She sat back at the table, her and Stiles stuck in uncomfortable silence. She bounced her leg under the table anxiously while Stiles looked anywhere but her.

⠀⠀⠀Willow wondered when she'd stop being put in the middle of their werewolf issues. She wondered if she'd ever get out of them. She felt like a fly caught in a spider's web and unable to break free no matter how many times she tried to escape.

⠀⠀⠀Willow glanced at the hall, seeing Bridgette approach them with a frown. She held Stiles' phone in her hand she used to call Scott, pausing at the table's edge.

⠀⠀⠀"What's wrong?" Willow asked as Bridgette handed Stiles his phone.

⠀⠀⠀"It's not good," Bridgette stated, turning to her. "The bullet is a rare form of wolfsbane; we don't even have any in our pantry. It's called Northern Blue Monkshood, and Scott has to bring us the bullet."

⠀⠀⠀"Why?" Stiles asked, furrowing his brows.

⠀⠀⠀"It's like using a part of a disease in the vaccine that cures it," Bridgette explained. "So, if we don't get it in the next twenty minutes, we go to the last resort. Is that enough time for the potion?"

⠀⠀⠀"It'll have to be," Willow stated with a frown.

⠀⠀⠀Bridgette nodded, then left them to go back into Rowan's room.

⠀⠀⠀They waited fifteen minutes for Scott, and when he still hadn't made it to the house, Willow was prepping the sleeping draught. She turned the stove off, grabbed a mug from the cabinets, and poured the potion into it. She picked the mug up, but her hands were shaking so bad a few scalding drops hit her fingers, and she worried that she'd drop it.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles stood from his chair, rushing over to her, and took the mug from her hands. She looked up at him and smiled in thanks, looking nervous as she did. Stiles smiled awkwardly back, nodding for them to head back to Rowan's room.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles entered the room first, Starla immediately in front of him, and took the mug from his hands. She thanked him under her breath and rushed back to Derek.

⠀⠀⠀"Derek," Starla said, standing at the edge of the bed and holding the mug out to him. Then, when he didn't take it, she hissed, "Drink it before I force you to."

⠀⠀⠀Derek glared at her but followed her instructions. He sat up from where he laid, grabbed the mug, took a large gulp of the potion, and then stopped.

⠀⠀⠀"All of it," Starla scolded him.

⠀⠀⠀Derek rolled his eyes, then finished it.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't even feel—" Derek tried to say, but in a second flat, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell onto the bed, the mug rolling from his hand with a loud thump against the floor.

⠀⠀⠀"We don't have long," Starla told the room, turning to the teenagers. "We couldn't brew it long enough for it to last for more than an hour on an average human or witch. No telling how quickly it will pass for him.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow, Laurel, Bridgette, hold him down. Stiles, you should probably stand in the hall."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, thinning his lips in agreement, and walked into the hall.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Starla sighed, looking between her daughters with a wide, nervous smile. "Who wants to hold the arm?"

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles!"

⠀⠀⠀"Scott!"

⠀⠀⠀The door burst open, and the two teenagers ran inside. Scott held the bullet up to Starla, and Stiles pat him on the back, letting out a relieved sigh.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares," Stiles remarked, despite not being in the room.

⠀⠀⠀Starla took the bullet from Scott. She held it in front of herself, her eyes glowing a bright green before the bullet was cut in half. She took the bullet and ran back to Derek. She shook the gun powder onto the bullet wound and jammed her finger into it to make sure it reached every space that might hold wolfsbane.

⠀⠀⠀Starla lifted her fingers to her face, staring at them, and exclaimed, "Fieri calidus!" and her fingers turned bright orange.

⠀⠀⠀Starla turned to look at her daughters, who all nodded, holding Derek down. Starla took her fingers and pressed them against the entry wound in Derek's arm, sparking the gun powder as well as cauterizing the wound. He screamed despite being knocked unconscious, trying to move away from her fingers while the sisters held him down. Starla moved to the exit wound, finishing it off.

⠀⠀⠀The wound started to heal itself again, the black veins that popped out of Derek's arm from the poison faded, and the wound disappeared along with it.

⠀⠀⠀There was a moment of relieved silence, everyone panting from the adrenaline as they stared at Derek. Color started to return to his face, and a sheen of sweat was still layered over his skin.

⠀⠀⠀"That was awesome!" Stiles cheered, breaking the dead silence as Derek started to come to.

⠀⠀⠀"What happened?" Derek muttered, pressing his left hand against his right arm, realizing it was still here. "He got it?"

⠀⠀⠀"He got it," Starla smiled, holding his hand between her own. "I want you staying here for the night."

⠀⠀⠀"A-And," Scott spoke up, interrupting Starla. "We saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything—"

⠀⠀⠀"You're gonna trust them?" Derek asked, his expression exploding into anger as he stood from the bed and towered over Scott. "You think they can help you?"

⠀⠀⠀"Well, why not?" Scott shot back. "They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!"

⠀⠀⠀"Scott, sweetie," Starla said, pushing Derek behind her and standing in front of Scott. "The Argents aren't people you can trust. But, even if you don't trust Derek, trust me. Everything's going to be okay."

⠀⠀⠀"And how do I know I can trust you?!" Scott exclaimed, his temper rising as he glared at Starla.

⠀⠀⠀Willow nearly stepped forward, but Derek beat her to it. He rested his hand on Starla's shoulder, glaring over her shoulder at Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"He's not going to listen," Derek told her softly. "But I can show you exactly how nice they are."

⠀⠀⠀Derek stepped past Starla, putting his hand on Scott's shoulder next to lead him out.

⠀⠀⠀"I'll be back," he called to Starla, and the two left.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, well, this was fun," Stiles smiled, pointing at the door. "I should probably go."

⠀⠀⠀"My car is behind yours," Laurel commented. "I'll move it."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, thanks," Stiles muttered, heading out of the house with Laurel following.

⠀⠀⠀When they left, it was only Willow, Bridgette, and Starla left in the room. Starla frowned at the door where the two had left, then glanced back at Willow.

⠀⠀⠀"You two used to date, right?" Starla asked her youngest.

⠀⠀⠀Willow cringed at the question.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah."

⠀⠀⠀"What happened?"

⠀⠀⠀"He's in love with someone else."

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

HELLO! I hope you guys are still enjoying this book, I promise it gets more interesting it's just while I love the first season it's kind of boring. Plus, I have big plans for the next season so I'm anxiously waiting to post that.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think of the new layout ESPECIALLY THE RECAP. I'm trying something new because I realize that a lot of the times I forget what's happened in a fic if I leave it for more than one day and seeing as I'm updating only twice a week that maybe people forget what's happened. It's also my main reason to leave a story because I don't have the energy to look back. So, tell me if you like it / appreciate that or if you think I could do it better :)

SONG: Cigarette Daydreams by Cage the Elephant

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.