CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR:
A DEAD BODY

THEY STOOD IN DEREK'S LOFT, Stiles placing down a map of the bank on the table in front of them.

"Okay, you see this?" Stiles asked, pointing to a part of the map. "This is how they got in―︎ it's a rooftop air conditioning vent, leads down inside into the wall of the vault, which is here. Okay?" He pointed to everything as he spoke, showing it to the three supernatural creatures. "One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then, throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall. Boom!"

"Can we fit in there?" Scott questioned.

"Yes, we can, but very, very barely. Besides Elaine, she could easily squeeze through. And, they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond-bit. . ."

"Forget the drill." Derek cut him off.

"Sorry?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at the man.

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek questioned.

"What do you. . . What do you think you're gonna do, Derek? You gonna punch through the wall?" Stiles asked.

"Yes, Stiles. I'm gonna punch through the wall." Derek blankly answered him.

"Okay. Okay, big guy, let's see it! Let's see that fist. Big old fist. Make it, come on! Get it out there! Don't be scared, big bad wolf!" Derek held up his fist. "Yeah, look at that! Okay, see this?" Stiles held up his hand. "That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co―︎" The boy was cut off by Derek punching his hand, sending him toppling over, leaning over the table with a groan of pain before walking away as he cried out.

"I'll get through the wall." Derek assured. "Who's following me?"

"Don't look at me!" Peter spoke up, making Elaine jump before she cursed, having forgotten he was sitting on the steps. "I'm not up to fighting speed, yet. And honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."

"So, I'm supposed to just let them die?" Derek asked.

"One of them already is dead." Peter answered with a shrug.

"We don't know that!" Derek snarled.

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here? A pack of Alphas, all of them killers. And, if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant Alpha." Peter reminded the man. "I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."

"Can someone kill him, again, please?" Stiles requested.

"Gladly." Elaine spoke, her eyes glowing as she took a step forward, raising her hand, only for Scott to grab onto her, turning her away from the man that had ripped her throat with his claws. She narrowed her eyes at her brother who narrowed his own in response as a warning.

"Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk." Peter warned.

"What about you?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, if you want me to come―︎"

"Not you." Derek cut Stiles off before looking towards Scott.

"Got it." Stiles muttered.

"I don't know about Erica. . . But, if Boyd's alive, we have to do something. We have to try."

"Agreed." Elaine nodded her head. "I'll come too."

"But?" Derek asked, glancing between the two.

"Who's the other girl? The one locked in there with Boyd?"

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"What?" Derek asked with an annoyed sigh, glancing towards Scott. The three were right behind the bank, walking down an alley, having stopped for a moment and Scott glancing at Derek.

"There's just something I can't get out of my head." Scott answered.

"The moon's rising, Scott. What is it?" Derek quickly asked.

"Risk and reward."

"Coach's lesson?" Elaine mumbled, cocking an eyebrow at the boy.

"Which means what?" Derek snapped.

"We're not measuring the risk with enough information. We don't know enough." Scott answered him.

"We know time's running out." Derek argued.

"Yeah, but think about it―︎they put the triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now?" Scott asked, turning to look at the alpha.

"We don't have time to figure out every little detail―︎"

"Okay, but what if this detail―︎the reason why they waited―︎is the most important one?"

"Then we do nothing, and Boyd and Erica are dead." Derek answered. He then glanced between the two siblings. "I know what I'm risking―︎my life for theirs." He then jumped up, grabbing the bars on the window before jumping and grabbing onto the ladder that was hanging from the balcony above. He then glance back towards them. "And I won't blame you if you don't follow me."

Elaine and Scott exchanged looks with one another. "Can you get up there?"

"I've learned a thing or two." Elaine answered. She pointed her hands towards the ground. "Ventus" She was boosted into the air by a gust of wind, allowing the girl to grab onto the ladder. She smirked down at her brother who looked at her, impressed before he quickly followed after her. The trio made it inside with Derek successfully punching a hole through the wall, allowing them access. They paused for a moment, looking around before their eyes caught sight of a figure.

"Boyd?" Derek carefully questioned. They watched as Boyd cam from the shadows, his claws out and growls falling from his lips. "Boyd, it's me. It's Derek." That's when Scott's phone buzzed, the boy quick to answer it.

"Stiles, now is not the best time."

"Scott! Scott! No, listen to me, okay? Look, you gotta get outta there. Look, the walls of the vault are made from a mineral called hecatolite―︎it scatters the moonlight."

"What does that mean?" Scott questioned.

"We're here to get you out, okay?" Derek spoke, holding his hand out as to show no harm.

"Look, it keeps the moonlight out, okay? They haven't felt the full moon in months―︎" Stiles explained.

"Okay, think of it like the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. They used to starve the lions for three days, making them more vicious, more out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three months, diminishing their tolerance to it." Peter told him.

"Scott, they're gonna be stronger." Stiles told the boy.

"More savage, more bloodthirsty." Peter continued. "Scott, they're the lions! They're the starved lions, and you, Elaine, and Derek just stepped into the Colosseum."

"Derek, we got a problem." Scott spoke up. "A really big problem."

That's when another wolf emerged, a female, one Elaine nor Scott had ever seen before. But Derek had. "Cora?"

"Who?" The siblings questioned in unison.

"Cora?" Derek repeated the question.

"Derek. . . get out." Cora warned. "Get out now!"

Scott slapped his sister's arm, grabbing her attention before he nodded his head towards the line of mountain ash. That's when the vault open, forcing a bright light that made them squint their eyes. Elaine frowned when she saw the school's guidance counselor standing there. She bent down, allowing the last of the mountain ash to fall from her hands.

"No! No wait!" Scott yelled, running forward. The two wolves attacked, and luckily it was two on three. However, with the mountain ash seeming to surround her, her powers weren't as strong as they usually were, resulting in Elaine being hit roughly into the wall by Boyd, her head slamming against the metal with a loud bang. She laid there, her vision blurry as Derek and Scott fought Cora and Boyd. Sometimes she wished she had automatic healing like Scott did, but that wasn't the case.

Elaine forced herself up, kicking Cora away from Derek as she stood between Scott and Derek. Scott snapped his head towards Derek. "You know her?"

"She's my sister, my younger sister." Derek quickly answered.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Elaine snapped.

"Like I have a clue? I thought she was dead!"

That's when Allison suddenly appeared in the door way of the vault. "Look out!" Derek and Elaine were quick to move out of the way whilst Boyd grabbed onto Scott, throwing him around roughly. Elaine held out her hands, shouting out a spell and forcing the wolf to be thrown backwards making him snarl viscously at her before he attacked. She kept throwing spells, feeling herself grow weaker and weaker with each one until he managed to knock her away with his hand, turning his attention back towards Scott. Boyd stabbed his claws into Scott's stomach, making Elaine's eyes widen.

"Scott!" But she couldn't do anything without the possibility of getting her brother hurt or even worse, killed. Allison leaned down quickly, about to break the seal.

"No, don't break the seal!" Derek quickly yelled out.

"Boyd!" Allison yelled out before quickly doing the opposite of what Derek said. The wolves claws immediately were ripped from Scott's stomach, his attention turned towards Allison. He ran out of the vault with Cora following him. Elaine quickly went over to her brother, pulling up his shirt in order to look at his wounds. However, he pushed her away and quickly scrambled up when Derek stormed out, grabbing onto Allison.

"Don't touch her!" Elaine quickly stood up, joining her brother's side.

"That I had to do something!" Allison snapped at what Derek had said.

"She saved our lives." Scott told Derek.

"Yeah, and what do you think they're gonna do out there? Do you have any idea what we just set free?"

"You want to blame me? Well, I am not the one turning teenagers into killers." Allison yelled at him angrily.

"No. No, that's just the rest of your family." Derek shot back.

"I made mistakes. Gerard is not my fault."

"And what about your mother?" Derek challenged.

"What do you mean?" Allison frowned.

"Tell her, Scott." Derek said, snapping his head towards Scott.

"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison asked, turning towards the boy. "What does he mean?" After a few moment, Scott started to explained everything, making Allison look at him with wide eyes. "She tried to kill you? Both of you?" She glanced towards Elaine who had reluctantly told the girl that her mother had been the one to hit her with her car.

"Uh. . . yeah. Yeah." Scott nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'll tell you everything, okay? I'll tell you a-anything that you want to know, but right now-"

"Just tell me why." Allison tried.

" I. . . I couldn't. Allison, I couldn't let that be the last memory that you had of her." That's when Derek appeared, Erica in his arms, dead. Elaine placed a hand over her mouth, a tear slipping from her eye. She was really dead. Isaac had been right.

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It was a few days later, Elaine sitting there in her bed, her book in her hands as she silently read to herself. Scott was out helping Derek catch Cora and Boyd, and Melissa was at work. So, Elaine was home alone. She debated whether or not she should appear at the hospital and see if they had anything for her to do. That's when her phone started ringing, making her frown before seeing it was Stiles.

"Hey, Stiles? What's up?"

"I'm outside. Get in the car." Stiles told her.

"What's going on?" Elaine frowned.

"Lydia just called." Stiles answered. "She found a dead body."

The two arrived at the Beacon Hills swimming pools, quickly running in until they found Lydia. They ran over to her with Elaine frowning as she glanced over her best friend.

"Are you okay?" Elaine asked, pushing a hair from Lydia's face.

"I'm okay." Lydia nodded her head. She then pointed to the dead body. "That, over there? Not okay."

"Yeah. All right. I'm gonna call my dad." Stiles nodded his head.

"I already called 911." Lydia told him.

"You called the police before you called me?" Stiles asked with surprise.

"I'm supposed to call you first when I find a dead body?"

"YES!"

"Stiles." Elaine warned, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "Let's just call Scott, alright?"

"El?" Scott answered.

"And Stiles, and Lydia." Elaine breathed before explaining what she had seen to her brother.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. Throat ripped out, blood everywhere―︎it's like The-frickin'-Shining over here! If two little twin girls come out of the woods and start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised." Stiles answered.

"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?"

Stiles took the phone from Elaine's hand, putting it to his ear and taking Scott of speaker. "Make sure it was them? Scott, who else is going around ripping throats out?"

"Please, just do it." Scott sighed.

"Purity." Elaine mumbled, noticing the ring on the kid's finger that had been killed. The three left, Stiles and Elaine having a mutual agreement to follow Lydia home even though she did have a police escort. Stiles and Elaine exchanged looks.

"Stiles, no."

"Come on." Stiles whined. Elaine narrowed her eyes at him before huffing and getting out of the car, Stiles quickly scrambling out of the car to follow her. They walked with Lydia up to her room, making the girl turn to look at them.

"You two didn't have to follow me home." Lydia told them.

"We just wanted to make sure you got in okay." Elaine told her.

"I had a police escort."

"I know the inner workings of that force, all right? They're not nearly as reliable as people think!" Stiles told the girl, making Elaine glance at him.

"Well, you also didn't have to follow me into my room." Lydia pointed out.

"We, uh. . ." He looked at Elaine before shaking his head. " Yeah, I don't have an answer for that."

"We just wanted to make sure you were alright." Elaine truthfully told her. "We're leaving now."

"Are you really gonna go without asking me the question that you've been dying to ask me?" Lydia questioned, raising her eyebrows, her arms crossed over her chest.

"We don't―︎" Stiles started. "We haven't been dying to ask anything. No questions here for Stiles and Elaine! Nothing!"

"I can see it on both of your faces." Lydia deadpanned.

"Maybe our faces just has, like, a naturally interrogatory ex-expression?" Stiles tried.

"Well, your interrogatory expressions are getting on my nerves." Lydia gave them both a sarcastic smile before she sighed and sat down on her bed, looking between them. "The answer is. . . I have no clue how I ended up finding that body. I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car."

"Yeah, Lyds, but the last time something like this happened. . ." Elaine trailed off, looking at her friend with worry.

"I know―︎Derek's uncle." Lydia nodded her head.

"Peter." Stiles spoke, making Elaine give him a questioning look.

Elaine pulled out her phone, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw it was her mom. "Mom?"

"You with Stiles?" Melissa questioned.

"Yeah, why?"

"They just brought in the body. You two need to get down here."

"We're on our way." Elaine nodded before hanging up. She looked between the two. "That was my mom. Stiles and I have to go. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm okay." Lydia nodded. Elaine walked forward and Lydia stood up, the two exchanging hugs.

"Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"I will." Lydia nodded before pulling away, offering her friend a smile before she watched as Stiles and Elaine walked out, a gentle smile pulling at her features as she watched their hands immediately interlace with one another's.