CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO:
THREE'S A PATTERN

ELAINE WOKE UP THE NEXT morning, a groan falling from her lips as she forced herself up from the bed. She got into the shower, scrubbing her body before taking notice of the tattoo that was now permanently inked on her skin. A gentle smile fell on her lips, loving the way it had turned out. She got out, got dressed, and got ready for the first day back to school. She grabbed her bag before walking out, offering Scott a small smile as she watched him climb onto his bike as she got into her car, both siblings taking off towards the school and arriving almost at the same time.

Elaine, Scott, and Stiles all walked the halls together, Scott explained to the two how he wanted help from Derek in order to keep his tattoo on his arm. And of course, Stiles had something to say about it.

"You wanna ask Derek for help? Why? Why?"

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back, so, there has to be a way to do it without healing, right?" Scott told them.

"Okay, yeah, but still―︎doesn't he have his hands a little full right now?" Stiles asked, pointing to the missing posters of Erica and Boyd.

"Derek always makes time for us." Elaine told Stiles, shrugging her shoulders, though she frowned slightly at the thought of the two wolves that were still MIA.

"Not helping." Stiles mumbled. That's when the three stopped, hearing a voice that made them peek their heads around the corner.

"Look, these are the applications for the career adviser. I need them sorted. And, whatever happened to the library while I was gone? I want it cleared up! And what the hell is this?" The principal held up a sword, making the three widen their eyes.

"Go, go, go." Stiles quickly rushed, making the three quickly run away. They all walked into their English class with Elaine sitting beside of Stiles and Lydia sitting behind her. The two females watched as Allison looked around for a seat before realizing the only spot that was open was right in front of Scott. Elaine gave the girl a reassuring smile before watching the girl sit down.

"I'm mad at you." Lydia whispered.

"Why?" Elaine frowned.

"Because you didn't tell me you were back!" Lydia hissed. "I'm your best friend, I could've had something planned for us to do."

"I already apologized ten times for that." Elaine whined. "And I told you I would make up for it." That's when their attention all turned towards their phones vibrating, almost every student in the classroom furrowing there eyebrows at the text they had received.

"'The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth, flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.'" A woman with long dark hair and a kind smile entered the classroom, leaning against the desk as she glanced at all of her students. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone." The students all did as they were told, turning off their phones, paying attention to the new English that stood in front of them, writing down the notes the teacher was writing on the board.

Elaine stopped, glancing upwards at the man that had walked in, whispering a few words to the woman before walking out. Jennifer Blake turned towards Scott. "Mr. McCall?" Jennifer motioned for the boy to follow her, and Elaine met eyes with her brother, silently asking what was going on. Scott shrugged his shoulders before walking out.

"Hey, Lydia―︎what is that? Is that from the accident?" Stiles whispered, making Elaine turn her attention towards the redhead.

"No." The girl muttered with a sigh. "Prada bit me."

"Your dog?" Elaine questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. Prada was one of the sweetest little pups alive.

"No, my designer handbag." Lydia scoffed, making Elaine narrow her eyes at her. "Yes, my dog."

"Has it ever bitten you before?" Stiles questioned, Lydia shook her head. "Okay, what if it's, like, the same thing as the deer? You know, like, how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake or something?"

"Meaning what?" Elaine cocked an eyebrow at him. "There's gonna be an earthquake or something?"

"Or something. I just. . . maybe it means something's coming. Something bad." Stiles answered the girl.

"It was a deer and a dog." Elaine deadpanned, and Lydia nodded her head in agreement.

"What's that thing you say about threes?" Lydia questioned. "Once, twice. . ." That's when she was cut off by a bird slamming into the window, making the class snap their heads towards the sound. A splotch of blood was now placed on the glass. Elaine furrowed her eyebrows, glancing towards her teacher who slowly made her way towards the window. A flock of birds came closer and closer, and as they did they continued to smack against the window, killing themselves until they managed to break the glass, flying in.

"Get down, everyone! Get down! Down! Get down!" Jennifer yelled as more and more filled the classroom, Elaine dragged Lydia down with her, the two quick to move over to Stiles who quickly placed himself over the two girls as the birds kept attacking.

"Elaine." Stiles tried.

"Hold on a second!" Elaine hissed, trying to tear her attention away from all of the screams that filled the classroom. She closed her eyes tightly, focusing her energy on the animals instead of the humans. The birds seemed to be killing themselves, but Elaine was quick to end the lives of the rest of the birds. "Phasmatos Morsinus Pyrox Allum." The rest of the birds dropped to the ground, dead, and Elaine let out a surprised breath of relief.

"You okay?" Stiles quickly asked, placing a hand on the girl's cheek as they carefully stood up. Elaine swallowed, looking around before forcing herself to nod her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright." Elaine breathed.

"What the hell just happened?" Lydia questioned, making Elaine place a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"One's and incident, two's a coincidence. . ." Stiles whispered.

"Three's a pattern." Elaine finished glancing up towards the boy. Students sat there in the classroom, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, and Elaine sat there besides Stiles, having pulled a feather from her hair and twirling it between her fingers as she stared blankly off into space. Stiles had been texting someone on his phone before he looked up towards their teacher, shock written across her face.

"Miss Blake? You okay?" Stiles carefully asked, removing himself from Elaine's side to carefully walk in front of the teacher who numbly nodded her head. He reached over her, making the woman back up, before he carefully plucked the feather from her hair, muttering a soft apology. Stiles walked back over, placing a hand on Elaine's shoulder making the girl jump, surprising them both. "Whoa, you alright?"

"Yeah. . . yeah, I'm fine." Elaine nodded. "Just thinking, is all." The two teenagers glanced towards Stiles' father who started to make his way over to Allison and Chris Argent.

"Mr. Argent." Noah spoke. "You wouldn't have any insight into this, would you?"

"Me?" The man frowned.

"Yeah, all this bizarre animal behavior, it's. . . you must have seen something like this before, right?"

"I'm not sure why I would, or why you would think I would." Argent started.

"I'm sorry. I-I could've sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter." Noah mumbled, making the man glanced towards Stiles before looking back towards Noah.

"Ah, right. Well, not anymore." Argent answered.

"You alright?" The Sheriff questioned Allison who nodded in response, before he walked away, Stiles giving him a look. As Stiles called Elaine's brother, the female couldn't help but continue to twist the feather between her fingers as if there was something she was missing. She only looked up again when Stiles outstretched his hand towards her. She gave him a questioning look.

"He wants us to meet him at Derek's." Stiles answered, making Elaine nod before she grabbed his hand and jumped off the desk, following after the boy as he led her from the classroom and out to his car.

"My car." Elaine frowned.

"We'll come back and get it later." Stiles assured her before they both got into the jeep and quickly made their way towards Derek's house. Elaine hadn't let go of neither Stiles' hand nor the feather that she was still holding, making the boy glance at her. "Laney, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"You can lie to everyone else, but not me." Stiles shook his head. "Speak your problems. I'll be your therapist for the day."

Elaine quirked a smile at this before she sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly, Stiles, it's nothing." Stiles gave her a look and finally she bit her lip. "I don't know. Something's not right. And I can't figure out what it is. . . but it's something. . . powerful." She held up the feather, twisting it between her fingers once again. "I just don't know what it is. . ."

They arrived at Derek's, getting out of the vehicle and entering the Hale house, walking up to Scott who was sitting in a chair with Derek kneeled in front of him, having asked the man if he could possibly recover his tattoo that had healed. Derek forced his eyes to glow, examining the place in which the tattoo had originally been.

"Yeah, I see it. It's two bands, right? What does it mean?" Derek questioned.

"I don't know. It's just something I trace with my fingers." Scott answered, tracing it on the table beside of him in the dirt that covered it.

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek questioned, glancing up at the boy.

"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked.

"To mark something." Stiles answered, smiling when a feeling a pride crossed him. Elaine smiled as well, shaking her head slightly before turning her attention back to the two wolves.

"Well, that's in Tahitian." Scott spoke. "In Samoan, it means 'open wound.' I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned eighteen. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, it makes it kind of a reward." Elaine glanced down at her own tattoo, tracing it with her finger, as she let in a deep breath. One day at a time.

"For what?" Derek furrowed his eyebrows.

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants. Going on four months later. . . it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh. . ."

"Like an open wound." Elaine softly spoke up.

"Yeah." Scott nodded.

Derek sighed before picking up a blow torch. "The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt."

"Ah, that's great." Stiles sarcastically spoke.

"Do it." Scott nodded. Derek glanced at him before lighting it, allowing the flame to fall from it. Elaine cocked her head to the side.

"I've never realized how pretty fire is." Elaine spoke, making the three look at her. She glanced between them. "Sorry."

"Oh, wow. That's a―︎that's a lot for me. So, I'm gonna take that as my cue, I'm just gonna wait outside." Stiles started to walk away, but Derek grabbed onto him, pushing him back.

"Nope. You can help hold him down." Derek answered. Both Elaine and Stiles walked over to Scott, glancing at one another before holding the boy the down. Scott nodded his head, and Derek started.

"Oh my God." Stiles breathed. The flame danced across Scott's skin, making the boy let out cries of pain, the two trying their best to hold the boy down.

"Hold him!" Derek spoke. Elaine clenched her jaw before forcing her eyes to start glowing purple, holding him down with as much strength as she could use without possibly hurting the boy himself. He continued to scream out in pain until he passed out, making the two step away from him. They all stood there in front of him, watching as he gasped awake before looking down at his arm to reveal the tattoo.

"It worked." He smiled. He stood up and the three teenagers started to walk away from Derek.

"Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now." Stiles spoke up, making Elaine lightly slap him.

"Yeah. I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happening to us. . . everything just changes so fast. Everything's so, uh. . . ephemeral." Elaine rose her eyebrows at the boys use of the word, smiling at him.

"Studying for the PSATs?" Elaine rose an eyebrow.

"Yep." The boy stated proudly.

"Well look at you." Elaine beamed. "Stepping it up this year I see."

"Well, I made a promise to mom, and I plan on keeping it." Scott answered, making Elaine place a hand on his shoulder before grabbing Stiles' hand as they were about to walk out of the house, the two stopping when Scott spoke towards Derek. "You painted the door." The door was now a bright red, making the three furrow their eyebrows. "Why did you paint the door?"

"Go home, Scott." Derek warned.

"And why only one side?" Scott continued before his claws appeared and he started to scratch the paint off the door.

"Scott." Derek spoke, making his way over towards them, but Scott ignored him as he continued to scratch and scratch, making Elaine cringe at the sound. He stopped when a symbol was revealed. Elaine furrowed her eyebrows at the symbol, cocking her head slightly before they all glanced towards Derek.

"The birds at the school, and the deer last night. Just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha." Scott realized before looking towards Derek. "How many are there?"

Derek looked at him for a moment before sighing. "A whole pack of them. An Alpha pack."

"I'm regretting coming back home." Elaine muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"All of them? How does that even work?" Stiles frowned.

"I hear there's some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac and I have been looking for them for the last four months."

"Let's say you find them―︎how in the hell do you deal with an Alpha Pack?" Elaine questioned, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"With all the help I can get." Derek answered.

"Where is she?" Suddenly, Isaac's voice echoed through the house, making them all turn towards the boy who had been lying unconscious on the table. "Where's the girl?"

The four turned to him with question before Derek was the one to ask, "What girl?"