Alone • Liam Dunbar

Eighteen

As it turns out, Scott and the others couldn't survive one night without me.

Fenris approved Scott's request to see Valack after a bit of convincing, but it was a conditional agreement. Valack wouldn't be allowed to leave his cell, which meant only Stiles and Lydia could speak to him as they weren't restricted by the mountain ash foundation that the lower levels of Eichen were built on.

That should have been enough of a reason for them to pull out of the plan, but it wasn't. They went through with it, and things only went downhill from there.

Eichen existed on a convergence of telluric currents and a ley line. That amount of electromagnetic energy is what allowed it to safeguard itself. Eichen's operators manipulated the frequency all around them, using it to keep certain supernatural creatures within their walls, as well as keep them out.

In theory, it was foolproof. Frequency was something that everything in our known universe, natural and supernatural, experienced and could be affected by. Though, when faced with a young kitsune who had no idea how to properly control her powers, it was nothing but a monumental failure.

Kira's unstable foxfire disrupted the building's defenses and caused any and all protections to fall. She unknowingly rolled out the welcome mat for the Dread Doctors to break into the facility and do what they do best - wreak havoc.

The others escaped or hid at the time of the breach, coming out of the ordeal unscathed. Mildly crisped, but still able to heal. It wasn't clear what happened to Valack, and the others had been kicked off the premises before they were able to find out. Judging by the condition the Doctors left their other victims in though, it probably wasn't pretty.

At least before he met his unknown fate, Valack gave us our first shot at leveling the playing field.

"Valack says their pseudoscientists. They extended their lives through unnatural means, using the supernatural to their advantage while they tamper with the balance of life," Stiles explains the information that had been given to him by Valack himself.

He and I were with Scott in the McCall kitchen, all of us seated around the island. They were bringing me up to speed on everything that they learned and what occurred in Eichen, and I tried to refrain from feeling too guilty over the fact that while my friends were enduring yet another traumatizing event, I was at Lily's diner, completely unaware of it all.

Hayden and I stayed there for the rest of the evening, not leaving until dark, talking for hours. It was a pleasant time, though part of me felt as if I was lying to her on some level.

Our conversations didn't revolve around anything remotely supernatural. It was as if a huge chunk of who I was didn't exist with Hayden, but for some reason, I preferred it. I could buy into the illusion that for once I was nothing more than a normal teenager, spending a night out with her friend, talking about the boy she liked.

I wished so badly to return to that reality, as much of a falsity as it was.

Valack revealed that the Doctor's main reason for coming to Beacon Hills, possibly a return trip, was because of the Nemeton's reactivation, which meant that we were at fault for the events of late.

We knew the sacrifices that Allison, Scott, and Stiles would reignite the tree's amplification of the ley line it grew on and turn this town into a literal beacon for the bizarre again, but I don't think any of us expected this.

These men were capable of manipulating the three most valuable things that shaped our universe - energy, frequency, and vibration.

Not only could they control electromagnetic forces and seemingly bend reality to their will, but they could also prolong their lives. Stiles said that Valack didn't give an exact estimate on their age, but the implication was that our mysterious doctors had been around for quite some time.