Leave Me In Ruins

Not a date

The pack was scattered around Derek's loft. Sprawled across the couch and loveseat. It was silent, except for the occasional tapping of keys from Stiles' laptop. He was sat in his usual spot at the desk, his eyes scanning for anything useful about Belladonna.

"Parrish didn't say anything else?" Malia asked Lydia who was staring intently at a candle. A new missing person had been reported.

"No, just that he was out with friends," Lydia answered, not looking away from the flickering flame.

"He went to the bar to get a drink and didn't come back. Could something have been slipped into his drink?"

"Maybe," Lydia answered again. A mild annoyance to her tone.

"Then we should go there."

Lydia huffed, pulling her attention from the candle. "And do what? Ask the bartender if he slipped poison into some guy's drink? I'm sure he'll be real honest."

"It's better than sitting around here and doing nothing," Malia threw her hands up.

"Hold on." Stiles sat up straight in his chair, his eyes scanning the screen in front of him.

"Find something?" Scott asked eagerly, desperate for a reprieve from Lydia and Malia's bickering.

"It's not much, but...according to this, there's a way to manipulate certain poison's using different magic."

"Manipulate poison's how?" Derek frowned.

Stiles read from the screen, "With even the smallest dose, a poison can be accelerated or targeted to a specific part of the body. It was said if you crossed a witch she could poison you with a simple touch. Once poisoned she could send the poison to your heart forcing it to seize. Or target the stomach forcing her victim to vomit their own blood."

"That sounds familiar," Erica pointed out.

"There are other things too, like causing seizures and hallucinations so bad they kill themselves."

"So we're up against a witch?" Isaac asked, looking to Scott and Derek.

"Not necessarily," Stiles answered for them. He pointed to his screen. "This was a practice started by witches but was used by any magic wielder. Including druids. Though it was highly unorthodox."

"So we have no clue what we're up against." Malia threw her hands up.

"But we know it wasn't just the poison." Boyd pointed out. "Someone used magic to kill her."

"There has to be something we're missing." Lydia turned back to the candle in front of her.

"Is that even working?" Malia asked, gesturing to the still flickering candle. She didn't have the patience for meditation.

"It might if I could concentrate."

"Well, I'm bored. And we're not getting anywhere."

"What do you want to do?" Erica asked eagerly. She often liked Malia's ideas.

"I want to find this fucker."

"Me too, got any ideas?"

Malia looked to Scott and Derek. "One, but you're not gonna like it."

All eyes landed on Malia, waiting for her absurd idea.

"I say we go back to the spot we found the body. Try to pick up a scent. Maybe they came back. It's the only place that isn't completely overrun with other scents that this...person... has been."

"Fine but we go as a group." Scott stood as he looked to the other members.

"I'm fine with that." Malia shrugged.