𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊, Lydia Martin

05 | the archer

"easy they come, easy they go
i jump off the train, i ride off alone"
-Taylor Swift

ANY MOMENT NOW, derek's pacing was going to crack the floor tiles under him. He was wearing a path into the room, frustration radiating off him in waves. "She's not dead." He repeated, for what felt like the hundredth time

"Derek," Stiles sighed, leaning against the table where Isaac sat. Tobias and Scott stood nearby, watching the tension unfold. "He said, 'There's a dead body. It's Erica.'" Stiles emphasized each word "Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek snapped.

"Someone else, obviously."

"And maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle." Scott suggested. He turned to Isaac. "Okay. The one who saved you?" 

Isaac shook his head. "No. She wasn't like us. And whoever was in the vault with Boyd was." His voice was quieter now, eyes fixed on the floor.

"Isaac might've imagined it," Tobias pointed out. Isaac shot him a betrayed glance. "Dude, it's nothing against you, it's just—" Tobias hesitated, trying to find the right words. "When people are under extreme stress, they sometimes see things that aren't there. Especially things they expect or want to be there. Erica was both of those things to you."

Isaac swallowed hard but didn't argue.

"What if that's, like, how Erica died?"

Derek latched onto the idea, desperate for any explanation that meant she was still alive. "Hallucinations?"

"No, what Isaac said," Stiles clarified, uncharacteristically patient. "They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives." He looked around. "It's like Werewolf Thunderdome."

Derek didn't hesitate. "Then we get them out tonight."

Deaton finally spoke up from where he sat near the doorway. "Be smart about this, Derek. You can't just go storming in."

"If Isaac got in, then so can we."

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?"

"We need a plan." Scott nodded, glancing between them.

 "How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty-four hours?" Derek's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Stiles has keys to every single thing in this town," Tobias deadpanned.

Stiles shot him a side-eye glare. "Dude."

"In front of an adult?" Scott muttered.

"Uh," Ignoring the momentary betrayal, Stiles was already pulling up a search on his phone, eyes flying scanning the screen. "I think someone already did. 'Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery'." He threw his hand up, letting it fall down and smack his thigh afterwards. "Doesn't say here how it was robbed, but it probably won't take long to find out." Stiles looked around.

Derek's stare was unimpressed. "How long?"

Stiles huffed a laugh. "It's the internet, Derek."

Derek didn't blink. His eyebrows lifted expectantly.

"Okay, minutes."

•,¸,.·' '·.,¸,•