monster » isaac lahey [1] ✓

location found

"It's the nemeton, that's where she's keeping them. It has to be." Stiles explained as they rushed out of Ms. Morrells office.

Adrianna drew her eyebrows together, she had heard of it before, the place where Derek killed Paige. It used to be a beacon, a supernatural entity that drew creatures out of the dark and towards it. It possibly still is. "I've heard of it. I'm fairly certain I've been there."

Stiles and Lydia both looked to Adrianna in surprise.

"Do you know where it is?"

Adrianna looked down, digging through her brain for the memory. She remembered playing in the woods as a young child, extremely young, with Derek and Cora. She remembered the autumn leaves covering the forest floor, the brightness of the sun, the games of hide n seem and tag, but not the nemeton. Dammit.
She looked back up to Stiles, "No."

"Stilinksi!" A voice yelled from at the other end of the corridor.

Adrianna looked up to see a tall man walking towards them, dressed in a simple suit with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked like an older version of Scott. Her eyebrows drew together as she watched Stiles sigh in frustration and turn to face them.

"All right, go to Derek okay? He and Peter, they've been there before, they'll know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar, all right? They'll know." Stiles explained carefully.

Adrianna nodded, gently grabbing Lydia and pulling her along. They had little time, and even less leads. They had to find them.

---

The large metal door rolled open, revealing Peter behind it.

Lydia's body froze, her eyes going distant as she remembered something, something that seemed to haunt her. "You."

"Me." Peter looked as if he'd been caught doing something very bad, but for once he actually cared.

"You." Lydia repeated.

Peter sighed, a long and perhaps regretful one. "Me." He looked at Adrianna before looking back to Lydia. "Derek, we have visitors."

---

"You don't know where it is? But Stiles said you've been there." Lydia pressed, irritation filling her voice.

"We have." Peter glanced at Derek. "But after a few memorable experiences there, Talia, Derek's mother and my older sister, decided that she didn't ever want us going back. She knew how dangerous it was and took the memory of it's location from us."

Lydia looked to Adrianna, her eyes full of desperation and sadness. "But then how are we supposed to find it?"

Peter looked up at them, for once, his expression showed his empathy, the little of it that he had. He looked back down to the ground.

Adrianna sighed, looking to Lydia. How were they supposed to find this tree, if no one knew where it was. How was she supposed to find her uncle, if he left her no clues. This was impossible. It all just felt like a wild goose chase, as soon as they got close to the goose, it ran away again.

She walked over to Derek whom was sitting in another chair, his head down in deep thought. She knelt down next to him, pulling her lips into a straight line. "Is she any better?"

He shook his head, his eyes not meeting hers.

"What're you going to do?"

Derek took in a deep breath, focusing on a crack on the cement floor whilst his thoughts churned. He slowly raised his eyes to Adrianna, "I can take all of her pain, every last drop which would rid her of whatever is happening to her right now."

Adrianna's eyebrows furrowed together, it sounded almost impossible. How can he rid her of the disease completely? She studied his eyes, felt his reluctance and confusion. "And what do you loose?"

Derek sighed, averting his glare from hers. "My alpha powers."

Adrianna's eyes went wide, her mouth parting. That was the part he cherished most, the thing that made him feel as if he were worthy. "You return to a beta? Derek--"

"I know." He closed his eyes, the weight of this decision getting to the point where he was drowning. He would have to fight Kali on the next full moon and help kill Jennifer as a beta. But his sister would live.

Adrianna felt his guilt swell up, his pain, his uncertainty. She knew it was dangerous, hell, he could get killed without that extra strength, but he would still be alive and Cora would too.
"Do it."

Derek snapped his eyes open and looked at his best friend. His eyebrows were pulled together in shock at her words, even Peter is advising him against this.

Adrianna took in a deep breath, "I'll help you fight Kali, I'll help you kill Jennifer. If this is the only option to save her, you have to take it, or you'll be stuck wondering for the rest of your life what could have happened if you did."

"Adrianna." Lydia spoke up.

Adrianna nodded and stood up. She gently kissed Derek's forehead in assurance before following Lydia out. She believed in him, more than he could ever know. And he would survive, he had to.

---

"It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two, or where they all intersect. I--I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die." Stiles explained, desperation dripping from his tone. They were running out of time.

Allison leaned forwards on the table, "My dad and Gerard were there once but Gerard said it was years ago, and he couldn't remember where it was." She glanced to Adrianna. "My dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."

"Yeah, mine either." Stiles added, the room feeling awfully hopeless right now.

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac wondered, his tone impatient. He was sick of the hopelessness, the desperation, they were never going to get anywhere if they were all moping around.

Everyone looked to Deaton with hopeful eyes, after all, that's why they were here. They needed his guidance, his help, he had to have something.

Deaton seemed hesitant. "There might be a way. But its dangerous." He looked to them, "We're gonna need Scott."

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( edited )
im so proud of this book. i never expected it to flourish the way it is.
the next few chapters are my favourite ones of this book.

-a