"This is crazy."
Charlie's stare shifts from the three teenagers and back to Deaton. When no one offers any sort of rebuttal, she bows her head down and pinches the bridge of her nose. The last couple of hours have been spent on figuring out a way to find the now three missing sacrifices. Allison's dad had apparently offered himself up when they went hunting for Jennifer. The plan they came up with isn't even really a plan. It's a last ditch effort. And it's crazy.
"You guys will be dead. Literally," Charlie says for probably the hundredth time since Deaton told her what Stiles, Scott, and Allison were going to do. To say she's less than thrilled is an understatement. "The risks--"
"We know the risks," Scott says softly. "You would do the same thing and you know it."
"That's completely different."
"How?"
"Because I'm…" Charlie cuts herself off with a sigh. She looks away from Scott's helplessly desperate eyes and swallows her near admission down her throat. In the heat of the moment, she nearly told everyone she's dying. She sighs again before looking back at Scott with her lips pressed into a thin line. There's no reason she can give him that he won't argue.
"We've made up our minds," he says and turns his attention to Deaton. "Tell us what to do."
Charlie shakes her head before walking out of the room. If she's going to be in there when they do this, then she's going to need a clear head. Otherwise, she'll continue to try and talk them out of this decision every step of the way.
She leans against the office counter in the front lobby and breathes deeply through her nose. Her fingernails dig into the wood and her back stiffens. She can't remember a time when she's ever felt so useless. There's always a back up plan. Things always work out but not this time. No, this time the fate of those around her is left in the hands of three teenagers who are willing to sacrifice themselves in the place of their parents. It's noble but Charlie can't help but feel the darkness that's going to come from this decision.
"Charlie?" Deaton joins her in the lobby. "They need you to believe this is going to work."
"I know we're on a time crunch. Tomorrow night is the lunar eclipse and that's when Jennifer will attack," she says.
"But…"
"But this doesn't feel right. It feels rushed and I don't think we've thought through the consequences of this decision."
"Derek and Peter had their memories of the root cellar taken from them. Argent has been taken and you were in a fugue state when you came across the nemeton," Deaton says to remind her of the very same points she mentioned a couple of hours ago. "We are out of choices and we are out of time."
He's right. Right now they are trapped between a rock and a hard place. They don't have time to dwell on what the future holds. They can only focus on what's happening now.
"Let's get this over with," she says finally.
Three metal tubs filled with ice are set in the center of the room. Allison, Stiles, and Scott stand in front of their respective tubs with Isaac, Lydia, and Deaton now standing behind them. Charlie stands opposite of the six so she can observe.
With their return, the three teenagers take that as their cue to begin. They each slowly lower their bodies into the freezing water, their breathing becoming deep and short. When they are finally sitting, their three anchors step forward and lean over the tubs.
"Scott, there's something I need to tell you," Stiles says suddenly. The two boys stare at each other. "Just in case I don't come back and you do. Your dad's in town."
