Love's Spiral

~311 ~ 3014

Spencer spent the first couple periods following Boyd around. She hadn’t approached him yet because she couldn’t figure out what she would say. Spencer didn’t know what was worth saying. How was she supposed to apologize for not being able to find them in time to save Erica? Finally, when lunch rolled around, Spencer forced herself to stand outside Boyd’s class until he came out.

When Boyd came out of the class, he looked to her and stopped. “It’s about time you show yourself.” He said, continuing down the hallway.

Spencer followed after him. “Can we talk?”

“Looks like we already are.”

“We tried, Boyd.” Spencer insisted. “We did everything. I was at that circle every damn day, following the scent in every single direction.”

Boyd kept walking down the hallway, hardly turning to look at him. “Shouldn’t you be chasing around Isaac or something?”

“He’s at lunch detention. There’s, literally, no trouble that he can get into while he’s sulking in Mr. Harris’ room.” Spencer said, “And I want to talk to you. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“Okay, well do you want to talk about it? About what happened?”

“Do I seem like I want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t.” Spencer said.

Boyd stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Spencer - ”

“What happened in that vault?” she asked. “What happened to you? What happened to Erica?” Spencer looked up at Boyd. “I just - I need to know the two of you weren’t suffering or in pain while we were searching for you.”

“She fought them.” Boyd informed. “Erica stood up to them and they killed her. The last thing she ever did was beg me to help her and I couldn’t.”

Spencer’s eyes watered. “If you had, you’d be dead, too.”

“But maybe she wouldn’t be.”

Spencer took a deep breath. “Boyd, I want you to know how sorry that I am.”

“Sorry?” Boyd repeated.

Spencer furrowed her brow, struggling for words. “For not getting there in time. For not saving you and Erica.”

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Boyd told her. “You took four months to find us and Cora and I attacked you. I think we’re even.” He turned to walk away from her.

“Boyd…” Spencer grabbed his arm and stopped him from going anywhere. “Come on. Talk to me.”

“I don’t have to.” Boyd said. “We’re not really friends.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Boyd scoffed. “I was part of the pack, Spencer. You and I never got together unless it was pack business. Well, after what I’ve been through, I don’t really want to be in the pack anymore.”

“We care about you Boyd.” Spencer stressed. “Whether or not we hung out, we still care about you.”

“Then you can care. But I’m not risking my life anymore.” Boyd left Spencer in the hallway and continued on to wherever he was going.

Spencer sighed, feeling too many harsh emotions. She did consider Boyd a friend, but it saddened her that he didn’t think the same of her. The hallways were emptying around her as everyone gathered for lunch in different spots of the school. Spencer looked around, wondering where she should head. Stalking Isaac at during his lunch detention seemed like a great idea. As Spencer made her way through the halls, she listened out for Isaac’s heartbeat, tracking him down. Since he wasn’t in the direction of Harris’ classroom, she was a little confused.

As Spencer tracked his scent and listened for his heartbeat, she could hear that it’s speed was heightened. It just kept pumping faster and faster. In that quick second, Spencer realized he was shifting. “Isaac…” She said, carefully, hoping that he could hear her. Spencer heard Isaac screaming followed by a loud banging noise. Then she heard a growl, making her quicken her steps through the halls.

“Isaac, don’t!” It was Allison.

Spencer turned the next hallway and stopped when she saw Isaac slide on his back across the floor, thrown out of the janitor’s closet.

Scott stepped out of the room a second later and puts his hand to Isaac’s chest. “Isaac!” He shouted, channeling his wolf just a little bit.

Almost instantly Isaac calms, making Spencer confused, but relieved.

Isaac shifts back and quickly pushes himself across the floor and away from Scott and Allison. He looked up, seeing Spencer down the hallway. The look Isaac had in his eyes was shame as he saw her staring at him.

Spencer’s hard look broke and she took steps toward Isaac, kneeling to the floor and quickly hugging his head to her chest. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked.

Isaac shook under her touch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t - I didn’t mean to do that.” Isaac said, his voice wavering.

“I’m okay.” Allison insisted.

“I’m so sorry.” Isaac repeated.

Spencer turned to look at Allison. “What happened?”

“They locked us in the closet.” Allison shared. “It’s not his fault.”

“I know.” Scott admitted.

Spencer sighed. She grabbed Isaac’s face in her hands. “This isn’t your fault, okay?” Spencer promised. “You couldn’t help it, but Allison is okay.”

Isaac nodded.

Spencer sat back on her heels and looked up at Scott.

“I guess now we know they want to do more than get you angry.” Scott said. “They want to get someone hurt.”

“So, are we gonna do something?” Isaac asked.

“I’m gonna get them angry.” Scott swore. “Really angry.”

“How are you gonna do that?” Spencer asked.

“Well, the only thing coming to mind is their bikes.” Scott looked to Allison. “Can you hotwire a motorcycle?”

Allison nodded, grasping her arm. “I think so.”

“Do you guys think you can handle that?” Spencer asked.

“What are you gonna do?” Isaac asked her.

Spencer looked down at Isaac, knowing he wouldn’t like the answer. “I need to find out if Stiles learned anything from the sheriff.”

Isaac nodded. “Okay.” He said. “You go handle that. We’ll take care of the alphas.” Isaac said with hatred.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” The corner of Isaac’s mouth turned up. He reached his hand forward to pat Spencer’s knee. “Go catch up with Stiles.”

Spencer grabbed Isaac’s hand and kissed his knuckles. She nodded, showing him a small smile, and got to her feet. Spencer looked to Allison and Scott. “Make sure you get them good.” She said with a grin. Spencer caught Stiles’ scent quickly and hurried through the halls to get to him. She turned her head through the hall, searching for him, knowing his scent was close.

Fortunately, Stiles saw her first. “Spencer!” He hurried towards her. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Talking to Boyd. And dealing with some alpha twin drama.” Spencer admitted. “What happened? Was Kyle a virgin?”

“No, he wasn’t.” Stiles said defeatedly, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards a locker. In front of the locker were flowers and notes that Spencer assumed were for Kyle. “And now I don’t know what’s going on. Why would they kill three virgins and then just some dude?”

“Well, Kyle was something important. It was the same kind of kill as the others, which makes it the same person.” Spencer said. “He’s something.” She looked over the locker and started reading a few of the notes. Spencer sighed. She hadn’t noticed who, but someone came up to the locker and used a clothespin to tack a Junior ROTC note to the memorial.

“Whoa, hey, Boyd!” Stiles called, gaining Spencer’s attention. “I didn’t know you were back at school.”

“Yeah, I would have told you, but we’re not actually friends.”

“Oh yeah.” Stiles said, looking from Boyd to Kyle’s locker. “Hey, so did you, uh - ”

“You knew Kyle.” Spencer pointed out.

Boyd looked to Spencer, recalling their earlier conversation. “Yeah, we were in junior ROTC together.”

“So, you two were friends, then?” Stiles clarified.

“I only had one friend.” Boyd said. “She’s dead, too.” Then he left, leaving Stiles and Spencer in an awkward silence.

Stiles cleared his throat. “What was that about?”

Spencer shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. We’re not friends.”

“But you’re - ”

“Spencer?” A new voice said, interrupting Stiles.

Spencer turned her head away from Stiles to see Lydia.

“What are you doing here?” Lydia asked.

“Stiles told me about the guy they found this morning. We’ve been trying to figure out why he was killed.” Spencer told her.

“How are you gonna do that here?”

“Well, the first three kills like his, all three were virgins.”

Lydia sighed, really not wanting to talk about the murders. “I’ve got to get to class.” She said, before walking away from the two.

“Wait, Lydia.” Stiles said, hurrying after her.

Spencer groaned, following Stiles.

Lydia exited the school to walk through the breezeway.

“You know that there’s a temple in Calcutta they used to sacrifice a child every day?” Stiles asked Lydia. It was obvious that Stiles was going crazy not knowing what was going on. “That’s every day a dead baby, Lydia, every day!”

“Stiles…” Spencer warned, trying to tell him that he was starting to rant.

“Hey, you want to know what today is? It’s dead baby day. Oh, no, wait, that’s every day, because every day is dead baby day, yay!”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lydia asked.

“Because Scott’s dealing with the alpha twins and Spencer and I only have so much combined brain power.”

Lydia stopped and looked to Stiles confused.

“You don’t know about the twins?” Stiles questioned.

“Alphas?”

“Ethan and Aiden.”

“Its that their names?” Spencer asked. “I’ve just been calling them jackasses all day.”

Lydia nodded her head slowly, but it was obvious she hadn’t. “Oh, yeah.” She turned slowly and the three continued walking. “Yeah, I knew about them.”

“Okay,” Stiles started. “So, look, here’s what I’m thinking. I’m thinking that the murders maybe come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes, right?” He asked looking to Spencer.

“Yeah, of course. My family book is full of things that come in threes.” Spencer shared.

“So, maybe, first, it’s three virgins, and then, I don’t know, maybe it’s three people who own little dogs.”

“I own a little dog.” Lydia said, looking to Stiles.

Stiles sighed.

“I am not getting rid of my dog.”

Stiles chased after Lydia with ferocity. “Would you just think about getting rid of your little dog?”

Lydia shook her head. “No. And by the way, you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point, so stop trying.” Lydia pointed at Spencer. “And I cannot believe that you are letting him go on this crazy rampage about little dogs.”

Spencer scoffed. “He didn’t tell me about that. I wouldn’t have let him bring it up because it’s an insane idea.”

“Wha - ” Stiles stopped, realizing that neither of the girls were on his side. “So, what? I’m just supposed to wait around for someone else to die, then? I’m just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait for them to wither up and die right in front of me?”

Lydia stopped, turning to face both Stiles and Spencer. “Wither?”

Spencer raised a brow at Stiles, knowing that, without noticing it, he’d brought up his mom.

“You know what I mean.” Stiles insisted tiredly. “Die, in just a hideously awful, strangulating, head-bashing, throat-cutting kind of way.”

Lydia thought for a moment, looking to the ground. She clicked her tongue. “Maybe it’s not your job. You said it yourself, they were strangled with a garrote. That’s a human thing to do, so… Maybe just leave the figuring it out part to someone human.”

Spencer narrowed her eyes at Lydia. “You know, I hate to point this out, but Stiles is human.”

“You mean, someone like my dad?” Stiles asked.

“And my comment goes unnoticed.” Spencer said under her breath.

“No, I mean your dad.” Lydia stressed, rolling her eyes, and walking away from the two friends. “The sheriff!” She called over her shoulder.

“He won’t be able to solve this one.” Spencer insisted. “He doesn’t know everything he needs to. Got any other ideas for who could help?” Spencer asked Stiles.

“I got one. Sorta.” Stiles admitted. “It’s sort of only a hunch though.”

Spencer nodded, pursing her lips and waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, Spencer spoke again. “You wanna share with the class?”

“Deaton.” He said simply.

“Why Deaton?”

“He always seems to know things before we know them. And maybe he knows something about the threefold death and it’s significance to this.”

Spencer shook her head. “He probably doesn’t really know anything.”

“Yeah, but what if he does? And what he knows can help us figure this out before anyone else dies.”

Spencer took a deep breath, biting her lip. “Okay. Let’s go.”

!@#$#@!

“I really hope this helps.” Spencer said, climbing out of the Jeep. “I hate bugging Deaton.” she admitted.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure that he knows something.” Stiles insisted, pushing the door to the clinic open. The bell rang as they both entered.

Deaton was there, standing behind the gate to the back area. He looked to Spencer and Stiles. “You’re both out of school early.”

“Yeah, free period, actually.” Stiles said, then pointing back to Spencer. “And she is no longer a high school student.”

Deaton raised a brow at Spencer.

“Yup.” Spencer said shortly. “You’re looking at Beacon Hills’ newest drop out. But that’s not why we’re here.” She said, looking to Stiles to continue.

“We were talking about going to my dad. He’s uh - you know, I guess you probably heard people are kind of getting murdered again.” Stiles said. “It’s his job to figure it out.”

“I gathered as much from the sheriff title.” Deaton reminded.

“Yeah, um…” Stiles thought. “You know, but it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn’t have all the information. And we all know he’s missing pretty much half the story here, right?”

“Then Stiles started thinking.” Spencer said, nodding her head and rolling her eyes. “That normally gets him in trouble. So, I apologize on his behalf for whatever comes out of his mouth.”

“Thanks, Spence. I think I’ll do all the talking.” Stiles said. “I remembered someone who does have a lot of information. Someone who always seems to know more than anyone else around here.” Stiles paused. “You. Because everything that’s happened, everything that’s all things that you understand.”

Deaton shook his head and made his way back to the exam rooms.

Stiles looked to Spencer.

“Well, let’s go.” Spencer gestured towards the back.

Stiles nodded and pushed the gate open, following Deaton. “All these symbols and things - the triskeles, the bank logo, - all of it is from the Celtic druids. And anyone who’s ever looked up ‘human sacrifice’ before knows that the druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to giving one up to the gods.”

“So, you think Deaton is a druid?” Spencer asked, slowly, trying to catch Stiles’ path. “Wouldn’t mean that I was a druid?”

“No, that’s not - ” Stiles groaned. “You ever hear of The Lindow Man?” Stiles asked. “Two thousand-year-old body found in England? He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut. Threefold death. “They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite druid plant that was.”

Deaton grabbed a small bottle, uncapped it, and pulled out a stalk of something green. “Mistletoe.”

Spencer took a step away from it, knowing that it was poisonous to her.

“I’m just telling you everything you already know, aren’t I?” Stiles questioned. “Then why aren’t you telling us?”

“Maybe because we’ve spent every moment of the last seven years trying to push something away.” Deaton admitted. “Denying it. Lying about it. Becomes a pretty powerful habit.”

“Doc, if you know something, you have to help us. People are dying.” Spencer reminded.

Deaton just stared at the teenagers in front of him.

“Alright.” Stiles said. “So, this guy - is he a druid?”

“No.” Deaton shook his head. “It’s someone copying a centuries-old practice of a people who should have known better. Do you know what the word “druid” means in Gaelic?”

“No.”

“‘Wise oak.’” Deaton said. “The Celtic druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars.” Deaton shook his head. “They weren’t serial killers.”

“Yeah, well, this one is.” Before anyone could say anything else, Stiles’ phone vibrated in his pocket. He answered it and put his phone to his ear. “Hey, I can’t talk right now.”

“The band teacher is missing.” It was Lydia. “He’s not here. And I found - ”

“Wait, what?”

“The band teacher is gone.”

“Are you sure he’s missing?” Stiles stressed, needing to know the truth.

“Not just missing. Taken.” Lydia said.

“Taken, like sacrificially?” Spencer asked Stiles.

Stiles shrugged. “Look, Lydia, just stay there, okay? Spencer and I are on our way.” He hung up the phone and looked between Spencer and Deaton.

Spencer looked to Deaton. “Now is definitely the time to let us in on anything that you know.”

“Spencer, I don’t know - ” Deaton started, but was interrupted by Spencer.

“Doc, seriously.” She stressed. “If we can figure out what’s going on, we might be able to save him.”

“Then you need to figure out who he is and why he would be taken.” Deaton finally admitted.

“You mean ‘we’.” Spencer insisted.

“‘We’?” Stiles asked.

“He’s coming with us.” Spencer said, looking from Stiles to Deaton. “You know things. And you need to share what you know with us. You can’t push it away anymore. You can’t pretend it’s not really there.”

Deaton looked to Spencer. “I’ll come.”

“Yeah, not that it really matters anymore, but even if you said no, I wouldn’t have accepted.” Spencer admitted. “I was planning on using as much physical force as I needed to.”

“Were you?” Deaton asked.

“I was.” Spencer nodded. “I know where you keep the duct tape.”

“You’re devious.” Stiles said. “A little scary, but I like it.”

“Thanks, you, too.” Spencer complimented. “Let’s go.”