Season of the Witch

Jackson lifted Derek up by the claws on his hands and threw him across the room. Isaac pushed October behind him, mind set on protecting the girl. October felt a chill down her spine. Her hand tightened on his. Her mind went back to what Derek had said not too long ago. But you're just in the way. She let go of Isaac's hand, losing the warmth immediately. She didn't want to be in the way. She was just bothersome.

"Well done to the last, Scott. Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him. You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me," The old man smiled.

Just as he finished talking, an arrow flew in and hit Isaac's right shoulder. He went down immediately. October gasped and kneeled next to him, fighting the tears down. He looked up at her and gave her a smile. Damn him to hell. Scott ran over, taking in what he saw. He grabbed Isaac roughly and half-carried him into another space. She heard Chris shoot Jackson repeatedly.

"Toby, you need to find a place to hide," Isaac breathed heavily.

"No," She shook her head. "No. I won't."

He removed the arrow, groaning in the process. "Just listen to me for once, would you?"

October's green eyes stung from unshed tears. Isaac gave her a weak smile. She rolled her eyes and ran behind stacks of wood. She tried to tune out the sounds of fighting and bodies hitting the floor, but it was too much. She peeped over the stacks of wood she was hiding behind, just in time to see Allison cutting Isaac with her knives.

"No, Allison!" Scott ran in front of Derek.

Slowly, October stepped from her hiding spot. She tiptoed over to Isaac, lifting his body up slightly. He groaned. She wasn't even paying attention to what Gerard was saying. She didn't care. Isaac was bleeding too much. Sure, the boy was a werewolf and could heal himself. But, it didn't make her any less worried.

"It was the night outside the hospital, wasn't it, when I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could just smell it, couldn't you?" Gerard stared at Scott.

Isaac turned back to normal. "He's dying."

October moved her eyes from him to Gerard. She didn't understand. Isaac went to his knees, still leaning on her.

"I am. I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does." Gerard had a glint in his eye that scared her so much.

Chris sneered at the man. "You monster."

"Not yet."

Gerard thought this was funny. She wanted so badly to wipe that smile off his face. She wanted to shout a string of curses his way. But, if Derek got his way, the old man wasn't going to make it out of the warehouse.

"What are you doing?" Allison screamed.

"You'll kill her too?" Chris yelled.

"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" He shot. "Scott."

Scott looked down at Derek, seeming to fight with himself. October stared at him, mouth slightly open. Isaac wrapped his arms around her tightly. He knew about this as much as she did. Scott had returned to normal, not looking so wolf-ish. He glanced at Allison and then Chris. He took long strides to Derek. He grabbed the man roughly by the neck, and lifted him up.

"Scott, don't. You know that he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha." Derek tried to reason.

"That's true. But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love." Gerard took off his blazer, getting ready.

"Scott, don't! Don't!" Derek begged.

Scott shook his head. "I'm sorry. But I have to."

October turned her head, face in Isaac's chest. She choked on a sob. Isaac smoothed the back of her hair with his hand. He wanted to take her away and make it so she could forget about all of this. They both knew that once Gerard turned, everyone in the room was done for.

"What? What is this? What did you do?" Gerard sounded beyond angry.

October peeked over. She couldn't hold back a gasp. His bite had turned for the worst. Black goo was dripping from his wound. She looked at Isaac who looked at her in turn.

"Everyone said Gerard always had a plan. I had a plan too." Scott explained.

"No. No." Gerard pulled something out of his pocket.

He poured its contents in his hands. He let them all fall as a look of realization reached his face. He glared at Scott.

"Mountain ash!" He yelled as he fell to his knees.

Derek asked Scott something, and Scott had answered him. October didn’t hear them. She was too busy trying not to faint. Gerard had the black goo dripping from his nose, eyes and ears. He began to heave and soon enough the black goo was thrown up from his mouth. Scott had outsmarted everyone. October thought about it for a moment. Dr. Deaton had obviously helped him. There could be no other way. Gerard fell to his side.

"Kill them!" He screamed. "Kill them all!"

The kanima let Allison go. Right as that happened, she elbowed him in the nose. That didn't do anything, though. He pushed her aside, about to walk to Gerard. The squeals of tires that belonged to only one Jeep was the best thing October heard all night. She sighed in relief when the Jeep hit the kanima. The hit only dazed the kanima for a few moments. He jumped on the hood of Stiles' car.

Lydia and Stiles screamed, scrambling out of the Jeep. Stiles ran towards Scott. He turned when he noticed Lydia wasn’t with him. She stopped in front of the kanima.

"Jackson!" Lydia held out a key. "Jackson."

The kanima had his arm up, ready to strike. But one look in at the key, he froze. He tilted his head a bit. Jackson was returning to his human side. October stood and helped Isaac up. He smiled in thanks. They watched as Jackson stepped back, arms wide, waiting to be killed. October averted her eyes when Peter and Derek pierced him through with their claws. Lydia had ran over when the men removed their claws. She caught him before he fell on his own.

"Do you– do you still–" Jackson stuttered.

Lydia nodded her head, vigorously. "I do. I do still love you. I do, I do still love you. I do. I do. I do still love you, I do."

Jackson's head rested on Lydia's shoulder as she cried her heart out. October took a look around her before deciding to run to the girl. Isaac tried stopping her, but she slipped through his fingers. She dropped to her knees, not sure what to do next. Lydia laid Jackson on the ground before taking October into her arms. The dark-haired teen let the strawberry-blonde cry on her shoulder. She rubbed her back, tell her things will be okay, even though she knew they weren't.

Soon enough, Lydia quieted down. She stood up with October's help. Lydia wiped her tears away, not ready to face the world. October kept her tears in. She cried so much already, it wasn't like her. She was beginning to get so close to these people and she couldn't have felt any better. Both girls turned and walked away. Lydia held onto October's hand as if it were her lifeline.

Stiles stepped forward, wanting to comfort Lydia. But, he stopped when he noticed Jackson moving on the ground. October and Lydia stood stock-still. Lydia turned on her heels quickly, taking a deep breath in. Isaac moved quickly, pulling October back. Everyone stared at Jackson, fear stinking the air. He stood in his naked glory, causing October to averted her eyes. The boy wolfed out and released a loud growl.

Jackson was cured. He was actually cured. Not so much as he's human again, but at least he wasn't a blood thirsty killing lizard. Now, he was a blood thirsty killing wolf. October didn't really see the difference, but if he actually was in control of himself, she was fine with it. He returned to normal and caught Lydia when she jumped into his arms.



"I hate him," Lydia barged into October's room. "Oh, god. What is that smell?"

October grabbed the incense stick and put it out. "Dragon's Blood. Who do you hate now and why?"

"He-who-shall-not-be-named," She sat on October's bed. "His dad, too. He's making him move to London, Toby. Like, what the hell?"

"I think it's for the best. What? Don't look at me like that. It'll be good for you."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Open the window, that crap is making my nose itch."

October snorted, but went to the window anyway. She opened her windows halfway. On her last window, she noticed a figure standing on the lawn. She took a quick glance at Lydia. The girl was looking at herself in her compact mirror, making faces. October shook her laugh, letting out a laugh. She opened this window all the way and stuck her head out.

From the light of her room, she could see a mess of curls. In her room, Lydia could be heard complaining about how cold it was. October shut the window, leaving the other two half-open. She turned around and rose a brow at Lydia. She was lying across October's bed, head hanging from the side upside-down.

"Where's Allison?" October asked.

When she found out Allison was a hunter, she had freaked out. Of course, her family were different types of hunters, it still scared her. Whenever Lydia asked for the three of them to hang out, October would come up with a lie to get out of it. She knew avoiding the other dark-haired girl wasn't good.

Lydia sighed. "She's packing."

"She's moving?" October laid next to her.

"Yeah, but not out of Beacon Hills. I think her dad found an awesome apartment in the city. We should give her a house-warming party. Or a good girl's night out. Hey, we're all single."

October bit her lip as she thought about it. A girl's night out sounded great, actually. She'd been cooped up in her house when she wasn't in school or had Dr. Deaton helping with her magic. She needed some of her own time to be a normal teenage girl. And, of course, she was single. If she knew Lydia as well as she thought she did, girl's night would include either a party while preying for men or a movie and preying for men after. October still thought it would be a fun thing to do, considering Lydia had so much going on, she also needed a night out.

"Okay, when?" October asked.

Lydia beamed. "This is great. This Saturday there's this party. It should be fun."

"Should be?"

"Well, yeah. The lacrosse team is finally throwing a party for winning championships."

October's brows furrowed. "We're going to a party where yours and Allison's ex-boyfriends are most likely to be? How does this even equated to a good girl's night out?"

"I-I want to try to talk to him again," Lydia whispered. "I already ran it by Allison. She seemed okay with it. But, after Saturday night, we'll have a real girl's night. Just us three."

The teen witch suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course, Lydia. It just came as a shocker that that's what you want to do with your Saturday night."

Lydia went quiet for a moment. October cursed under her breath. She didn't mean to sound the way she had. She was concerned for her friend. She didn't understand why she wanted to do this - to get hurt all over again. It didn't sound pleasant in the slightest.

"I love him, Toby," Lydia finally said. "You just don't understand."

"You're right," October said. "I don't understand. I don't want to. I never want to give my heart out. Everyone I love has ended up dead, Lydia. I don't think I could ever take that chance with anyone."

"Not even Mr. Curls?" When October didn't answer, Lydia laughed. "Don't be ashamed, Toby. He's not that bad on the eyes."

"I don't know how I feel about him."

"Then, why are you blushing?"

"I am not!" October turned her back on Lydia. "I just - I don’t know. I can't imagine myself ever getting close to a guy."

"Because of what happened, right?" Lydia sat up. "You can't let that control your life. You survived something, Toby. You can't just hold it all in. Sometimes, you just have to talk."

October played with imaginary lint on her bed sheets. "Almost every other night, I still have nightmares. Sometimes I can see them behind me, in the mirror. And, they say the same thing over and over again."

"They?" Lydia reached for her hand. "There was more than one?"

October ran as fast as she could while applying pressure to her side, jumping over tree roots. She screamed out in pain when an arrow nicked her arm. She could hear four of them, surrounding her. She only took a short break from running, or was it longer?

"Well, well, well," The tallest one sneered. "What do we have here?"

"Look at her. I don't know whether we should kill her now or just fuck with her." Another laughed.

The fattest one chuckled. "I say, we ruin her and then gut her."

October shook her head and felt the world closing in on her. She screamed and kicked, but it was no use. The sickening part of it, was that a woman stood back watching as it happened. When the men finished, October was broken. She didn't want to live anymore. She felt that if she actually survived this, no one would ever want to be with her.

"The little witch need some help?" A woman's voice rang out. "Kill her and be done with it."

"You stupid little bitch," His voice was gravelly. "You're a witch and you can't even protect yourself? What are you - four?"

He grabbed her face roughly, admiring the sharp blade in his hand. It was sickening. October just wanted him to get it over it. To carve into her skin and leave her to die. She didn't want to live with this.

"Toby, Toby." Lydia shook October's shoulder. "Hey, Toby. It's okay. It's not happening right now. Come on, Toby. You're stronger than this."

October sat up quickly, her forehead colliding with Lydia's. Both girls groaned. October felt hot sticky tears against her cheeks. She sighed and wiped them away.

"I-I'm sorry," She said.

"You don't need to be sorry, Toby," Lydia said. "I don't know what it feels like. You're a strong girl. And, if some stupid boy can't love you for something you couldn't control then fuck him. No, don't literally fuck him because he isn't worth it."

"The things you say, sometimes, surprises me, Lydia," October said. "But, I know. I'm just scared."

"We all are."

"Even you?"

Lydia nodded. "Even me."