Season of the Witch

"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people. You three weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded. And one way is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing. That– that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone. Now!" October heard Matt on the other line.

She stared at her temporary flip-phone. Scott had called her. Why? It could have been an accident. He could have tried calling Derek and pressed her number by accident? She sighed. How did she ever find herself in these situations? October sat on Stiles' bed, contemplating whether she should help or not. But, seeing as she was a friend, she was obligated to.

She grabbed one of Stiles' clean jackets and slipped it on. She tightened the pair of gym shorts around her waist before she left the room. Luckily, Scott had driven her Impala to the Stilinski household. She took a deep breath in before starting her car.

"What did I do to get this unlucky," She muttered. "I mean, jeez. I don't pray for one night and you guys get your panties in a bunch… That wasn’t the best choice of words. But, please, I leave offerings all the time. I need help just this once."

The drive was quiet. She didn't want to turn on the radio, afraid the Gods wouldn’t hear her, but that was never the case. October tightened her hands against the wheel. She got nothing. October sighed as she pulled into the parking lot. She got out of the car, but soon realized that she had no weapon. She had no way of protecting herself. She began pacing back and forth, not sure what to do. There was no way in hell she was going to go in there unprepared.

Her friends were going to die because she was too much of a little shit to let them know what she was. She wasn't going to be able to save them. October began to hyperventilate. Her vision darkened, her hands got clammy. Then, she felt a nudge on her back to the direction of the door. She turned her head.

"If I get killed," She whispered. "I'm coming for you guys."

October strolled to the front door and opened it. It was quiet once she got inside. The air smelled metallic. The scent was strong, like a lot of bodies were bleeding. Or dead. She covered her nose with the sleeve of the jacket. She tried to figure out where everyone was. All she came up on was dead bodies. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Werewolves, hunters, kanimas. It's like a frickin' Halloween party every full moon. Except for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?" She heard Matt in the back office.

"Abominable snowman. But, uh, it's more of, like, a wintertime thing, you know, seasonal." Stiles shot back.

October rolled her eyes. He never knew when to shut up, did he? She edged closer to the door, but stopped when she heard a body fall.

"Hey!" Scott shouted.

Stiles groaned. "You bitch."

"Get him off of me." Derek sounded like he was struggling to keep control.

"Oh, I don't know, Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair. It must kinda suck, though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless." Matt was getting a little too cocky. "Oh, Toby, you should come out now before I let Jackson get to you."

October's blood ran cold. How could he have known? Not wanting Jackson to come and get her, she stepped into the office willingly. Her eyes set on Matt. His eyes were crazy, like he didn't care who he hurt anymore. It was horrifying. A half-turned Jackson stood in the room.

Derek glared at Matt from the floor. "Still got some teeth. Why don't you get down here a little closer, huh? We'll see how helpless I am."

"Yeah, bitch," Stiles was still laying across Derek.

October's nostrils flared and she clenched her hands into fists. She could feel her nails carving crescent moons into her palms. This wasn't right. Matt was delusional. The fact that he thought killing off his problems by literally killing them off was going to help him, he was completely wrong. The room was quiet enough that they could hear a car pull up.

"Is that her?" Matt had a sick smile on his lips. "Do what I tell you to and I won't hurt her. I won't even let Jackson near her."

"Scott, don't trust him!" Stiles yelled.

Matt grabbed October roughly by the arm and held the gun beneath her jaw. She let out a cry, his grip on her arm tightening. She bit her bottom lip to keep from letting out another sound. She had a feeling that if she made any type of sound, he wouldn't hesitate to shoot. He even kicked Stiles over and pushed his foot over his throat.

"This work better for ya?" He dug the barrel into her skin.

"Okay, just stop!" Scott brought his hands up in surrender. "Stop!"

He didn't loosen his grip. "Then do what I tell you to."

"Okay. All right. Stop!"

Matt hesitated for a moment before releasing October's arm and removing the gun from her jaw. She took in a shaky breath, tears falling from her eyes.

"You," Matt pointed to Jackson. "Take 'em in there. You– with me."

Matt and Scott left the room, leaving Jackson to the three. October followed behind him as he dragged both Stiles and Derek. They didn't go far, just the Sherriff's office. Once inside, Jackson stood far off, face stoic as ever. October fell to her knees between Stiles and Derek.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked.

Derek exhaled through his nose loudly. "I'm paralyzed from the neck down. Do you think I'm okay?"

"Hey!" Stiles turned his head to glare at him. "She's just worried. But, really, Toby, that was stupid."

"What is she even doing here?"

Stiles looked away. "I don't know. I think… I think Scott called her earlier."

Derek shook his head. He didn't like October, that much was clear. She didn't think he liked her because of the night at the rave. He thought she shouldn't know anything. She ran a hand through her nappy hair and let out a bitter laugh.

"I came to try to help." She said.

"But you're just in the way." He glared.

She looked away. "You know what, the next time you need help, don’t expect me to be behind you."

October stood and "accidently" kicked his head. She sat on the brown couch, clutching her head. She wanted to go home. The Gods weren't going to help her - not now, not ever. She should have just done what James did. She should have never started praying to the Gods. But she did it because her mother did. She should have just stuck to casting spells and making potions and charms. She wouldn’t need to deal with the Gods that were almost never there.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to think of ways to get out of the hellhole she was in. A gunshot rang throughout the halls. October sat up quickly, wiping away her tears. She looked over to the boys on the ground. They glanced at each other before taking a peek at October. She heard a woman scream. She hated being helpless. She hated not being able to help.

"I'm useless," She whispered to herself.

What was the point in having her magic if she couldn't help? She felt weak and useless. Like she shouldn't even be allowed to be with these people. October pulled the jacket tighter around her body, wishing she could just leave.

"The evidence is gone." Scott came into the room with a bloodstain on his shirt. "Why don't you just go?"

"You– you think the evidence mattered that much, huh?" Matt scoffed and shook the gun around. "No, no, I–I want the book."

October narrowed her eyes. Stiles and Derek looked at each other, confusion etched on their faces. What book did he mean? There were so many different types. She stared at the gun in his hand. He was carrying it so unsafely. She was just waiting for him to shoot himself accidently.

"What– what book?" Scott asked.

Matt rolled his eyes. "The bestiary. Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

"I don't have it. It's Gerard's." Scott was concerned. "What do you want it for, anyway?"

"I need answers."

"Answers to what?"

"To this," Matt lifted up his shirt.

October's eyes were the size of saucers. A section of his body was scaly like a reptile. It looked like he was turning into the kanima himself. She rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. This was absolutely ludicrous. There was going to be two fucking kanimas? The werewolves couldn't even handle one of those creatures. This town was driving her slowly insane.

Matt and Scott left the room again. Jackson went to stand in the doorframe. Stiles and Derek still laid on the ground. At least she wasn't as helpless as they were.

" Hey." Stiles whispered. "You know what's happening to Matt?"

"I know, the book's not gonna help him." Derek answered. "You can't just break the rules, not like this."

Stiles was confused again. "What do you mean?"

"Universe balances things out. Always does."

"Is it because he's using Jackson to kill people who don't deserve it?"

October joined the conversation at this point. "And, because he's killing people. Oh, Gods, save me."

Derek nodded, stiffly. "Exactly."

"So if Matt breaks the rules of the kanima," The gears in Stiles' head were finally turning. "He becomes the kanima?"

"Balance."

"Will he believe us if we tell him that?"

October chuckled. "We're still talking about the kid that said those people killed him. He's not going to listen."

"Okay, he's gonna kill all of us when he gets that book, isn't he?"

Derek sighed. "Yep."

"All right, so what do we do? Do we just– do we just sit here and wait to die?" Stiles was wearing thin on October's patience.

"Unless I can figure out a way to push the toxin out of my body faster. Like triggering the healing process," Derek seemed to be more on edge.

"Wha– oh, what are you doing?" He glanced down. "Aw, gross."

October stepped over to the males, seeing what Stiles was freaking out about. Derek had his claws out and they were deep the side of his thigh. Jackson had his back to the trio. She tried to think of something that would hurt him, but there was nothing in mind.

"October," Derek looked up to her. "I need your help."

The dark-haired girl snorted. "Oh, you don't say."

"Look, you'll get more enjoyment out of this than I would," He tried reasoning with her. "I need you to break my nose."

October pretended to think about it for a moment. She thought it would feel liberating to have a werewolf as a punching bag - especially since he was a huge douche. The young girl stood over Derek, grabbed his shirt to lift him up, and readied her fist.

"Uh, on second thought," Stiles laughed awkwardly. "Let's just let Derek do his thing with his claws and stuff. Yeah?"

"It'll be faster this way," October said.

She looked Derek in the eye and nodded. He nodded back. Her fist connected to his nose, bones not cracking under the pressure. He let out an "oomph" before saying again. October shook her head and smiled. This was great. She felt a bit bad she had to hurt him, but it let all of her anger and frustration out in so many ways. She hit him again, this time hearing the sickening crunch. Stiles gagged at the sound. October let go of Derek, letting him fall onto his back.

"So is that hypothetical situation we talked about getting any less hypothetical?" Stiles tried to sound positive.

"I think so. I can move my toes." Derek answered.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Dude, I can move my toes."

Derek groaned. "You need to break something else."

October shook her head. "How? I don't have super strength or anything like that. I just get in the way."

"I'm sure you can think of something."

She paced for a moment, trying to think of what she could do. She stopped at looked at him. Derek stared right back. October really wished that they couldn't smell magic, that they couldn't figure out the scent change. She lifted his leg - which was heavy - and counted to five. She gathered her magic at her core and hoped for the best. Her leg shot out and she heard a crack from his leg. October whooped and let go of his leg.

Derek groaned when his leg connected to the floor. "Damn it."

"Oh, shit, sorry."

Then all the lights went out. October stayed standing, unsure as to what she should do. The alarm went off, making her ears hurt. She heard gunshots ringing throughout the building. She fell on hands and knees, crawling to the boys. She wasn’t sure when the next wave was going to hit, or where it might be, but she didn't want to get hit in the crossfire.

Jackson left the doorframe. October shook her head. Now was not the time to cry. She had to be strong and she had to be brave. She looked over just in time to see Scott tackling Jackson. He ran into the room and went straight for Stiles. Derek was already up and moving - or limping since his leg was still broken.

"Take them! Go!" He leaned against a chair.

October helped Scott pick up Stiles. As quickly as they could, they maneuvered through doors and hallways, all the while Jackson was behind them. October never turned around, she just kept pushing herself. The only time she allowed herself to stop was to lock the doors. They finally made it behind a heavy steel door. Scott set Stiles down on a chair.

"Don't move," Scott shook his head and backtracked. "You know what I mean."

Stiles rolled his eyes. His best friend left, leaving it just him and October. She sat on the table, eyes on Stiles. His eyes were on the ground. Maybe he felt just as useless as she did.

"I need to get to my dad," He said.

October shook her head. "You can't even walk, Stiles. How do you expect to get to him?"

He gave her a look. "You can walk. You can help me."

She got on her feet and threw her hands in the air. "Why would I do that? If you haven't noticed, there's a fucking monster outside of these walls."

"And what'll happen when it comes in here?"

October rolled her eyes. "You owe me, Stilinski."

She literally had to drag the boy to the cells. It took longer than expected, but it was obvious - a 125 pound girl trying to carrying a 147 pound boy, do the math. She wasn't that strong. And, she was freaking out so much that she couldn't concentrate on using her magic.

"Come on, come on, come on!" A woman was repeating herself.

October set Stiles down, unable to carry him any longer. Stiles cursed under his breath and began to crawl, using his arms. She felt a small smile grace her lips. He was so determined, she wished she was like that. October heard running and something colliding with a face. She didn't think, she just acted. She ran to the sounds and tackled Matt to the ground.

He grunted and pushed her off. Matt glared at October before raising his fist and colliding it to her face. He did this a few times before she began to lose consciousness.