Season of the Witch

"I got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson. I've got an APB out on Stiles. His jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means – the hell, I don't know what that means," Sheriff Stilinski looked like he was about to cry. "Um – look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if either one of you see him –"

"We'll call you," Isaac finished for him.

"Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something," Scott reassured him. "We'll find him."

The sheriff nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you, okay?"

The boy's locker room was hot and stuffy. October's face was red and splotchy from crying and wiping her tears away. The high school won the lacrosse game, but she was too upset to be happy. She was worried for Stiles and the trouble he got himself into. Sheriff Stilinksi nodded again and walked off, giving October a sympathetic smile. She gave him one as well.

"We'll find him, Toby," Isaac pulled her into a hug.

She shook her head. "What if it's too late? You know Gerard is doing this for a reason. Everything is going as he planned it would. He wants you guys to draw out Derek."

"McCall," Coach stepped over to Scott.

October and Isaac moved away, leaning against lockers. Her forehead was pressed against Isaac's arm. He looked down at her, not sure what to say. He never realized out short she was until he was this close to her. His six-foot-one frame towered over her five-foot-two body.

"You know," October looked up at up, green eyes blazing. "When we find Stiles, I'm going to kill Gerard."

"It might not be him -"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Isaac? It has his name written all over it!"

Isaac put a hand on his forehead. "Because you don't like him, doesn't mean you have to blame him for everything."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that Stiles is somewhere with the old fart!"

Scott came over. "Is that everyone?"

"Yeah, I think so. Toby here thinks it's got to do with Gerard. I'm not saying that it isn't, but we can't blame him for all of our problems," Isaac said.

Scott had torn off the door to Stiles' locker. She rose a brow. Remind her to never piss off any of the werewolves. Ever.

Isaac rose a brow. "You're gonna find him by scent?"

"Yeah, we both are," Scott handed him one of Stiles' shoe.

Isaac looked the shoe over, and then the shirt in Scott's hands. "But how come you get his shirt and I get a shoe?"

October snickered. Isaac glared at her, but it wasn't scary. It seemed a bit playful. Scott shrugged, a smile on his lips. October heard footsteps. She turned her head and saw Derek, hands behind his back. He didn't look happy. On second thought, he never looked happy. Today, it looked like he was ready to kill.

"We need to talk," He said.

A man appeared behind him. "All of us."

"Holy shit," Scott's eyes were big.

October and Isaac looked at each other. Scott and the mystery man somehow knew each other. The man eyed October. She flinched and moved to stand behind Isaac and Scott.

"What the hell is this?" Scott looked close to losing his temper.

Derek gave Scott a sarcastic smile. "You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station."

"Okay, hold on. He – he threatened to kill my mom. And I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?"

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," Everyone looked at the man. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."

October narrowed her eyes around the same moment Scott and Derek told him to shut up. The man rolled his eyes, sass oozing out of him. Isaac placed a protective arm around October's shoulders.

"Who is he?" Isaac asked.

Scott answered, keeping an eye on the man. "That's Peter, Derek's Uncle. Little while back, he tried to kill us all, and then we set him on fire, and Derek slashed his throat."

"Hi," Peter grinned.

"That's good to know," Isaac tightened his hold.

Scott shook his head. "How is he alive?"

"Look, the short version is he knows how to stop Jackson. And maybe how to save him." Derek was getting aggravated.

October shook her head. "No. You said the universe balances out. Who had to die to bring him back, Derek?"

"No one died," He stepped forward. "We need to find Jackson."

"Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead," Isaac looked to the ground.

"What?" Derek looked at the three teens.

"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott had a look of regret on his face. "It just happened on the field."

"Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac's nails dug into October's bare arm.

Peter looked tired all of a sudden. "Because if Jackson is dead, it didn't just happen. Gerard wanted it to happen."

"But why?" Derek looked to Peter for the answer.

Peter stepped forward, looking October up and down. "Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out. And something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly. I never did get your name."

"October Hallowell," October said. "How did you come back? How is that even possible?"

Peter smiled. "That's a story for another time. Don't you think?"



October looked at her surroundings. It was dark in the burned down house, the moon barely helping. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She didn't like being around Peter. He made her feel uncomfortable with the looks he'd give her. It was extremely unsettling. Isaac had noticed and kept her close.

"Oh," Scott sighed in relief. "Oh, they found Stiles."

October smiled. At least he was safe at home. She actually wished she was home, but if they needed help, she didn't want to disappoint them.

"I told you, I looked everywhere," Derek watched as Peter went to the stairs.

"You didn't look here," Peter took out a wooden panel from the stairs.

October stepped up, looking at what he had in his hands. It was a small wooden box. It looked like it couldn't hold much. Peter blew the dust off the box. October made a face. He could have just grabbed something to wipe it off.

"What is that, a book?" Derek asked.

"No. It's a laptop. What century are you living in?" Peter opened the box and then shut it, walking into another room. "A few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records."

Scott's phone went off. "Hey, mom, I can't talk right now."

October, Isaac and Derek followed Peter into what used to be the living room. Peter opened the laptop again and began typing away. Scott came running in, breathless.

"We have to go," He looked at Isaac.

"What's happening?" Isaac took a step toward Scott.

"It's Jackson."

Peter glanced at Scott. "Well, go then. Not you, too, October. They're werewolves. You'll only slow them down."

October stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. "Then, what am I supposed to do?"

"Sit, relax."

"Sit on what?" She walked over to him. "And, relax? How am I supposed to relax? Something bad is going to happen tonight. I can feel it."

Peter stared at the girl. "Sit on the steps or something. The worse that'll happen is someone dying."

She threw her hands in the air. "What the heck? You're a total psycho!"

Derek snorted. October sent a glare his way. She checked the room for either Scott or Isaac and kicked a lamp across the room when she realized they had left. She glowered at Peter before sitting on the ground. Derek gave her a sympathetic smile. She shook her head. How was she supposed to help now?

"So, October," Peter tried to start a conversation. "You're a Hallowell. I'm guessing you're Curtis's little girl."

"It's Toby," She said. "Why does it matter who my parents are?"

He shrugged. "Trying to talk, so it's not so awkward. I went to high school with your parents. They were so in love. How are they?"

"Well, Mom obviously got pregnant in high school," October picked at her finger nails, masking her heartbeat. "They named him James. Five years later, they had me. Another twelve years later, they had Phoebe. Um, they died in a fire, except for James. I think there was a gas leak or something. So, they're six feet under."

Peter's brows shot up. "Things just got awkward."

Both men gave October a strange look. She really hoped her magic didn’t have a distinct scent to it. It would cause her a lot of trouble in the long run. Derek paced, arms crossed. Peter was typing away at the laptop, searching up things about the kanima. October sat still, eyes at the hole in the ground. Derek's phone rang breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" He answered. "They say he's in some kind of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws."

"That sounds sufficiently terrifying." Peter muttered.

October stood up and wiped her bottom. "Why would that happen?"

"Gerard's plan," Peter rubbed his eyes. "This guy is seriously getting on my last nerves."

"You don't say."

"Guys," Derek scowled at the two. "They also say he's starting to move."

"That's disgusting," October said it more to herself.

Peter scrolled down the page. October scanned the pages with him. Her eye caught something dealing with the transparent casing. She swatted Peter's arm and pointed.

"Okay, look, I think October found something. Looks like what we've seen from Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape," Peter turned his head to October. "This is definitely not good."

"Well, meaning what?" Derek looked over Peter's shoulder. "It can turn into something bigger?"

"Bigger and badder," October whispered.

Peter nodded. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

"He's turning into that?" Derek studied the picture. "That has wings."

"I can see that."

"Scott, bring him to us," Derek said to the phone.

"Look, somebody actually made an animation of it. Maybe it's less frightening if we–" Peter pressed play.

October let out a shriek, a window broke. "Holy fuck. What the hell was that?"

Peter shut the laptop, not bothering to turn it off. "Nope, not at all. We should probably meet them halfway."

"Scott," Derek was internally freaking out. "Get him out of there now– go now. Yes, Toby's fine, Isaac."

He was seething while he walked out of the house. Peter glanced at October. Her hand was over her heart. She hoped the two werewolves hadn't put two and two together. That her magic was the cause behind the broken glass. She quickly followed behind Peter.

"Derek, we need Lydia," Peter said.

Derek turned on his heels. "There's no time for–"

"That's the problem. We're rushing. We're moving too fast. And while everybody knows that a moving target is harder to hit, here we are, racing right into Gerard's crosshairs."

October was completely lost. How did Lydia fit in all of this? She didn't know what was happening. Or, could she have? She was the one that added wolfs-bane in the punch at the party. She could know what's happening.

"If I get the chance to kill Jackson, I'm taking it." Derek walked out of the burned house.



"Someone certainly enjoys making an entrance," Peter rolled his eyes.

October snorted. "It's all he's got going for him."

"What do you mean?"

"He lost two pack members, you come back from the dead, he's trying to save this town," She said. "Give him a moment to shine."

Peter laughed. "If that's what he wants. Blondie's asking for you."

October rose her brow. There was something off about Peter. Not that fact that he was dead not too long ago. It was as if he knew something she didn't know. She gave him a tight smile before walking to the others. The night air bit at her skin. As she made it under the street light, Isaac breathed out. October smiled at that.

"Thank, God," He muttered when she hugged him.

"What? We didn't do anything dangerous," She teased.

Derek nodded to the car. "Get him inside."

Isaac placed his hand on October's lower back and lead her inside the warehouse. It was dark and colder in there than it was outside. She really wished she had brought a sweater. Once Jackson was on the ground, still inside the body bag, Scott went straight to firing questions.

"Where are they?"

"Who?" Derek played dumb.

"Peter and Lydia," Scott answered. "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him."

Derek stood over Jackson's body, legs on either side of him. "We're past that."

October took hold of Isaac's hand. She didn't like this. Derek had the body bag unzipped. The air felt heavy in October's chest. She didn't remember agreeing to kill someone.

Scott wanted to reason with him. "What about–"

"Think about it, Scott. Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog. And he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful." Derek turned his head and glared at him.

Chris shook his head. "No. No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."

"Of course not. Anything that dangerous, that out of control – Is better off dead." Gerard stood ten feet away.

Derek looked up and down to Jackson. He tried to attack Jackson, but it was too late. Jackson was conscious. Immediately his hand shot out and his claws sunk into Derek's chest. They were all royally fucked at that moment.