єṅċһѧṅṭяєṡṡ - ṡ.ṡṭıʟıṅṡҡı

161

Malia is sitting at her desk in her bedroom, anxiously staring at the screen of her MacBook, where she still has the status of her plane up on the internet. She gulps nervously when she sees that it is still delayed, but when she hits refresh, the screen says that the plane is now on time, causing her to yelp in glee.

"Oui oui!"

She stands and pumps her fists in the air happily before grabbing her bag and heading toward the door. However, her face falls when she sees that Scott, Faline, and Lydia are standing in her doorway, blocking her exit. Exasperated, she points her index finger at them and waves it around as emphasis for what she's about to say.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! It's just rats! Rats and wolves, and maybe a little bug problem"

Lydia stares at Malia blankly.

"We need you" 

"And I need Paris" 

"Paris has been around for two thousand years! It's not going anywhere" Faline says.

Malia looks between Lydia, Faline, and Scott as though she feels betrayed before she turns and heads for her window, intent on climbing out of it and running to the airport if necessary. Just as she unlocks the window, her friends stop her.

"Malia-" Scott says."Liam and Mason called--" 

"Yeah, they've got it covered" 

"We can't make you stay, and I don't want to try... But, we were hoping that you would want to"

Malia gives them a look.

"I don't"

Scott, looking disappointed, shrugs and steps out of the way.

"Okay," Scott says and Lydia and Faline look at him in shock.

Malia, bag in hand, prepares to walk out the door, but Faline and Lydia, intending to convince her to stay, move in front of the door to once again block her way. However, when Malia stops to glare at them, Scott grabs both girls by the arm and pulls them out of the way so she can leave. When Malia is gone, they all sigh in disappointment, but after a moment, Malia's bag flies through the door and hits the distracted Scott in the chest before she reluctantly walks back into her room with a scowl on her. The trio looks happy that she has reconsidered her position as Malia crosses her arms over her chest.

"What are we supposed to do?"

Scott's expression is serious as he looks Malia in the eyes.

"Find a Hellhound,"

Faline is driving her Camaro on route 115 toward the high school, where Lydia is in the passenger seat with Scott and Malia sitting in the backseat. The four are discussing what they have figured out this evening and what it could mean.

"We opened a door to another world," Faline says. "And something came out with us. Now we need the Hellhound to stop it"

"So we put it back. We've put things back before," Malia says.

Faline and Lydia share a concerned look, which only makes Malia more overwhelmed.

"Why are you two looking at each other like there's something you know that I don't know?"

"It might not be that simple," Scott says. 

"You saved Stiles," Falina says. "You brought everyone back, but that's not how it was supposed to happen. There's always a price to pay when you disrupt the course of nature"

"We learned that from the Nemeton," Lydia says. "With the Nogitsune"

"Every action causes an equal action to maintain the balance," Faline says.

"What kind of price? A big price?" Malia asks.

Faline gives Malia a look before she finally responds.

"Big," Faline says and Lydia nods.

Scott, Malia and Lydia have just pulled into the parking lot of the High School and quickly park before jumping out and looking around.

"Okay, we should move pretty quickly," Faline says. "If the creature is so dangerous that a hellhound's one life mission is to kill it, we might want to move with a slight bit of urgency"

"Do we even know what we let out?" Malia asks.

"This Hellhound might be the only one who does," Scott says.

Suddenly, the four hear loud roars coming from the Preserve, and without another word, they run off toward the sound to investigate.

Faline's legs burn as she runs as fast as she can through the woods with her friends, they screech to a halt in a clearing when they've lost the sounds that were guiding them. However, when another loud roar is heard, they are able to continue following where it leads.

Faline arrives first and she lets out a horrified gasp. The hellhound was lay dead on the ground in a shallow ravine, his torso still riddled with deep, blood-soaked claw gashes.

"I thought you couldn't kill a Hellhound," Lydia says.

Faline frowns when she sees a bullet casing lying next to Halwyn's body. She kneels down to pick it up, and her eyes widen in shock when she sees that a fleur-de-lis is stamped on it. She turns to Scott showing him the casing. 

"Argent,"

"Then it's true," Lydia says.

"Then what's true?" Malia says.

Malia sees the scared look on Lydia's face and realizes that there is more to this situation than was revealed in the premonition Lydia had earlier.

"Lyds, what else did you hear?" Faline asks.

Faline holds out her hand and Lydia places her hand in Faline's and her eyes close as she listens to what Lydia heard. Faline's eyes open and she looks at her friends.

"The sound of people who have never lifted a hand against another human being," Faline says.

"Something was killing them?" Scott asks.

Faline shakes her head.

"They were killing each other,"