New Worlds

Sacrifices

Stiles, Scott, and Allison stood in front of the three tubs already filled with water, Lydia, Deaton, and Isaac filling them with ice.

Stiles looks down at the leaves and berries of mistletoe anxiously.

All three of them step toward the tubs, each of them holding an item in their hands.

"Alright," Deaton said, dropping the empty plastic bag,"What did you bring?"

Stiles looked down at his father's Sheriff badge,"Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand," Stiles said, running a finger over the dented badge,"I hammered it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't have to look good to have meaning," Deaton reassured him.

Stiles nods, eyeing the battered but still-shining badge in his hands. Next to him, Allison holds up a bullet.

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked, both amused and shocked.

"My Dad made it," Allison replied,"It's sort of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a Hunter, you forge your own silver bullet as a testament to the code."

"Scott?" Deaton said, and everyone looked at him.

"My Dad gave this to my Mom when she first got hired at the hospital," Scott answered, looking down at the watch,"She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

Stiles looked over at the watch,"It says water-resistant, not waterproof."

"I don't think she's going to mind if it saves her life," Scott replied.

"Okay, the three of you will get in," Deaton explained,"Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially... well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone with a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether."

Allison looks to Lydia who starts toward her.

"Lydia," Deaton said, making everyone stop and look at the Druid,"You go with Stiles."

Stiles wasn't very sure of this, he had long gotten over his crush with Lydia, and they were barely even friends.

"Are you sure?" Allison asked, beating Stiles to it,"I mean both Scott and I have to go under so..."

Deaton gave them a confirming nod.

Stiles swallows, as Isaac and Allison share uneasy glances.

"It's okay," Scott said, making both of them look at him.

Stiles took a deep breath, trying to calm his thundering heart, as he walked to the tub.

In silence, the three of them take their places.

Scott, Allison and Stiles carefully step into the ice and mistletoe-filled tubs and sit back. Deaton, Isaac and Lydia take positions behind them at the head of the tubs.

Already shivering, Stiles turns to Scott,"By the way, if I don't come back and you do, you should probably know something... Your Dad's in town."

Seated in the water, Allison, Scott and Stiles share a look. A silent moment between them, Allison and Stiles both waiting for Scott's lead. He takes a breath and gives them a nod.

One-by-one, they submerge beneath the ice and mistletoe. Eyes closed, an almost peaceful look on their faces.

Holding them down, Lydia, Isaac and Deaton throw worried glances to each other.

Underneath the water, Stiles stirs. His eyes snap open, burning with a fierce red glow. A glow that just as quickly disappears. His pupils dilate, darkness spreading, overtaking his world, sending him hurtling into pitch black.

Under a brilliant white glare, one-by-one, Scott, Allison and Stiles burst up from the water in the steel tubs, gasping for breath.

Fingers wrapping around the sides of the tub, Stiles sits up, blinking away the water dripping down his face. He peers about, squinting under the glare.

Feet land on a tiled floor as the three teenagers pull themselves out.

They gaze over a large and empty, industrial white room. A room that might have once housed dozens of cubicles, but is now devoid of any life.

Soaking wet, Allison, Scott and Stiles look at each other in confusion. Until they notice something even stranger.

At the other end of the room, a massive tree stump seems to grow right out of the tiled floor.

Without a word spoken, the three teens begin a cautious approach. Scott reaches the stump first and looks down with widening eyes at the numerous rings of the tree.

'What does it mean?' Derek had asked him.

'I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers.'

Almost by instinct, Scott reaches a hand out to the rings on the base of the tree stump. The moment he touched the wood with his fingertips, his eyes closed, and suddenly disappeared.

Stiles' eyes widened in horror when Scott disappeared. And Allison without hesitation did the same thing.

Swallowing back his fear, Stiles approached the stump, feeling like his feet were concrete.

Right when he was about to put his hand on it, the floor collapses and Stiles screams as he fell into the blackness.

Change Of View

Scott and Allison shoot out of the water, gasping for breath. Water splashes across the floor as they each grasp for the edges of the steel tub.

"I saw it! I know where it is!" Scott said immediately,"Stiles and I, we passed it. A tree stump. It was huge..." Scott looked around for Stiles, hoping he could support the details but in his tub the inky black water cleared and Stiles was gone.

Scott and Allison clamber out of their tubs, looking at Stiles' tub in fear.

"Where is he?" Isaac said, standing up as the others approached it.

Deaton looked at the empty tub in total horror and disbelief,"I was afraid of this."

"Deaton, where is he?" Lydia whimpered, and it felt like she already knew the answer.

"I thought the connection would be strong enough," Deaton said, closing his eyes.

"Where the hell is he?" Scott demanded.

"I don't know!"

Change Of View

Stiles screamed as he fell, vague images blurring past him, like circular windows of grey mist strangers with different people, words echoing in his head.

'The people closest to me have a tendency to die on me,' A voice said, the words blurring together in his ears.

The images blurred faster as Stiles picked up speed.

Stiles gasped awake, but he wasn't in a tub of water anymore, but a lake. With water cascading around him, he stood, shaking the water out of his hair.

His teeth chattered, but he wasn't cold, if anything he was really warm, almost hot.

Stiles' body suddenly spasmed in pain as he looked up at the full moon, his eyes turning red and fangs filled his mouth, hair growing along the sides of his face, his brow furrowing, and his eyes sinking farther back into his head and he let out a roar, making every creature in the bayou scatter.