Risen

43

Derek sat in the driver's seat of the car, Nova in the passengers seat and Isaac in the back, the three of them watching as Chris Argent struggled to open the trunk of his car with arms filled with groceries. As he tried to unlock the trunk, one of the bags fell from his arm, landing on the floor with some of the items spilling out,

"It has to be the one with the eggs" he muttered

He let out a small sigh, finally opening the trunk and putting the other items inside, bending down and lifting the other stuff from the floor. The other items were placed alongside the others, Chris closing the trunk, but quickly whipping around and pointing a gun at Scott, who appeared behind him,

"Uh, hi" Scott said, nervous at the sight of the gun

"Do you think this is gonna work?" Isaac asked, looking out through the windshield

"Nope" Derek replied honestly

"Me neither" shaking his head slightly "so your, uh . . your sister . ."

A low snort emitted from Nova at his words, watching as Derek head slowly turned to the beta in the back, slightly turning his body to properly look at him with a blank stare,

"Sorry, yeah, it's . ." clearing his throat "it's bad timing, I'm sorry" Derek turning back toward the windshield "I'll ask later. It's fine"

But Derek looked back at him again, slightly raising both of his eyebrows, as if he had the audacity to even say that,

"Or never" nodding slightly "yeah, yeah, I'm good with never"

A small chuckle emitted from Nova, shaking her head slightly as Derek settled back in his seat, the three of them watching the interaction between Chris and Scott,

"First of all, why would I care about anyone related to Derek?" the hunter asked "and second, I don't know this kid Boyd. I don't even know his last name"

"Boyd is his last name" Scott replied

". . What's his first name?" his eyebrows furrowing slightly

"Vernon" he informed

"Eh" shrugging slightly

"And just curious, is there a reason the gun is still pointed at me?" his eyes glancing at the weapon

"Well, there's probably still some part of me that wants to shoot you" honesty in his voice

". . I get that" nodding slightly

Chris let out a small sigh, putting his gun away and taking a small step forward to the teen

"Scott, I watched my father brainwash my daughter . ." He said "almost turn her into a killer. That world . . your world decimated mine. My wife, sister, father, my entire family. Why would I ever step foot in it again?"

"Because people are going to die" Scott answered "and because you know how to catch Boyd and Cora without killing them"

"I'm sorry" shaking his head slightly "I can't help you" beginning to walk to the car

"Um . ." causing him to stop and look at him "do you think you could do me, like, one little, tiny favor?"

There was a moments pause, Chris giving Scott a small nod and gesturing to the car, the teen turning his head to look at the other three,

"Follow" Nova muttered

∆

Chris dropped a duffle bag on the floor of the woods, Nova standing next to Derek with her hands stuffed in her pockets, Irina standing by her, dressed out of her scrubs and in more comfortable clothes that would allow her to move as she pleased, especially since they were going to do a lot of running,

"You're tracking them by print?" Chris asked, crouching down to look at the prints in the floor

"Trying to" Scott replied

"Well, then, you've been wasting your time" looking at Scott "there's only one creature on earth that can visually track footprints, and that's man" standing straight

"Well, our kind are excellent trackers" Irina said "however, I lost my touch" placing a hand on her chest

"I'm actually trying to follow by scent" Nova added, raising her hand slightly, dropping it to her side

"And if you're not trained like me, you have no idea that this print is Boyd's" Chris said – not ignoring them – pointing to a set of footprints "and these . ."

"Are Cora's" Isaac said, pointing to them

"Nope" looking at the teen "they're yours. You trampled Cora's as soon as you walked over here. Listen, I know three of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon, but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora, who have fully given in. They put the pedal to the floor where you three are barely hitting the speed limit"

"So what do we do?" Derek asked, his arms crossed over his chest

"Focus on your sense of smell" he answered "actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to a hundred miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to track them. If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles, which means we can draw them to us . . Or into a trap" tossing a net to Scott "full moon does give us one advantage. They'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared" tossing headsets to Isaac, Derek and Nova

"Thanks, but we've got our own" Derek informed

The alpha's and the young phoenix's eyes flashed red, the color of her eyes being a shade darker, handing her headset to Irina, who took it,

"Just remember, we're not hunting wild animals" he reminded "underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed, but it's there, reminding them how to mask their scent, how to cover their tracks, how to survive"

The five of them walked up the small hill, which gave them a perfect view of Beacon Hills, the lights shining brightly below them,

"When's the last time you saw your sister?" The hunter asked

"Not in years" Derek answered "I thought she died in the fire"

"Do you feel like you have a lock on her scent?" causing him to shake his head slightly "Scott, how confident are you in your skills?"

"Honestly, most of the time, I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell" he replied

"Nova?" looking at the redhead "Irina?"

"Her skills have improved" the older woman replied "mine are still the same"

"If we get their scent, we'll be able to lock on" Nova added

"All right" nodding slightly "the problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school, they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills"

"They're not gonna kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac asked

"No" the hunter answered "but there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point, they get full. But Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill, for some primal apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need gets satiated?"

"We can't kill them" Scott said

"What if we can't catch 'em?" Derek asked

". . . What if we contain them?" Nova asked, gaining everyone's attention "there's no one in the school at night"

"You want to trap them inside?" the alpha asked

"That could work" Chris said "if there's somewhere with a strong enough door, no windows or access to the outside"

"What about the boiler room?" Isaac asked "its just one big steel door"

"You're sure the school's empty?" looking at the redhead

"It's gotta be" she replied, nodding slightly "there can't be anyone there this late, right?"