Fractured Bonds [Book Three]

39: A Plan

"Excuse me?" Ariel blinks as she and Lydia stare at Scott as they stand outside the Sheriff's office. "I'm sorry, did you just say you're going to bite Stiles?"

Scott looks up, "To get him through the rift," he explains. "It's the only way. Sky won't leave him until he can get through, will she?

Arie bites her lip, glancing over to the side where Sky just shrugs in acceptance, "Okay, you're probably right."

Peter steps forward from the corner of the room, "Just to clarify, are you planning on biting everyone in the train station?" he asks.

"With Stiles back, he'll be able to help us figure out a plan," Scott answers.

Malia nods, "He's good at that."

"So, the plan is to get Stiles to come up with a plan?" Peter asks dubiously.

Malia glares at him, "You can shut up now."

Peter does not shut up, "Malia, look around. We're the only ones left in Beacon Hills. If they take us, Lydia will be the only one left to haunt the place."

Scott glances at him, "That's why I'm the only person that's going in--"

"I have several problems with that," Ariel interrupts.

"Liam and Hayden will stay here with Mason," Scott continues, shaking his head at her. "As long as somebody is left in Beacon Hills, the Wild Hunt can't move on."

"I like your plan, Scott, I really do, especially the part about turning Stiles. But it can't work," Peter disagrees, pacing back and forth.

Malia frowns, "How do you know?"

"Logic? Life experience? Liam, what are the odds that he'll get taken?" Peter asks. "What if Stiles isn't there? What if your sister isn't there? What if there's no Beacon Hills for you to come back to?"

"We didn't ask for a heavy dose of pessimism," Ariel snaps. "What, should we just do nothing and the town will get taken anyway? Just do us a favour and shut the hell up."

"You promised you'd help us," Malia points out. "We still need to find the rift."

"I didn't promise I'd help you commit suicide."

Scott speaks up, irritated, "If you can't help, we can find it ourselves."

Peter sighs, "Scott, I admit that you have a flair for beating the odds, but this, you don't walk away from-- you run."

And with those final words, Peter leaves the station.

***

"When you were here before, how long until the Ghost Riders showed up?" Scott asks Malia an hour later as they make their way through the woods.

"A couple of minutes," Malia replies. "What's a rift supposed to look like?"

"If it's a tear in the fabric of our world," Lydia muses. "Theoretically, it could look like anything from a microscopic black hole to a free-floating Einstein-Rosen bridge."

"Oh, great," Ariel mutters as they come to a stop on a dead patch of grass.

Lydia looks up to the sky, "I really hope it's not up there."