Fire and Ice || M. Tate-Hale (1)

Chapter 4

TW: cussing and panic attacks

Malia shivered. Quite frankly, the place was cold, dark, and creepy. Spiderwebs hung from multiple places, and every little moment seem to stir up dust, leaving the Pack on a seemingly endless sneezing streak. It was starting to bother Malia. Especially when Isaac sneezed directly on Malias hand. This earned him a glare and a trail of saliva on his favorite scarf as Malia wiped it off. He winced but said nothing. The second her back turned he silently gagged and then chucked the scarf off somewhere behind him. Oh well.

It narrowly missed Erica who ducked just in time. She shot daggers at his back that he didn't see. She walked faster to tap him on the shoulder, but staggered when he stopped suddenly. "Hey-" she was immediately muffled by Isaac's gloved hand. He gave her a warning look and nodded in Scott's direction. Erica looked. He was frozen in place, a finger pressed to his lips. Then slowly but surely, he turned around. "I think I hear someone. Follow me." He whispered. He began making his way to staircase that led down.

When they reached the staircase, Malia immediately got goosebumps. The place felt...wrong. It was completely devoid of light. When Malia breathed out, she could see her breath. She knew everyone else could feel it too, the air was thick with unease. Even Scott hesitated to take another step. He took a deep breath. "Cmon, this way." He continued the descent down the dark stairway. Isaac shivered despite his scarf. Scott noticed. Though he was in front of everyone, he slowed his pace for Isaac to catch up.

Scott attempted to lightly wound his arm around Isaacs shoulders. He failed though, seeing as how Isaac had 4 inches on him. So instead, Scott's arm fell to Isaacs waist. Mason and Corey shared a pointed look but voiced nothing. Mason rolled his eyes. It's becoming a common thing with this Pack. They're literally in denial. Mason shook his head. Ive got to do something. This is driving me crazy.

~~~

The stairs seemed to go on forever. Scott held tightly to Isaac. His gut was screaming at him to run, but he knew he had to rescue this girl. We protect those who cannot protect themselves. Allison said that. Scott startled slightly. He hadn't thought of his dead ex in a while. Weird. Suddenly Isaac tripped, almost pulling Scott down with him. "Whoa!" Scott grabbed his wrist, hauling him back up. Isaac frowned though. He turned and squinted at the floor. "Can't see a damned thing in here." He leaned down, grabbing an object. He brought it closer to his face, inspecting it. With a gasp, he threw it. They could hear it bouncing off the walls, echoing.

Scott grabbed Isaac's shoulders, who was hyperventilating. He shook him. "Hey, hey! What was it?" Isaac was making strangled noises as he paled. "G-glasses!" He choked out. Scott was confused. Malia looked around for understanding. The only faces who showed any recognition was Erica and Boyd. Erica stepped forward. "Move." She told Scott. "What? Why? Whats wrong with him?" "Just, just give me a minute, okay?" Scott wasn't happy but moved aside anyway.

Erica gently wrapped her arms around Isaacs waist, pulling him close. Isaac's eyes flashed yellow, triggering Erica's also yellow eyes. She patted his back gently as Isaac seemed to choke on nothing, his chest heaving heavily. Erica's claws extended out digging into Isaac's back. He roared in pain. Scott's eyes flashed red as he stepped toward Erica. Malia held her hand in front of him. "Wait." Isaac stopped roaring, and slumped forward in Erica's arms. "I got you."

She held him up while Corey walked forward and picked him up, holding him in his arms firefighter-style. Scott looked at Erica. "Why'd you do that?!!" "Because he was a having a panic attack!" She barked. "Over glasses?" Scott snarled. She grimaced. "You know Isaacs dad used to...beat him, right?" Scott frowned. "Yes, but what does that have to do with it?" Erica sighed. "He used to wear glasses." Scott stopped as Malia lowered her arm. Oh. Then the confusion hit. "Wait, I still don't get that has to do with it though." Erica shrugged. "I don't know either, but for some reason those glasses triggered him."

"Normal glasses? That doesn't make any sense." Erica nodded. "You're right. Normal glasses wouldn't..." she paused, a look going through her face. "Unless they weren't normal glasses." Scott finished for her. "But what does that mean? What do you mean "normal" glasses?" Malia scoffed. "It's Beacon Hills. It's filled with "what do you means"". Scott stepped forward. "Whatever, look does he look like he's in any shape for fighting?" Mason nodded carefully. "He's right, we have to take him back." "Great idea. Here." Corey plopped Isaac in Mason's arms. "Gah!" He staggered under Isaac's full body weight.

"Dang he's heavy!" Erica giggled. "I think he'd be very offended if he were conscious right now." "Wait, if he goes, who's gonna watch him? And we're gonna be down two people!" Malia exclaimed. "Right, which is why Masons gonna watch him, and Stiles and Lydia will take his place." Corey grinned like he'd just won a prize or something. "Problem solved." Nobody protested as Corey used his supernatural eyesight to lead Mason back up the stairs.

~~~

They all waited in silence as they waited for Corey, Stiles, and Lydia. A loud thump followed by a string of curses let them know Stiles had arrived. Corey shrugged as he walked down the stairs, Lydia clinging to his arm. "I told him to hold on." Typical stubborn Stiles. "Whatever. Can we go now?" Stiles brushed past Erica and ran straight into Boyd. "Whoa, you okay there?" Boyd asked nicely. "Fine. Let's go." They continued down the staircase. Malia squinted. "Guys, do you see that?" Scott looked. "Yeah, light!" The light was coming from an overhead light which belonged to a bright red door.

Scott tensed. "All right. Let's go." Malia's claws extended from her flight or fight response. The others had a similar reaction while Lydia let go of Corey's shoulder and immediately clutched Stile's shoulder while he clutched his beloved (now metal) bat. Scott slowly opened the door, revealing a dimly lit extremely large room. It was empty and bare, except for the circle of candles in the middle of the room. Malia gaped. There seemed to be a girl, suspended in the air, impossibly still. She had black hair, and her arms were still by her side, while her head was lolled downwards.

She had medium-brownish skin, and was clearly unconscious. Stiles groaned. "Please don't tell me the weird floaty girl is the one we're looking for." Scott grimaced. "Yep." They walked closer to the circle, tensing up. Yep. She was definitely floating. Her clothes were worn, as if she'd been in a fight. They stopped next to the circle. She had to be at least 20 feet off the ground. Erica shook her head. "I don't understand, how is she just...floating there?" "That's not what we're worried about. We're worried about getting her down, alright?" Malia could tell his was right. The girls face was littered with multiple cuts.

Malia looked down. "Is that.." "mountain ash." Scott finished for her. "Doesn't that mean whoever did this knows about the Supernatural?" Stiles smacked his forehead. "Well nooo, there's a girl in front of us floating and you didn't assume they knew about the supernatural?!" Malias cheeks burned. "Whatever, how do we get past it?" Corey stepped forward. "Easy, us non-supernatural's move it." He reached his leg out. It was then that Scott noticed it glowing in a strange way... "Corey, NO!" He was too late.

Corey's foot connected with the dust, blowing them all back.

A/N: thank you for reading! I gotta go now lol, but who's the mysterious girl 👀