VESTIGE ↬ D. HALE [3]

15 ; white light

The pendant gifted to Elise by her aunt has kept her outbursts at bay, but the faceless woman continues to creep closer. A crack has begun to form in the pendant, formed by the pressure of trying to contain Elise's power. One night, in the midst of a storm, Elise and Derek were awoken by a banging on the loft door. They opened it to find Lydia, who's banshee cry shook the walls of their home and shattered the glass of their windows. When the girl came to, she had no clue how she'd gotten to the loft, not who her cry was for.

During the stress of the war with Kate, Jenessa and Braeden grew closer, eventually developing feelings for one another. The sleuth and the mercenary: an odd duo, but a good one. They kept each other safe and worked to protect those under threat from the Deadpool.

After a lot of pestering and a lot of working along side the pack, Mare eventually revealed why she'd come to Beacon Hills. She was a selkie, a shapeshifter who lived her life below the ocean waves. One night, after transforming into her human form, she'd discovered that someone had stolen her selkie skin, leaving her trapped as a human in a world that wasn't hers until she could recover it.

After discovering  that her brother and Kira were missing, likely taken by Kate to be transformed into one of her beasts, Elise experienced a vision. She felt a fire hot pain and saw only blinding white flashes. She could hear the cries of a woman, broken only by the far-away sound of someone calling her name.

It was then that Elise knew who Lydia had cried for. The crack in her pendant had grown, nearly splitting the iron in half. All it would take was one slip up for the only thing stopping Elise from being devoured by her vestige to shatter.

She told no one. Instead, she silently boarded the van headed for Mexico- headed for her brother- and slipped her hand into Derek's, flashing him a reassuring smile as they started down the road.

15 ↬ WHITE LIGHT

The vans rumbled into the clearing near the church. Isaac sat across from Nancy and Harper. More than once, Elise caught the boy flashing her cousin reassuring smiles as the teen girl bounced her knee in anticipation. Liam sat next to Stiles, sweat dripping down his brows.

The boy was still learning control, and the rising moon was proving difficult for him without Scott there to guide him through it.

"For a minute there, I thought I was going to tear all of you to shreds," he said, chuckling dryly.

"That would have made for a very awkward ride home," Stiles grimaced.

"Do you think you can use that same amount of strength and control inside la iglesia?" Derek asked, his lips forming a thin line. He'd lost all of his abilities, and Elise knew it was forming a knot inside of him. She'd taught him as much as she could about fighting without superhuman strength and agility, but they simply didn't have enough time.

Liam nodded, flicking his hand to reveal his claws- brought out by his own will. Elise offered the boy a small smile. "You're really getting the hang of it," she said.

The vans pulled to a stop, and the engines whirred for a moment until they went silent. Stiles and Liam turned to face Isaac and the other Kidwells to remind them of their strategy as Derek moved toward the back door of the hunter's van, intending to open it and step out into the courtyard. Elise grabbed his arm, stopping him.

There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't her magic- that was still quelled by the pendant. This was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Pure, sour fear curdled in her stomach, clawing it's cold way to her chest.

"Be careful," she said softly. He would be fine, she assured herself. The scream wasn't for him, she knew that now. She'd made her peace with it. That didn't stop the fear.