Chapter 24: The Ritual

The air felt heavy, the environment filled with dead silence and anxiety. Not only because of the fact that they were afraid to disturb Scott and Catori if they spoke up. But none of them felt like chatting at the moment.

Lydia and Malia exchanged a restless glare. The latter sighed loudly in restlessness.

Everyone was thinking the same thing. Worrying about their friends' wellbeing and wondering whether them taking too long was a bad sign.

A sudden sharp and loud intake of breath caught their attention. That could only mean that Catori and Scott were done.

Everyone dashed to the other room to meet with their four friends.

"Are you okay?" Lydia was the first one to break the silence.

The redhead eyed each one of them, even if only Catori nodded. The rest of them were quiet and absent.

Scott made a face of displeasure as he removed his claws from the girl's nape. She groaned in pain and clutched onto Stiles' hand even tighter since she was already holding it.

For a moment, she leaned forward in her seat and breathed heavily. Everyone looked at the both of them with worried eyes. But then, with the help of Stiles, the brown-haired girl stood up. It was clear that she was shaking and still recovering from that exchange, but she didn't care.

"Did you see anything?" Derek piped up, glancing at Scott, who appeared to be weak and unstable.

Lydia went to hug Catori tight while he replied. Meanwhile, Malia went to speak with the dazed Stiles while everyone else observed. They patiently waited for the alpha to speak up.

"Lydia was right" Catori smiled feebly. "It triggered my sybil powers, I remember what I saw during my blackouts now"

"Everything?" Liam exclaimed, surprised.

She nodded, rubbing the back of her neck absently, there where the scar from Vanessa's minion was reopened.

"Well?" Derek was getting impatient and anxious. "What did you see?"

"Chandrika" Scott began to say gravely. "We know where the ritual-"

"What are we waiting for then?" Malia was resolved to get it over with as fast as possible. "Let's go there! Where is it?"

"No" Catori just said, her eyes shifting from Scott to Stiles to Lydia.

The latter was holding her hand for comfort, even if she was staring at the two boys in unease.

"Don't you know where it is?" Derek frowned, piercing her with his intense green eyes.

Catori stared off into the distance in deep thought. She knew exactly where the ritual was going to happen, she could never mistake that place both Scott and her witnessed inside her mind.

"There's more to it, isn't it?" Stiles finally talked after his long and unusual hush.

Again, the room fell victim of a silent spell. No one dared to break it, until finally Catori did after several seconds.

"Now that I remember, I know" She took a deep breath as her shaky fingers left her neck. "What I saw in my... my..."

"Prophecies?" Kira tried to help her, seeing as she struggled to find the right word.

"In my prophecies..." Catori settled for that word for the moment. "Chandrika is some sort of spirit, a really bad one"

"Wait" Deaton had been quiet for the entire time as well, but decided it was a good time to add something to the conversation. "A spirit?"

"What is it?" Lydia asked the doctor, observing him with her green eyes wide open.

"One of the trio principles the triquetra can be used for is life, death and reincarnation"

"What?!"

"They want to bring it back..."

"And what, let the spirit roam free? That sounds terrible!"

Catori shook her head vehemently, horrified by the images of the ritual she saw thanks to her sybil nature.

"They don't plan on letting it free" Scott nervously licked his lips. "What would a free spirit be of use to them?"

"Then what's her plan?" Stiles bit his lip so hard that it could start bleeding any minute.

"They need a body, a volunteer" Catori's gaze was meaningful enough for him to understand.

His theory of them needing Catori and using them after they were done harboring her power wasn't so farfetched after all. He found a huge relief, however, thinking that she was safe from that.

"What are they gonna do once Chandrika is back?"

"Probably something evil" Liam said with fake cheerfulness.

"And who is the volunteer?" Kira wondered aloud, exchanging glances with her friends. "If we find it, we might be able to control Chandrika"

"That, we don't know" Scott said, saddened.

"Even if we knew, it wouldn't be that easy" On an instinct to relief her nerves, Catori brought her nails to her lips and started chewing on them.

"Norman!" Derek piped up when an idea suddenly popped up in his head. "Maybe that's how he fits in all of this"

"It would only make sense" The other boy muttered in deep thought. "It would explain why Vanessa is interested in an omega or wants anything to do with his pack"

Before anyone else said anything, Stiles piped up. He had been extremely quiet those last minutes, even if he had barely said anything for the entire thing.

"I know how we can control it" Something in his behavior told everyone he had a plan. But only Scott and Catori –maybe Lydia too –knew him well enough to realize they didn't want to hear it.

"I have experience dealing with evil spirits, I could-"

"No" Even if the rest were definitely horrified by the idea as well, Scott was the first to oppose.

Catori felt his aura shift drastically, from his usual calm and friendly to heavily angry and outraged. That was a clear sign that it was a serious matter.

"Stiles..." Lydia whispered, devastated.

"It almost killed you" Scott shook his head, refusing to let him do it.

"It's the only way"

"It is not"

"What are you talking about?"

Stiles uncomfortably shifted around and glanced at Catori when she asked. He then sighed with his chest tight and looked away as he began to reply.

"The Nogitsune" That word reminded her of Kira because of the fact that she was a 'Kitsune'.

The girl wondered if the Japanese fox like creature had something to do with it as she subtly looked over to Scott's girlfriend.

"And what does it have to do with Chandrika?"

"I was possessed by it and survived, maybe I could serve as the vessel for Chandrika too..." The boy made a pause, keeping his eyes on the floor to avoid all the glares of concern. "At least long enough for you guys to do something about it"

"Do what?"

"Undo the ritual"

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"I should do it instead" Scott offered, placing a hand over his friend's shoulder.

"No, if anyone's doing it that should be me" Stilinski fidgeted around. "I'm the one who has experienced it before and-"

"We need a plan B" Catori couldn't stand hearing them talk about who would sacrifice himself and needed to interrupt the conversation.

"No we don't, I can do it"

"I'm not letting you do this unless we have a plan B, Stiles"

"But-"

"And I'm only letting you do it because it's our very last hope" Her voice broke, showing how heartbroken she felt deep down.

Upon gazing at her, he noticed. But Catori didn't mind showing weakness anymore, and less in front of him after all they had been through.

"My thoughts exactly" Scott's eyes were shinning, they were getting watery. "If we had more time, we could find another way, but..."

"That's why!" Stiles exclaimed impatiently. "We don't have time!"

After a good two minutes of complete silence in which everyone was too immersed in their own thoughts to speak up out of concern, Deaton piped up.

"Does anyone have a plan B?" The man was obviously resigned and angry with himself for not knowing.

"I think I do..." Catori showed a half smile, exchanging a look with Stiles.

"What is it?"

"Vanessa is a selkie, right?" When he nodded, she kept talking. "Well, I might have something on her"

Stiles squinted in concentration, trying to think of what they found out when they were researching selkies together. When an idea popped into his mind, he thought he knew what Catori was getting at.

"I need to think more about it" She excused herself, biting her lip. "But it might work"

Since they all began to talk amongst themselves and give Catori a little bit of space to think her plan through, the attention was diverged off her.

"Why don't we use your plan instead?" Scott whispered to her, trying to have some privacy taking the opportunity that no one paid attention to them.

"That's what we're gonna do" Catori replied as though it was obvious, with a cunning grin. "I'm not letting him do it, Scotty"

"But you said-"

"Maybe I lied"

Neither of the two said anything for a few seconds, they just held the other's glances.

"So what's that plan B of yours?" Derek asked the girl as he tiredly leaned on the wall.

Shrugging, the brown-haired girl decided to tell them even if she hadn't thought it through yet. Before she began to tell everyone what her idea was, however, Catori couldn't help but to glance at Stiles yet again.

She wouldn't let him go on with his plan even if that was the last thing she did. And she knew that Scott and the rest were with her on that.

*

Even the sound of the Jeep door slamming shut made Catori jump. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, like any of them could die any minute. Like her life could take a nasty turn any second.

She looked around to their friends as they got out of the other car and they all gathered before walking into the ritual zone. The girl gulped as she looked up to the sky and saw the full moon shining bright, bathing them with the moonlight that she took as a bad omen.

Someone suddenly held her hand, making her look down again. At first she thought it was Stiles, but those hands were too soft and calm to be his.

Catori glanced at Lydia, who squeezed her hand soothingly and in seek of comfort. She nodded to the redhead and sighed, tightening the grip herself.

The girls proceeded to start walking closer to the exact place where the ritual was taking place. But someone stopped them.

Even right there in front of Lydia, Stiles held Catori by the chin and grinned at her. Before she could say anything, and gifting her with a wink out of the blue, Stiles leaned in.

Their lips lightly met for a few seconds, passionately, before he pulled away and hurriedly ran off. The sybil followed Stiles with her eyes as he went with Scott and moved forward.

"What was that for?!" Catori shouted at him, getting no response.

When exchanging a gloomy look with Lydia, she realized what that kiss had meant.

It meant that Stiles was afraid. He was terrified of thinking about what they were going to do, about his plan and about the fact that he might not live to tell the deed. And that he wanted to give Catori a last kiss just in case.

Catori sighed desolate and lowered her head as she kept on walking. She refused to look up and face the situation. She was content with staring at the withered yellow grass under her converse.

Only when Catori heard Lydia gasp and felt the shift in everyone's aura, did she look up. And then she understood why everyone felt so alert and tense.

Before their eyes stood Vanessa, as imposing as ever.

Her piercing dark eyes challenged them smugly to go along with the grin plastered on her lips painted red. Her black hair seemed even darker and wilder in that dim light, resembling that of a lion.

Along with her, of course, was her pack. Surprisingly, Norman was there too, which meant that Vanessa probably still had some use for him. Otherwise, why would an omega be with an alpha, especially in such a special moment?

There was a single grave next to Vanessa, and on the stone was just written the word 'Chandrika', long ago carved into it. It wasn't a full name, just that word, which gave her shivers.

That spirit was once very powerful, so much so that apparently its original name had been long forgotten. All that was left of it was Chandrika, like a bad omen of something terrible incoming.

Just below the name was the triquetra symbol, as though it was often associated with Chandrika. As though it was the spirit's symbol as well as the triskelion like one.

The sudden sound of lightning startled them all. Catori visibly jumped up because of it. She bit her bottom lip as she looked over to Vanessa and saw an evil smirk plastered on her red lips. She was causing the storm, since selkies had the power to do it.

Catori wanted to cry, but refused to let herself do it. Even if she knew Lydia enough to know what she was thinking not only by the look on her face, but also thanks to their seer connection.

The banshee was sure of one thing. Someone was going to die during the ritual.