Chapter 9

Kat's P.O.V.

        I WAS WALKING AROUND the city at night when I ran into the sight of a certain teenage boy, more specifically, Scott McCall. In the back of a line for rave tickets. Now that didn't feel weird at all. Oh, I did not. So after contemplating all of my life choices I took a deep breath and started to head in his direction. Despite him being a werewolf, he didn't pay attention to me before I finally stopped behind him. I looked over his shoulders to get a sight of what he's looking at and I could clearly see Jackson. He's probably spying on him.

"What're you up to?" I suddenly spoke up behind him, not taking my eyes off Jackson, but I could still feel him slightly jump from in front of me.

"Keeping an eye on Jackson." he whispered, then after a couple seconds of when the realization hit him he turned towards me with a confused expression plastered across his face "What are you doing here?"

"I was taking a walk, then I saw you." I shrugged my shoulders a little bit.

"Derek sent you?" I narrowed my eyes at him. Really? Seriously?

"No. Believe it or not, he isn't ordering me around to follow you in the middle of the night. Or to spy on you. Like you on Jackson."

"But you're with him." he stated.

"I am friends with him, not on his side or with him in any other way." I corrected "I've known him his whole life. What is he doing...?" I asked as we watched Jackson slowly brushing his fingers against the palm of the woman who's been selling the tickets.

"Nothing good."

"Next victim?" I whispered as I looked at him.

"Most likely." he nodded and before Jackson could see us we bolted. "You're coming to the clinic?" Scott asked when we were fairly away from the scene.

"No...? I feel like I've been missing out on something." I felt unsure about the whole question, not knowing what they were up to since Derek forgot to mention that part to me, like usually. But it wasn't like a wouldn't figure out things on my own.

"We're meeting up with Derek at the clinic, then we're gonna talk to Deaton to come up with some kind of a solution." he explained as he opened the car "So you're coming?"

"Sure." and with that I began to walk in the other direction to get to the sour-wolf first. "See you there."

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When we reached the clinic with Derek and Isaac Scott was already unlocking the door from the inside.

"What's he doing here?" he motioned to Isaac.

"I need him." replied Derek as we all stepped inside.

"I don't trust him."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you either." the boy in question spoke up.

"You know what? And Derek really doesn't care."

"And I think, you're all idiots for speaking in third person. New symptom of supernatural schizophrenia?" I groaned, letting my head fall back which surprisingly earned a disapproving look from Derek that I just shrugged off "Now, shall we?" I motioned towards the back.

"Now where's the vet? Is he gonna help us or not?" said Derek, while I noticed Deaton leaning on the wall. I waved at him with a bright smile which he returned.

"It depends." he finally spoke as his smile faded away "You're friend, Jackson. Are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him." "Save him." Derek and Scott said in sync.

"I'm with McCall on this one." I lifted my right hand up.

"Save him." Scott repeated. Alan nodded, then motioned us to follow him. When we went to the back I took a place on my usual chair, crossing my legs with a small smile. I used the door this time. I voiced in the vet's head, which he reacted to with a small smile while shaking his head. He placed the tray with multiple herbs and dried plants on the table. I didn't need more, I leaned forward thoroughly inspecting the substances, while I rested my elbows on my knees and my chin on the back of my hand. As Isaac was trying to reach for the small jars Derek suddenly grabbed his hand while I spoke up just at the same time as it happened.

"Watch what you touch." The boy just let out a silent huff while smiling as he leaned on top of the metal table.

"So... What are you? Some kind of a witch?" he asked Deaton and the said man subtly glanced in my direction then back at Isaac.

"No. I'm a veterinarian. If you're looking for one, ask somebody else." he added as he placed the jar back on the tray. Isaac gave him a knowing look being well aware that I was the actual witch in the room. "Unfortunately, I don't see anything that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions."

"What about an effective offense?" asked the blonde one.

"We already tried." answered the Hale. "I nearly took its head off. And Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets up back up."

"Has it shown any weaknesses?"

"Water." I chimed in. "It can't swim."

"Does that go for Jackson as well?"

"No." Scott replied "He's the captain of the swim team." I slightly frowned.

"Essentially, you're trying to catch two people." Deaton stepped back to a drawer only to pull out a coin, which he showed to the boys as he started to explain "A puppet. And a puppeteer." he placed the piece of iron on the table "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

"I don't think Jackson could do it." Scott sighed "His mother died pregnant too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

"How do you know it's not part of the rules?" asked Isaac. "The Kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife, then the baby dies, too." Logical theory.

"Does that mean you're father was a murderer?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if he was."

"Me neither." I added while standing up, walking to the right side of Alan only to lean on the table with my hands acting as support.

"Hold on. The book says they're bonded, right?" I looked at Deaton, listening to him intently. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but from the person controlling him? What if..." he hold a finger up, then started to look through the jars until he found the mountain ash.

"Something that affects the Kanima, also effects its master." I finished his thought process as he poured a circle of the ash around the coin.

"Meaning we can catch them." Scott finished the train of thoughts. "Both of them."

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After the guys left I stayed with Alan at the clinic all night. The next day while he was working with the dogs I tried to gather all the ash he had in here into a trash bag.

"By the way." I broke the silence when it was noon "You know that they asked for help in translating the bestiary, from Marin, right?" he froze in his place for a brief second before looking at me.

"No, I wasn't aware. But, you're the one speaking Latin better, aren't you?"

"Yes." I nodded while dropping the bag on the floor "I guess they didn't trust me with it at first, but I helped anyways. Do you know what's the most interesting part?" I asked as I stood next to the puppy on the table and started carefully petting him, only to ease his pain with a spell. "She deliberately translated the word 'master' to 'friend'." 

"You sure it was on purpose?" he asked with a sigh, going back to his little patient.

"The two are not even similar. Even in Latin!"

"I'm sure she had a reason." he sounded uncertain.

"We never know. I mean, she's always been an interesting emissary." I put my hands down with a sigh and started to pace around, only to found myself looking through the jars, noticing one that contained a certain plant. I took it in my hand, inspecting it until I turned around facing my old friend. "Why do you keep wolfsbane in here?" I asked, dangling the glass before my face.

"Precaution." he said without missing a beat.

"Okaaay..." I turned back slowly and carefully putting it back in its place. "So, do you want me to get more ash?"

"If you don't mind." he nodded, looking at me.

"Okay, give me about an hour." I grabbed my phone from the table, putting it in my back pocket while heading towards the door "Don't forget the ketamine." I yelled back when I was already out the door and went home.

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After two hours I finally got back to the clinic with a big trash bag that was filled with mountain ash. I ended up up going to the next town to a reliable source, after I realized I was also running out, meaning I had only a bigger vial of it which wasn't enough for anything really.After suddenly appearing in the back of the clinic again I dropped the bag on the floor and sat on the now empty metal table in the middle of the room.

"All done." I presented to him while laying across the surface. A minute later he was walking to me with a thermos in his hand.

"Good. Scott and Stiles will be here soon." he said while handing me the drink "Derek's regards."

"Oh, thank you, good sir." I took it with a wide grin as I popped up the cap and took a big sip of it after I sat back up. 

"You found the ketamine?" I asked while dangling my legs. Just as he opened his mouth to answer the front door opened with the sound of the ringing bell and the two mentioned earlier walked on. "Hey." I waved at them with a smile.

"Hey." "Why's she here?" They spoke together, Scott being the latter.

"She can be trusted." Alan told them while I just kept smiling, not even moving an inch from the table. Suddenly, Deaton hold up a small vial towards them and that at least answered my question from a minute ago.

"Ketamine?" Scott asked, sounding a little bit unsure.

"It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage." he explained while pointing around with a syringe, but eventually he placed the two essentials next to me on the table before he could stab me with the needle. "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time. This is some of what you'll use to create create the barrier." he hold up the jar of mountain ash, showing it to the boys. "This part is for you, Stiles." he pointed at him "Only you."

"Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure." Stiles took the glass from beside me, examining it "Can we maybe find something less pressure-filled task for me?"

"It's from the mountain ash tree," I spoke up with a sigh "which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural."

"This office is lined with ash wood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me any troubles." Alan added.

"Okay, so then what?" asked Stiles. "I just spread this around the whole building, and then either Jackson or whoever's controlling him can't cross it?" we both replied with a nod.

"Doesn't sound too hard."

"Not all there is." I spoke up gaining there attention "Think of it like gunpowder. It's just powder until a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles." I tried with an analogy.

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that."

"Oh, god..." I groaned, letting my head fall into my hands.

"Let me try a different analogy." Alan patted my shoulder as he was trying to suppress a little laugh "I used to golf. I learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the force of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will." Stiles exhaled slowly.

"Hey, if this is going to work, Stiles, you have to believe it."

"And the Force may be with you tonight, Stiles." I said with a sigh as the said boy's head abruptly turned in my direction with wide eyes.

"Was that...?" 

"A Star Wars reference?" I asked finishing his sentence "Sure it was." I smiled widely as I jumped down. "See you guys tonight." I waved at them, still smiling, after that I disappeared just to find myself a prey before the rave.

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Slowly but surely the night arrived. The sky was fairly gray when I finally reached Scott and Stiles in the parking lot.

"Hey." I said quietly as they noticed my presence, greeting me the same way.

"Let's grab the other bag."

"I can't. Remember, Deaton said you have to do it alone." Scott looked at him, but soon enough something else caught his attention from the distance.

"Okay, this plan is really starting to suck." Stiles huffed.

"No. Not here, not now." Scott murmured and without a second thought, he just ran away from us. Go little rockstar, leave your friend here, yey...

"What? Scott! What am I supposed to-" Stiles walked slowly towards him as the other started running, and after a moment of silence he harshly dropped the bag on the ground. "The plan officially sucks!"

"Hey, it's okay, I'm staying here with you."

"Really?" he lifted up his head to look at me. "So, you're helping with-"

"I also can't help with that." I cut him off with a frown. "But I can play the moral support friend." I gave him a tight smile.

"I mean..." he sighed "Better than nothing."

"Let's grab one bag each and get going." I motioned to the two black bags with my head, as I grabbed one then stepped aside.

"Thought you can't help." he gave me a weirded out look as he tear one corner of the bag open. Taking a deep breath he just looked down at the ground, still unsure of the plan.

"I can touch the bag. Pouring out the mountain ash? Nope." a shook my head slowly. "Let's do it. It's gonna work out." I smiled encouragingly at him, and after a quick nod, we got to work.

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Surely, we soon ran out of all the ash leaving only a little a handful of it in Stiles palm.

"It's alright, nothing's wrong-" I tried to keep him calm but he dialed Scott anyways, ignoring anything that I said to him in the past five minutes.

"Scott, pick up. Pick up now. Look, I got like fifty feet of ash left and I'm out. Okay?" he panicked "So you better get your wolf ass down here to help me because I don't know what to do. And I'm just standing out here and I'm..." but out of nowhere, the sound of gunshots cut Stiles off. Not good... "And I'm all alon- "I gave him a pointed look "I mean, with Kat, alone, and we're hearing gunfire and werewolves, and standing here like an idiot with a handful of magic fairy dust. And I don't have enough. Okay?" he hanged up on the voice mall with a sigh "Okay, come on, think."

"I've been trying to tell you a solution, but you're not listening."

"Oh, yeah?" he suddenly turned towards me "Like what? You're gonna run to Deaton asking for more fairy dust?!" 

"Chill." I placed my hands on his shoulders, keeping him steady "And no." I tilted my head to the side while turning him back towards the empty fifty feet in front of us. "Alan said you need to believe. So believe. It was not a joke, you would be surprised what your belief could do with the fairy dust."

"Just imagine it working, right?" he asked me with a much calmer tone.

"Right." I patted him on his shoulders while keeping myself on the outside of the circle. "You can do it." I whispered as I let go of him. He look a deep breath, standing there just for a minute before he opened his eyes. Closing his eyes again I could feel that something changed in him. With a small loving smile on a watched I watched as he slowly begin walking, taking his sweet time. If you watched the whole scene from the outside, you might could tell how hard he was concentrating, and not even realizing how far he went. When the dust ran out he stopped. I took him a couple of seconds to look up and to the line, to see it was perfectly finished all the way too. A wide, thrilled smile immediately spread across his face as he jumped around in his place.

"YES!" he exclaimed loudly and I burst out laughing. What a little imagination could do.

"I told you you can do it." I clapped my hands together, still looking at him as he jumped on top of a parking car making its alarm to go off. "For the love of the gods..." a held my head in my hands, slowly but surely managing to make my laughter die out. A second later I felt a sudden impact almost sending me backwards to the ground. Normally, I would have kicked no matter who's ass if they even tried to tackle me down, but that whole process went into oblivion when I comprehended they were only Stiles' arm around me. Hugging me.

The next thing I knew after blinking away my surprise was me reciprocating the gesture, not really sure how to act in the moment, but I tried no to be weirded out about it. It was a normal human gesture towards one another in the heat of joy and excitement. Or at least a hoped so.

"Thank you." he whispered later on, clearing his throat as he let go of me, and I let my arms fell on my side.

"No worries. As I said, I'm just the moral support." I smiled at him kindly.

"Couldn't do it without you." he laughed while shaking his head "Thank you, again." And with that, he sprinted in the direction of the back door to get inside the building.

"Stiles! Hey!" I yelled after him taking two quick steps forward but just as soon as I did, the barrier created by the mountain ash pushed me further back almost into the wall behind me. "Stiles!" I tried again, but he ignored me. "Awesome! Just abso-fucking-lutely awesome!" I sat down on the ground, waiting in peace for anyone of the idiots to come out.

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I had no idea how long have I been waiting for them when Stiles finally stepped outside.

"Glad that you're still in one piece." I said rolling my eyes as he turned towards me then he ran down the stairs.

"You could've come in to help us, you know?" he said in irritation.

"Can't." I nodded towards the barrier as Derek came running to us. "You look like shit." I observed his appearance as he ignored me.  

"Um.. So we kinda lost Jackson inside, but it's..." Stiles began explaining their situation to Derek, just when Isaac and Erica walked out. They stood on the top of the stairs, looking at the circle in front of them with confusion. Isaac crouched down taking a closer look, just as he realized they can't go pass it. "Oh my God! It's working!" 

"It sure does." I added.

"Oh, this is... Yes. I did something!" he said happily which made me smile, but that expression disappeared soon enough when I heard a yell, or a roar coming from inside. Either way, it sounded pretty bad.

"Scott." Derek spoke up.

"What?"

"Break it."

"What? No way!"

"Scott's dying!" Derek yelled in his face while pointing to the building.

"Okay. What? How do you know that?"

"Oh my God, Stiles! I just know! Break it!" 

Stiles looked at the line with great confusion as he kneeled in front of it. You could tell he had absolutely no idea how to do it, or if even just brushing it away with a finger would do anything. I quietly let out a bigger exhale than I intended to do before I found my way inside his consciousness, just to give him a thought, which gave both of us a little migraines, that almost felt like an aneurysm to be honest, since it was not like I had a permission from him to do that. Fan it away. I voiced inside his dead and he didn't need much, he used both of his hands making a fanning motion sideways and the circle broke at the exact moment. Derek ran inside.

"How did you do that?" he turned his head to me with a small groan, massaging his temple.

"I have some tricks inside my sleeve. And sorry for the pain." I smiled while getting up from the ground. "Go home, Stiles." I told him before a disappeared in front of him with my vamp speed.