Once Upon a Werewolf |Isaac Lahey|

Chapter 20

I wake up to the sound of wind rustling all around me. When I open my eyes I see the world is bathed in a golden light, but I have no idea where I am. I move my head to take a look around, but a wave of lightheadedness hits me. Blinking rapidly I move my eyes back and forth and realize I'm sitting in a car in the middle of the woods. Stiles is next to me, head resting on the deployed air bag. Everything comes back to me at once, and I spring into action.

"Stiles!" I say, reaching over to shake his shoulders, "Stiles wake up!"

    He doesn't move and I start to panic. I realize that the golden sky is a result of the lunar eclipse, and that we are running extremely late. While I looking around for something to help me wake Stiles up I notice my phone down by my feet. I grab it, seeing that have multiple missed calls and texts from Isaac.

Isaac: SOS @ Allison's house and Scott's Dad and FBI are here

Isaac: Made it out but don't have weapons. Headed to meet up point

Isaac: Where are you guys?

Isaac: Eleanor?

    The last message came in about 15 minutes ago, but there is no time to respond to him now. I discard my phone and keep looking for something to help me with Stiles. In the back seat I find a half empty water bottle, so I turn and pour the contents over Stiles' head.

"Stiles come on!" I say, shaking his shoulders once more.

    His eyes suddenly blink open, and he jumps up in surprise. I watch him look around the car, before making eye contact with me. I see the panic in his gaze, a look I imagine I'm mirroring right back at him.

"Eleanor, what--?" Stiles begins to ask.

"There's no time!" I respond, "The eclipse is happening, we have to go! Do you have any weapons in here?"

"There's a baseball bat in the backseat!" Stiles exclaims, reaching over to grab it.

    Together we race out of the broken down Jeep. I grab onto Stiles' shoulders, pushing him away from the car before he can see the extent of the damage. Stiles barrels ahead of me, running deep into the woods. I try to focus my eyes and recognize details that are familiar to me, but it's no use. Even with the added brightness of the eclipse, it's impossible to tell where we are headed. It doesn't help that the wind is moving through the forest like a jet.

"Stiles! Where are you going?" I yell after him, having trouble keeping up.

"I have no idea!" He yells back.

    I'm about to yell back at him to slow down, when I hear screaming. It's faint, and at first I think I am just imagining it. I stop running and just try to hear passed the sound of the wind rustling around me.

"Stiles! Hold on!" I yell, picking up another scream in the wind.

"Eleanor, we have to hurry!" Stiles argues, but stops running.

    The sound of someone, no, a group of people yelling out for help fills the forest. Stiles and I make eye contact for a moment, before chasing after the sound. In an instant we come up next to the wide oak trunk, and search for the cellar entrance. I watch as the ground collapses around my feet, and realize that I am standing on top of the cellar.

"Eleanor, the stairs collapsed!" Stiles yells, "I can't find a way in."

"Here!" I shout, spotting an opening large enough for us to get through.

    Without thinking I dive into the opening and land in the cellar. I hear the walls starting to buckle all around me, but my focus is on the other occupants. Looking around I see my father, Scott's mother and the Sheriff all safe and alive, frozen with fear. Isaac is crouching down next to Allison, holding up the ceiling the titan Atlas holding up the sky.

"Eleanor!" My dad yells like warning and all eyes turn to me. My relief of seeing everyone safe is then squandered by the collapsing cellar.

    Suddenly chunks of ceiling begin to rain down around me. Everyone's arms go up to try and hold it back, but the weight is immense. I feel my arms aching, but I try to keep them in position for as long as I can.

"I can't do it!" Isaac yells, eyes glowing yellow, "I can't hold it! I can't hold it!"

"It's too much, it's too heavy!" Allison shouts, just as the ceiling buckles down even further.

    We have little time to panic though, because Stiles dives into the cellar behind me and supports the ceiling with his bat. The room lets out a collective exhale, and I take the time to meet my father's eyes. I feel tears coming to my eyes, both from the mixture of dust in the air and the relief that he is alive.

"I always said aluminum was better than wood," The Sheriff says, looking relieved.

    We all stay crotched silently in the cellar until the sky turns back from golden to a deep blue. The storm outside stops in time with the eclipse, and it is as though the entire forest shares in our relief.

"Is it over?" I ask, looking around the now silent cellar.

    The room laughs in relief, and I watch Stiles crawl over to hug his father. I follow his lead, and soon I am wrapped in my father's arms. When I pull away I see he is still wearing the PJs from the morning he was taken and has a deep gash on his head. Regardless, he looks down at me with a wider smile than I have seen for weeks.

"I don't know how you kids did it, but thank you," He says, looking at me but addressing all of us.

"I'm just glad you're okay," I respond, "I'm glad all of you are okay,"

"Us too, El," My dad says, then turns to look at Isaac, "But you aren't off the hook. We need to have a little talk after this."

"Yes, sir," Isaac responds, but he looks more terrified than he did when the ceiling was about to fall on him.

    The sound of a phone ringing echos the cellar, and I look over to see Stiles scrambling in his pockets. He finds it, and puts it up against his ear. The whole room watches in anticipation, hoping that the call is good news.

"Scott?" Stiles answers, "Yeah we're okay. We're all okay."

I feel my dad squeeze my shoulders    and I am thankful that we are all in fact okay. Scott and Stiles continue talking, and based on Stiles' responses I assume we are in the clear.

"Well you think you can come get us?" Stiles asks, and then after a moment says, "Great well, bring a ladder."

    Stiles fills everyone in that Ms. Blake is dead, Derek survived and Deculian had his vision restored. I feel as the a collective weight is lifted off of everyone's shoulders. Despite the fact that we are all still stuck in an underground cellar with a lack of structural integrity, the mood in the room is light and celebratory.

    I sneak a look over at Isaac, who appears to be scared enough of my dad to come any closer. He smiles widely at me, and I'm taken back to that day in chemistry when this all started. The words, "I'm dangerous," echo in my head. That may be true. Isaac Lahey has definitely added danger into my life, but it doesn't change the fact that I have absolutely fallen right back in love with him.