Jasmine weaved her way through the crowd, a tall lemonade in her hand. She had some time to kill before she was supposed to meet Mari, enjoying herself doing nothing in particular but taking in the sights and sounds of Coney Island. Kids dashed around from ride to ride, cheering and yelling. Couples giggled to each other in the shadows of the midway booths. Games lit up in rainbow colors, pinging wildly. Shrieks echoed through the air each time the Cyclone dropped. Somewhere nearby, one of the booths was blaring out the last jangling strains of “Sweet Home Alabama”. It all blurred together into a chaotic, but somehow soothing background noise.
She didn’t even hear the first scream.
A woman to Jasmine’s left gasped and stepped back from her male companion. “Y...your face!”
Jasmine glanced over. There was nothing wrong with the man’s face, although it was creased with worry as he began making frantic excuses. Throughout the crowd, there were similar murmurs of shock and dismay, a few people turning to bolt for the exits. Somewhere, the song on the radio had changed.
I hear hurricanes a-blowin’
I know the end is coming soon
I feel rivers overflowin’
I hear the voice of rage and ruin
The world seemed to slow down. The realization hit between heartbeats. Jasmine could feel her neck tingling, a sizzling feeling like a fire going out. She dropped the lemonade and clawed at her collarbone, trying to get a better look at her skin--she could feel the scars, yes, but she could always feel them. Jasmine spun around, looking for the nearest reflective surface, taking a few steps in no particular direction before she remembered her cell phone. She didn’t need even need to turn it on; the shiny black screen was mirror enough to confirm what she already knew. Jasmine tried to concentrate and revive the glamour, but it was no use.
It was Fidchell all over again, the moment of planting her foot in that grass and feeling her magic dissipate. Seeing her scars in the mirror for the remainder of that 24 hours, which she spent locked in her apartment. It was her nightmares all over again, in which she was somehow unable to perform glamours and rows of faceless fey jeered “bastard”. She was sixteen all over again, and there was a shadow and a blade and a hand over her mouth.
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we’re in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye
Jasmine couldn’t breathe. Mari, where was Mari? It was run for Marigold or run for the subway and run all the way home, and her sister would die of worry if she disappeared in the midst of the chaos. But she couldn’t stay here, stay here with everyone staring. Get out now. Jasmine tore through the park and out the gate, across the boardwalk and to the beach.
Isabelle walked along the beach ahead of Clara. The two of them had been paired up as part of the scouting party. Admittedly she'd never worked with the girl before but for the sake of the job they had to do at the moment she was happy to not be working alone. Her pace slowed as she spotted what looked like a camp of some sort on the beach. "Clara! Come check this out." She looked back, beckoning Clara to hurry up and join her.
She carried on walking ahead of Clara and started to explore the camp. It looked like people had been there and judging by some of the things laying around they hadn't been gone for too long, there were still embers glowing in the fire that had been made and there were fresh fish bones scattered in the sand. Isabelle decided it was time to check out the make shift tents in the area.
Just as Isabelle pulled back the fabric that covered the opening she fell backwards, her hands clamped over her mouth. There were two men inside, both dead. Their faces were distorted in pure terror. She scrambled backwards in the sand, Isabelle shared the same look on their faces. She looked at Clara, shaking, she brought her hands away from her mouth and went to say something, but nothing came out.
Who: Caleb Martin w/ brief mentions of others; Deucalion and Paige interaction
What: Inner thoughts, observations, + prompt related events
Where: Distillery, abandoned mall, hospital
When: During the lunar eclipse
Misc.: Judge the title away, after 5+ hours of emotion drained into this I couldn't think of a better title
This was what had become of the Martin family. There wasn’t anything left after all of the fighting, the departures became inevitable. This was something that could’ve been seen coming if you were one of the members. To the outside world, there were just a few issues that had to be dealt with and would eventually be conquered. This though, was not one of those things that could have been conquered. How could it even be forgotten? One day you wake up to a complete family: mother, father, older sister, and a younger one. Then, in the blink of an eye one of them is missing. Lost forever without a warning. Disappearances are like that though; no one knows when they’re happening, there isn’t exactly some sort of warning.
When Paige first disappeared, Caleb didn’t have much understanding over that. How did someone just disappear? The boy wondered that for a long time and he had no idea what to say whenever little Lydia was around for conversations about it. The look of confusion on her face and the sadness over the fact that their sister was missing broke him. He didn’t even know what it meant to be broken over something like that because at the end of the day, he was sure that it was all just a bad dream that he would wake up from. That wasn’t happening though and each day that passed only made things much more difficult until one day it seemed as if the search for his missing sister stopped. Somewhere between that there had been a lot of arguing and yelling between his parents; things he tried to ignore by burying himself in books, distracting himself outside with his friends, making sure that Lydia wasn’t spending too much time out with the Whittemore kid and Danny when she should have been doing her homework- all of the things that an older brother should have been doing for his little sister.
Caleb tried to keep a lot of things normal for himself but mostly for Lydia. She was so young when they lost Paige and it he didn’t want her confusion over that to haunt her. Luckily, things seemed to be going somewhat smoothly as they got older. That didn’t mean that Paige had been forgotten though. There wasn’t a day when Caleb didn’t think about her and he was sure that it was the same for Lydia as it was for their parents. There were days when he’d actually forget though, not purposely but it would happen. Once he’d realize that he hadn’t thought about his older sister for an entire day, a wave of guilt would come crashing down on him in a way that it made it painful to even think about the girl. Pain was something that was becoming a constant inside for him and it didn’t help that James and Elizabeth couldn’t seem to go more than a day without arguing.
At first, Caleb didn’t mind it as much because they had the decency to do it behind the closed doors of their own bedroom where it wasn’t easy for either Lydia or Caleb to hear the things that they said to each other. For a bit Caleb thought that maybe they were trying to hide the fact that they argued so much because there was a good chance that they would put their differences aside and carry on with trying to give their kids the family they deserved. The boy had been so very stupid to even think that. The worst part wasn’t that he thought that though, the worst was having told his little sister that things would be fixed. The more time that passed, the worse things got. That only broke their home apart even more; it was broken beyond repair. Now, not only was he disappointed in his parents for doing this to him and Lydia but he was disappointed in himself for having gotten his sister’s hopes up. All of this was the outcome of having lost Paige. After years it had completely exited his mind that the girl was even alive and even if she was, there wasn’t any chance of the family ever being what it once was. Not that Caleb minded too much now though. Since he came back to Beacon Hills, things had changed and the little girl he had left behind, the one he wished he hadn’t abandoned wasn’t the same anymore. Both James and Elizabeth were the same; bitter, angry, and impossible to live with. Their absence was something that Caleb saw as a good thing. They weren’t what mattered though. Lydia was the one who mattered; she was the reason for his return. Upon his return he realized that the little girl had become a woman. He had missed this transition. She was still young but now it was more than obvious that she had been through more than he had initially imagined – she was stronger, smarter. He was lucky to have been given a chance to come back into her life. She was the only person he considered family aside from his estranged sister Paige, the one that he didn’t think he’d ever be seeing again. Until now…
It’s Paige Martin…
She’s the Darach.
The moment he read those two lines, everything stopped. The world stopped spinning, his blood stopped flowing, his mind stopped thinking and his heart dropped right before it stopped as well. At least that’s what it felt like when he read the six words that were a part of the text from Jackson. How could it be Paige? No one had seen or heard from her in years and now she was back, doing something that could potentially bring death to everyone in Beacon Hills.
Instead of sitting around asking himself these questions he quickly made his way to the Distillery, thinking that it would be the place to find her. Caleb needed to see her for himself since a part of him was in complete denial over it. So, he ignored the tired and weak feeling he had after having been held captive by his sister. As he drove, he kept his eyes on the road ahead but wasn’t really thinking about it. His mind was still on Paige and what her reasons for doing all of this were and that was when it clicked. She let him go. He was one of the three people that she had selected to sacrifice but she let him go. That could only mean one thing; there was still someone in there that cared and maybe, just maybe there was a way to stop her from carrying on with whatever she had planned. Hopefully it wasn’t too late. Caleb didn’t have much time and there could be a lot on the line if his timing was off and he failed to make it there before seeing her.
If he was right, if there really was someone inside that mind, maybe he and Lydia would be the ones to stop her from causing any more damage to people. If Jennifer and Lisa were okay then that would also help give him more hope for the mission he was now set on going through with. He didn’t know much about this Paige, she was obviously not the same girl that he remembered. The old Paige wasn’t going around collecting people for sacrifices. She was an intelligent, talented, and poised young woman with ambitions that could’ve helped her take the world by storm. Lydia sort of reminded him of Paige when it came to that except something in Lydia was different. Lydia was on a completely different level of determination. All three of them were like that for their own separate reasons.
Upon arrival he came to find that the place had been abandoned but being there again made some of the memories of what had happened fade back into his mind. Still, this wasn’t all a good thing and just being in that location again made his fatigue from the experience rush through him again. Taking a few steps back he looked around for signs of anything that could help him but there was nothing. Turning around quickly, an odd feeling came over him causing an inexplicable pain in his head throb harshly. He closed his eyes and grabbed his head trying to will it to stop and just then there was a vibration in his pocket. “Stop,” he growled as if saying it would make the pain go away as he reached into his pocket for his phone which he had somehow found in his possession when he had returned home. It was a text from Lydia telling him where she was and that Paige was also there.
Once back inside his car he sat inside for a moment without doing anything, only trying to get the pain to completely go away as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. The doctor he had seen after he had been found and regained consciousness had warned him about this. The lack of sleep, food, and whatever it was that had made him go unconscious would have a big effect on him if he didn’t rest. Resting wasn’t something he had the luxury of doing now though, ever since he had returned his time had been spent worrying, racking his mind to try to remember, and going through with no sleep because of the thoughts that invaded his mind. Not too long passed before the rest of the pain was dealt with by just ignoring it before he was on his way to the abandoned mall. Caleb had no time to stop and worry over himself when he wasn’t even sure what the hell was going on with both of his sisters.
After knowing about the things that Paige was doing, it was almost sick for him to even think of her as his sister. Most people would have been sick to regard someone as anything other than a monster if they had been going around killing people like Paige had been doing. Caleb had come to see a lot of things in the past year though, things that he was sure didn’t even exist, that he actually thought that considering her anything other than his sister would be wrong. She did, after all, release him and in a way it was something that he owed her. For all he knew this was something that Paige didn’t want. She could have had a great life but she was dealt a bad hand of cards to play the game of life with.
The drive to the old abandoned mall seemed to be taking a lot longer than it really was. It was as if every single force on earth was holding and pulling him back like the ocean’s tides did when it was at its strongest and fiercest points. It didn’t help that he would look at the time displayed on the car’s dashboard every two seconds which made it seem as if the minutes were passing by in the length of hours. It was all in his head though and the more he thought about all these things the worse it became. He had to clear his mind and just focus on getting to his destination. Lydia and Paige needed him now and time was of the essence. He navigated each street with ease once he was able to block out most things from his mind and pulled up to the place after what had felt like forever. Turning the car off he made his way out of it, shoving the keys into his pockets and hurried towards the first available entrance to the place that he saw. Caleb didn’t know what to expect and he wasn’t about to stop and think about that. Whatever he came upon had to was just something he was going to have to deal with one way or another. Not knowing the exact location, seeing as the place was huge; he followed the first sounds of anything that he heard. The place was abandoned and chances were that Paige, Lydia, and a few others were the only ones there and they would most likely be together.
His speed increased quickly as the sounds he was hearing became louder and louder. Walking to running within short seconds, he found himself coming onto a scene that he wouldn’t have figured he’d ever seen. Paige was really there, alive or so she seemed to be, and she was fighting who Caleb assumed was Deucalion. He had heard the name a few times and whenever he was mentioned, whoever said it either had fear in their eyes or were just worried. Before he could make his presence known he had to decide if it was even something he should have been considering and the answer to that came to him quickly. Before he could act though he realized there was no Lydia. He frantically looked around for his sister hoping to see her, his heart racing faster and faster when he didn’t see her until his search for her stopped. His breath caught in his throat as he kept his eyes on the young woman who wasn’t standing or even had her eyes open. “No,” he thought and ran to her not caring if he was noticed by either of the two figures who were caught up in their altercation.
“Lydia!” he said as he fell to his knees besides her and picked her up while still on his knees. Bringing a hand up to her face, he moved her hair out of the way, and shook her carefully hoping that she would open her eyes. “Lydia,” he said again and again, his voice cracking when she remained motionless and unconscious in his arms. “Please, wake up.” By that point everything around him except for her became blurred as if it were all a million miles away, “don’t do this to me.” Setting her back down to lay on the floor he tried to find a heartbeat as he placed his index and middle finger on the pulse point of her neck. At first he felt nothing but his nerves were getting the better of him making it hard for him to feel anything but long moments later he felt it. Her heart was still beating, she was alive. Before he could pick her up again to get her out he heard someone calling his name; a voice he hadn’t heard in over twelve years.
“Caleb,” he heard being called out. Slowly, he rose to his feet again and turned around to find Paige looking directly at him. He didn’t know what to say and didn’t know if she even expected him to say anything to her. Even if he had the words though, he felt his mouth run completely dry making it impossible for him to even be able to say anything. “You need to leave,” she said to him as he remained motionless. “Yes, you need to leave. We wouldn’t want you to see the death of your beloved sister now would we?” Deucalion said mockingly as he stood several feet away from Paige but seemed more than ready to continue their fight. “You lost her once, losing her again and actually watching it happen would be very painful for you,” he snarled with a wide grin on his face. “Don’t talk to him!” Paige yelled, turning back to look at Deucalion. “Say another word and I’ll kill you now,” she warned the older man.
Looking between them, Caleb took a step forward and called out Paige’s name to get her attention. “Paige,” he said with uncertainty in his voice as if he were asking if it were really her. “Why are you doing this? You have to stop.” She only looked at him with a blank expression as if she didn’t even hear him speaking to her, almost as if she were staring at a wall. “You – you’re better than this,” he continued as he took yet another step forward, slowly extending his hand out in front of him towards her. “Please, if you care… If there’s any remote chance that you can let it all go. Do it for –” he stopped before he could finish, turning his head to look at Lydia over his shoulder. “Do it for her. Not me, not yourself or anyone else but for Lydia.” At his words, her expression softened and looked at Lydia as well then back to Caleb. “I’m sorry,” Caleb heard Paige whisper, not knowing if it meant that she was sorry for everything that had happened or if she was sorry that his words weren’t enough to make her stop.
“How touching,” Deucalion spoke again breaking the small silence that had fallen around them which was when Caleb felt something change. He didn’t know what it was or where it was coming from until it all began to play out in front of him. Within what seemed like mere seconds, Paige had her back turned to Caleb again and was lunging herself towards Deucalion who awaited her attack with ready claws. One attack, two attacks, three – the speed at which it all happens is almost too fast for his eyes to keep up with let alone process in his mind. As he watched his mind went back to everything that had happened during the past few weeks and the people that had been affected by all of this. It wasn’t just him, Lisa, and Jennifer. It was obviously Lydia as well although it didn’t stop there. He was sure that tonight, more people had been involved in something that could have possibly ended in a bloodbath for them. Jackson, Danny, Erica, Isaac, McCall, Stilinski, Allison, Violet… There wasn’t anything that he could do for them now though, all that there was left was hope that they were okay and out of harm’s way but that wasn’t something he could easily convince himself of.
All of a sudden, he was back in present time, it was over. He closed his eye for a split second and when he opened them again Deucalion was no longer standing and then… Paige followed. One lifeless with their throat ripped out, and the other out of their own sacrifice. Caleb stood watching as both bodies collapsed onto the floor. Stepping towards them he kept his eyes on his sister. She had done it, it was all over and she had given herself up in the process. He had lost her again but this time it hadn’t been in vain and he knew it. The Paige he once knew had come for a few final moments to do what she had to for her family. “Thank you,” he said quietly before tearing his gaze away from Paige and back to Lydia. He picked up the young woman and quickly carried her out of the place and to his car. He had to get her to the hospital even if it was the last thing he did.
His legs felt heavy as he got out of the car once he arrived, again as if he were being held back. He should have called out for help but he couldn’t seem to get a word out either. Getting her out of the backseat he carried her into the hospital as fast as he could and looked for someone to help him. A few moments after a nurse saw him and called for help and Lydia was swiftly taken from him and rushed off into a room not being able to go with her. “Sir, you look like you need help too,” he heard the nurse say to him but it didn’t register, he was still looking at his sister as the doctor and other nurses that had taken her went into a room. “Sir,” he heard again, the woman’s voice louder and firmer to get his attention. “What?” he asked her blankly, looking back to down at the nurse. She repeated her words followed by other things that he still wasn’t able to really pay attention to. He nodded at her final question and followed her so that she could run a quick check up to make sure he was okay. Once that was done he returned to the main lobby, taking a seat to wait for any information about his sister. He’d wait there as long as he had to and wouldn’t leave until it was with Lydia.
Caleb is shocked to discover that his sister, Paige, is the one responsible for the murders. He rushes to the Distillery, only to find that there is no one there. It is then that he receives a text from Lydia telling him he needs to get to the old abandoned mall so they can both talk some sense into Paige. When he arrives he finds that his little sister is knocked out and Paige is going up against Deucalion. He gets in the middle of the fight and reaches out to Paige telling her that he still loves her, but she’s become exactly the person that she’s fighting by killing innocent people. Paige realizes that Caleb is right and using his powers as strength and her link with Lydia. She defeats Deucalion killing him, while also sacrificing herself in the process. After the battle, Caleb takes Lydia to the hospital.
