"Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule."

♰ ♰ ♰

Outside of the Martin girl's shared room, Stiles is sprawled out over several chairs in the lobby - where he has fallen asleep. He spent his weekend outside in the lobby, waiting for any sort of update on both of the girls.

Yesterday, Isabel had woken up and he couldn't have been happier. When he was allowed to see her, she seemed dazed and out of it but mostly was more worried for Lydia.

When the doctors said she could get out of bed, she spent the entire afternoon holding Lydia's hand and she was the first person to see Lydia awake. They share a look, eyes filled with tears as they each take in the other's fragile state. Isabel and Lydia just held each other for a while - until the doctors were notified that Lydia had woken up.

"Yes, just like that... No, you first..." Stiles mumbles to himself. Melissa walks into the lobby and gives Stiles an exasperated look, but he remains asleep and muttering to himself. "Oh, me first?" He giggles and snorts in his sleep, his hand falling off of the chair as Melissa shakes her head at the teenager.

Isabel stands and limps over to the other bed, offering a hand to Lydia that she graciously takes to help her out of bed. Lydia slowly sits up, hissing in pain at the bite on her side and Isabel watches her worryingly.

Lydia takes a second to sit and catch her breath before gripping onto Isabel's forearms to pull herself up. Isabel catches the concerned look her Uncle gives the pair and gives a small smile before returning her full attention to Lydia.

"You want help getting in the shower?" Lydia's father asks, feeling useless watching his niece look after his daughter. Lydia shoots Isabel an annoyed look before turning her head to face her father.

"Maybe if I was four, and still taking bubble baths." She responds snidely, before grabbing Isabel's hand. "Isabel is going to look after me." She finishes, as they limp into the attached bathroom, Mr. Martin sighs.

"Right. I'll just wait outside, then. Where it's slightly less sarcastic." He huffs to himself before letting himself out of the girl's room. He steps outside and notices Stiles passed out on the chairs and gives a confused look to Melissa. "He's been here all night?"

"He's been here all weekend," Melissa responds, as Mr. Martin shakes his head. Stiles remains asleep, a nurse bends down next to his head to empty the trash.

"You're dirty." He mutters to himself.

The nurse turns to him shocked and shakes her head before leaving with the trash. The noise wakes Stiles and he jolts up from his strewn position, knocking the balloon he had brought for Isabel out of his way. Isabel closes the door to the bathroom as Lydia reaches into the shower, turning it on with a squeak.

"Will you untie this for me?" Lydia asks her cousin, voice scratchy.

Isabel nods, motioning for her to turn around. She reaches for the knot but pauses, looking at her nails in shock as they are instead replaced with black claws. At the sound of her gasp, Lydia frowns.

"You ok?"

Isabel tries to catch her breath, looking up to the back of Lydia's head. When she looks back at her fingernails they are back to normal.

"Yeah, uh- everything's fine." Isabel breathes out, untying the knot of Lydia's gown, and helps her out of it before placing it to the side as Lydia slowly gets into the shower. "Let me know if you need anything, ok?" Isabel calls over the sound of the shower and takes a seat beside the tub.

"Will do," Lydia answers back, standing under the warm water.

She gently touches the wound on her side but flinches at the pain it causes and decides to leave it. Isabel flinches in pain at her side but looks down at it confused. She lifts her gown to see nothing on her side and runs her hands through her hair. The bathtub begins to fill with dirt and blood as something blocks the drain.

Isabel's head snaps up as a smash is heard from the hallway, Lydia slightly pulls the shower curtain back in shock. When no other noises come from the hallway, Isabel reassures Lydia and the girl carries on with her shower. Lydia wipes the water from her eyes, ready to turn the shower off, and looks at the water in fear.

"I-Isabel?" Isabel sits up from her seat hearing the fear in her cousin's voice.

"Lyd? You ok?" She responds but Lydia's voice is stuck in her throat.

She leans down to the drain and pulls something out, revealing hair. She gags and coughs in disgust as Isabel pulls the curtain back. Isabel gasps at the sight.

"Oh my God." She breathes out.

Lydia whimpers as she reaches in again, pulling more hair. Isabel reaches into the water to help drain the water, the two breath heavily in horror as the hair continues to be pulled from the water.

Isabel watches Lydia struggle to pull her hand from the water and reaches in to help, coughing in disgust at the sight of all the hair. A scarred hand reaches up and grabs Lydia's arm, causing the two to shoot back in horror. Isabel grabs Lydia as she screams.

The scream is heard throughout the hallways, where Stiles jumps at the sound.

"Lydia? Lydia!" Stiles shouts recognising the voice and heads for the girl's room in a panic. Melissa's head shoots up at the sound too.

"What the hell was that?" She asks, slight panic in her voice as she opens to door to Isabel and Lydia's room, Mr. Martin following close behind.

Stiles pushes through and rushes for the bathroom. He looks around and sees no one, and quickly reaches for the shower curtain pulling it back. Melissa and Mr. Martin follow closely behind looking at the floor in shock as the water spills out from the bathtub. Melissa reaches in and turns the shower off.

"Where are they?" Mr. Martin panics, Stiles looks at him worried.

"They?" He asks as Mr. Martin nods.

"Isabel was in here with her." He confirms to Stiles.

He takes a breath, before looking around. The open window catches his eye as he thinks back to when Isabel was hospitalized.

Lydia's scream can be heard throughout Beacon Hills as it reaches Scott who looks up in shock from his hiding spot on the roof of Allison's house.

"Lydia?" He mumbles to himself.

The police arrive at the hospital, Sheriff Stilinski questions Mr. Martin and Melissa for any information on the two girls.

"Naked? As in nude?" Noah tries to clarify, taking notes for any important information. Melissa nods at his question.

"I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing, but yes - as far as we know, she left here clothing-optional. Isabel we think is still in her gown." Melissa explains.

"All right. You checked the whole hospital, right? Just like last time?"

"Just like last time. Every last corner."

"Nothing suspicious?"

"Nothing. They just took off."

"All right, let's get APBs out on two sixteen-year-old redheads. Any other descriptors?"

"Lydia is five-three, Isabel is five-five. Lydia has green eyes, Isabel has blue. Both fair-skinned and their hair is actually strawberry blonde." Stiles blurts out, causing the three adults to look at him.

"Is that right?" Noah sarcastically questions his son.

"Yeah," Stiles responds earnestly, Noah shakes his head and takes a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Uh, come here." He grabs Stiles by the neck and pulls him aside. "What the hell are you still doing here?" Noah asks through gritted teeth, voice low. Stiles' eyes widen as he realizes his father is angry.

"Um... providing moral support?" Stiles attempts, Noah gives a sarcastic smile and nods at his son's words.

"Uh-huh. How 'bout you provide your ass back home, where you should be?"

"Okay... I can do that, too." Stiles awkwardly responds, not knowing what to do under his father's glare.

"Yeah." Noah shakes his head, fed up with his son's antics.

He watches him for a moment, the slight tremble of his hands and the quickened breathing. Noah sighs, realizing he may have been too harsh on his son.

After all this was the second time Isabel had gone missing and Noah knew the love he held for the young girl. He releases the grasp he had on Stiles' neck and instead places it on his son's shoulder comfortingly.

"We're gonna find her."

Stiles looks up to his father at his words and takes a shaky breath before patting his father back on the arm and giving a small nod. He wordlessly leaves the hospital, Noah watches sympathetically before continuing to get information from Mr. Martin.

Stiles exits the hospital and jumps into his Jeep where Scott was waiting for him, pulling out Lydia's hospital gown he had sneaked out of the hospital. He passes Scott the gown which he takes, looking over it carefully.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asks, looking over to his best friend. Stiles nods.

"I didn't have anything for Izzy, they said she must've left in her gown like last time." Stiles breathes out, voice shaky but he tries to cover it with a cough. Scott gives an sympathetic look.

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her," Scott promises, watching as Stiles tries to conceal the glossiness in his eyes. "Not again." Stiles nods, coughing again before turning back to Scott.

"All right, well just shove the thing in your face, and let's find them." Scott nods, before taking a big sniff of the hospital gown.

A knock at the passenger window Scott was sitting by makes the two jump back in shock. They snap their heads, thinking they were caught before sighing in relief that it was just Allison.

"What are you doing here? Someone's gonna see us!" He tells the brunette, rolling down his window to speak to his secret lover. Allison has a look of sadness and determination in her eyes as she shakes her head.

"I don't care - They're my best friends, and we need to find them before they do." Allison worriedly explains, Scott gives a reassuring look.

"I can find them before the cops can. Derek found Isabel before the cops did last time." Allison shakes her head at his words.

"How about before my father does?" She further explains, both Scott and Stiles' faces drop.

"He knows?" Stiles exasperatedly responds.

"Yeah. I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

"Search party," Scott mumbles, but Allison gives him a fearful look.

"It's more like a hunting party."

"Get in," Scott demands.

Stiles quickly reverses and pulls out of the hospital as Scott begins to follow the scent of Lydia and direct him where to go.

"All right, but if Lydia's turning, would they actually kill her? Plus, they all must know about Izzy after your dad saw her powers. Are they going to kill her too?" Stiles fearfully rambles.

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral when the others get here.'" Allison divulges as Scott and Stiles give a concerned look.

"What others?"

"I don't know, they won't tell me that yet," Allison responds, frustrated. Stiles sighs.

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on." He sarcastically jokes, before turning to see Scott sticking his head out of the window and sniffing out the air. "Scott, are we going the right way?" He shouts so that the wolf can hear him over the wind in his ears.

"Take the next right!" Scott shouts back. Stiles follows his directions, before they end up reaching the woods.

The three jump out of the Jeep and Scott follows the scent to the Hale house where the three stop and share joint concerned looks.

"They came here? You sure?" Stiles speaks through the silence. Scott slowly nods, taking in the surroundings.

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads. Lydia was definitely here, I can't track Izzy without a scent." Scott sheepishly responds.

"All right, but has Lydia ever been here? Izzy must've led her here, she has been here before." Stiles theorises, thinking back to when he watched Isabel stand on the Hale doorstep as she regained control of her powers.

"Lydia's not been here with me." Allison confirms. "If Izzy wasn't with her, maybe she came here on instinct - like she was looking for Derek?" Allison suggests, Scott gives a knowing look.

"You mean, looking for an Alpha." Scott corrects.

"Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison further explains her theory, but Scott shakes his head.

"Not all of them."

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah, we're stronger in packs," Scott explains, watching as Stiles tries to look around their surroundings for any clues.

"Like, strength in numbers?" Allison asks, Scott turns to look at the huntress.

"No, like, literally stronger, faster... Better in every way." He lists, Allison gives a worried look.

"Is that the same for an Alpha?"

"That'll make Derek stronger, too," Scott confirms, the two look at each other for a second before Stiles breaks the silence again, having found something. Allison and Scott turn to look at the teen.

"Whoa, hey! Look at this!" Stiles exclaims, picking something up off of the ground. "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

"Stiles-" Scott sighs, causing Stiles to turn around.

"Yeah, buddy?" He freezes as he watches Scott dangle in the air, attached to the other end of the tripwire he had pulled. "Oh."

"Next time you see a tripwire? Don't trip it." Scott glares at his best friend, feeling the blood rush to his head. Allison attempts to help him down as Stiles moves forward to help too.

"Yeah, noted." He sheepishly responds as they try to get Scott free.

Scott looks around in fear as he hears the rustling of the leaves on the ground approaching and quickly motions for the two to stop.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Someone's coming! Hide! Go!" He quickly pushes them back, motioning for them to leave.

Allison and Stiles scurry away to hide in the tree line as not to be seen. Scott watches as Allison's father and two other hunters approach his hanging body.

"Scott?" Chris Argent questions as Scott sighs. Chris crouches down so he is face to face with Scott's upside-down body.

"Mr. Argent..." He tiredly responds, a false smile on his face.

"How are you doing?" Chris asks, almost tauntingly.

"Good. You know, just hangin' out. Is this one of yours? It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting." Scott breathes out.

"What are you doing out here, Scott?" Chris sighs, watching the teen hang from the tree.

"Looking for my friends," Scott answers truthfully, as he and Mr. Argent stare at each other for a second.

"Ah... That's right. Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it? Part of your pack? I assume Isabel already was." Chris taunts, Stiles and Allison worriedly listen in.

"Actually, "clique" sounds about right to me." Scott huffs, avoiding the confrontation.

"I hope so... 'Cause I know they're friends of Allison's and one special circumstance such as yourself? Two special circumstances, for example, Isabel? That's pushing it. Three, however? Not something I can look past." Chris threatens Scott's face falls unable to respond in shock. Chris smirks before continuing. "Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

"I have a feeling I don't want to..." Scott mumbles. Chris nods in agreement.

"A medical term for amputating someone at the waist. Cutting them in half. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that." He begins to explain, motioning across Scott's torso. "...Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary." He warns, before leaving back into the woods.

Scott watches his figure disappear in shock at what just happened. Allison and Stiles return from their hiding spot in the tree line, Allison gives Scott an apologetic look.

"Are you okay?" She quietly asks.

"Just another life-threatening conversation with your dad..." Scott humorlessly breathes out.

"Stiles, help me with this-" Allison begins, attempting to free Scott from the trap her father set.

The two head over to the tree opposite with the contraption attached. Scott releases his claws and cuts himself free before landing on his feet. Allison and Stiles watch the tripwire become slack and turn to Scott.

"Thanks...But I think I got it."

"Yeah..." Stiles responds, as he and Allison look at each other and share a chuckle in disbelief.

"Comin'?" Scott asks as they head into the Hale house.

They look around, and can't find any sign of Lydia or Isabel. They check for any further information before deciding to head home and try again tomorrow.

——