Stiles is in his bedroom asleep. He tosses and turns and grips the sheets. He mumbles to himself. "No, no, no, no, don't let them in."

Suddenly he finds himself, seemingly awake, trapped in a locker at school. As he stumbles into a classroom he sees the Nemeton growing out of the floor. As he reaches out to touch the Nemeton, thick vines shoot out of the stump and wrap around his hand.

He wakes, gasping for breath, back in his bedroom. Lydia is lying next to him and he explains to her that he was having a "dream within a dream."

Suddenly he realizes the oddity of having Lydia in his bed but before he can figure that part out, his door creaks open. Over Lydia's protests, he rises to close the door because, he says, "what if they get in?" Lydia becomes increasingly upset as he approaches the door, begging him not to enter. He enters anyway and finds himself outside and once again at the Nemeton. He screams in an attempt to wake himself up and apparently succeeds.

He awakens in daylight in his room, his father sticks his head in the door and tells him to get his butt to school.

At school Stiles explains to Scott about "sleep paralysis" a condition whereby the sleeper's brain paralyses the body to avoid acting out a dream in the real world. Stiles says sometimes the brain wakes before the body recovers and a person becomes aware they are paralyzed.

He posits that their surrogate sacrifice (see ) may have had lasting effects that are now manifesting in his sleep disorder. Stiles says what scares him the most is that he's not even sure that what's happening to him at that moment is real and not part of a dream.

Stiles wakes screaming in his bed. His father rushes to hold him.

~~~

Scott is gathering up his books, preparing for school. He turns toward the door and catches sight of his shadow – his "shadow hand" seems to be a claw. He looks at his hand and sees that it remains untransformed. He closes and opens his hand the false shadow is gone.

~~~

As Stiles readies himself for school, packing books into his backpack, he realizes that he can no longer read the title of one of the books. The title reads "DALESI XIS ANLA" with the subtitle "DOL WTAR I AWND RHIE WUTTRNRRIENLA SAOTRGLE FGO TPONE"

His father enters to ask if he's okay and the book's title reverts to English. It now reads "ALLIES AND AXIS" "WORLD WAR II AND THE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE FOR POWER"

Stiles lies, assuring his father that he is fine after the nightmare. Noticing that his father is carrying a banker's box marked "SHERIFF'S STATION DO NOT REMOVE," Stiles questions him about it. The Sheriff doesn't explain simply saying they're "files from the office."

~~~

Allison leaves her apartment and enters the elevator. The air becomes much colder and the lighting dims. When the doors open she finds herself in the basement of the hospital. The building is damaged with flickering fluorescent bulbs, broken furniture, and debris littering the corridor. She enters the morgue, water drips onto every surface. The door closes behind her.

One of the corpse drawers pops open and the card on the front reads 'CASE NO. 113/NAME OF DECEASED: KATE ARGENT/ PLACE OF DEATH (CITY): BEACON HILLS/PHYSICIAN: Dr. R. Smith' The sight triggers a series of flashbacks including Kate Argent's death at the hands of Peter Hale.

As she looks into the drawer, it seems endless, stretching back endlessly. The sound of creaking metal heralds the arrival of a dirty and screaming Kate Argent, crawling spider-like, up the narrow conduit. Allison turns to run but as she pushes open the morgue door, she finds herself in the school hallway. Lydia asks her if she is alright. Allison lies, shaking her head in the affirmative.

~~~

Scott arrives at school on his dirt bike. He catches a glimpse of his reflection, his eyes are glowing red. He shakes his head and his reflection returns to normal. As he walks across the quad, his shadow appears to be that of a The Alpha Werewolf. He freaks out a bit and begins to run down the stairs toward the tunnel that leads to the athletic fields.

He runs into Stiles who asks if his friend is alright. Scott lies, saying "I'm okay." Stiles sees through this and calls him on the hallucinations. Lydia arrives with Allison and announces that it is happening to all three of them.

~~~

At his office, Sheriff Stillinski is working on an elaborate "murder board" that is covered with calendars, images and sticky notes with thumbtacked pieces of string connecting it all together.

The Sheriff's murder board includes an image of Kyle (Unleashed). Kyle is labelled as 'Victim #1.' Harris is also on the board labelled as 'Victim #23.' (This is not the order in which the characters 'died' in the earlier episodes.)The calendar pages shown are all from 2013 suggesting the production has abandoned the premise that the show is all taking place in the same year. This is despite the fact that not enough time has passed on-screen to account for the change in years.

The Sheriff pins a picture of a girl with brown hair to the board. This triggers a flashback of an overturned car with a bloody hand reaching from the back seat passenger side window. A post-it note reading 'Malia Tate' is attached to the girl's photo.

~~~

Lydia is thrilled that she's "no longer the crazy one." Allison protests saying they're not crazy but Lydia mocks her saying their various symptoms, hallucinations, sleep paralysis are all signs of folks who are just fine. Scott suggests that they are suffering side effects of dying and coming back to life and they all agree to keep an eye on each other.

In history class, the new teacher introduces himself as Mr Yukimura to the class explaining that he and his family moved to town "three weeks ago" and that his daughter attends the school. He goes on to point out that his daughter never talks about people at school and has never brought anyone home, much to the embarrassment of his daughter who is sitting near the back of the class.

Scott catches Kira's eye and the two share a moment before he looks down to see his shadow growing into the monster figure once again.

~~~

In the art classroom, Allison's hand is shaking as she tries to maneuver a red paint tipped brush to the art paper suspended from an easel. She admits to Lydia that the trembling has been interfering with her fine motor skills since the events of Lunar Ellipse.

She throws down the brush which splashes red paint onto the paper. This triggers a memory of her aunt Kate's murder, the arterial blood splatter when Peter Halle slashed her throat. She also flashes back to her hallucination of Kate rushing toward her in the morgue. Lydia rips the splattered paper away and firmly demands that Allison should start over. She does and seems to have more control with the brush.

~~~

Stiles is trying to get into his locker but the combination lock isn't cooperating. Scott says that maybe they just need a little more time to get back to normal but Stiles points out that they hit "the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures" and that things won't ever go back to normal. Stiles' vision shifts again. The numbers have transformed into rune-like symbols.

With his enhanced hearing Scott overhears Kira arguing with her father about embarrassing her in class. Suddenly she senses that Scott can hear her even though he is far down the hall. The two lock eyes for just a second before Scott turns back to Stiles.

The dial on Stiles' locker now reads numbers instead of symbols. He notices that Scott's eyes are glowing red. The pair dash into a classroom where Scott begins to lose control of his transformation. He buries his claws into the palms of his hands drawing blood and regains himself. "Pain makes you human" he explains to Stiles.

Stiles realizes that the effects are not just in their heads but are instead real. He confesses that he doesn't know if he's awake or asleep explaining to Scott that, like a dreamer, he can no longer read. He looks around the classroom and all of the posters and the notes on the blackboard are all nonsense, gibberish.

~~~

Lydia pins a target to a tree in the Beacon Hills Preserve. Allison, bow in hand, questions if this target practice will help. Lydia says it won't unless she believes it will. Allison fires a couple of arrows and misses the target completely. Lydia suggests she try a Mongolian Draw. Allison complies and turns the bow sideways across her chest; she draws back and fires but misses again.

(The "Mongolian Draw" is a real thing but it has more to do with how many fingers are used to draw the string than the position of the bow.)

Lydia tries to help Allison visualize the arrow going into the target but this has the unwanted effect of causing Allison to hallucinate her dead aunt running through the woods. Allison grabs her bow and heads off after the vision saying "I'll be right back."

(Allison's line "I'll be right back" and Lydia's response "You did not just say that" is satirizing a common trope in the horror genre where one character wanders off with an "I'll be right back" and is promptly killed.)

Allison hears her aunt whispering her name, then sees the dead woman running full tilt at her in the dark. She draws her bow and quickly fires an arrow at the spectre. Suddenly, back in bright sunshine, Allison sees she has fired an arrow at Lydia. It would have struck her friend in the head had Cheryl not jumped in and grabbed it.

"Oh my God," Allison says and lowers her bow. "Oh my God, Lydia," she says and drops the bow.

"We need to fix this before someone actually gets hurt" Cheryl states and drops the arrow.

"What are you actually doing here?" Lydia asks.

"I heard about you were helping Allison out and wanted to help. It doesn't matter. I'm calling Selene. We're gonna need all the help we can get" Cheryl explains andthe two other girls nod.

~~~

Stiles arrives at his dad's office with a flower arrangement. He says the last time they brought "one of these to her grave, it was stolen the same day". The Sheriff is busy with piles of file folders on the floor. He explains that he is going back through all the old cases to see if they were supernatural in nature. He says he has no choice but to apply his new knowledge to the old cases.

He explains that one of his first cases as sheriff, the death of a mother and two children, may have had a supernatural component. At the time, they believed that the family was killed by coyotes and that one of the children (Malia Tate, the photo we saw earlier) was dragged away and eaten by a coyote. Now he thinks something else may have been to blame because it happened on a full moon.

Stiles notices that there are a number of other banker's boxes scattered around, packed up with files and labelled 'Deliver to FBI Field Office| Special Agent McCall'. When he asks about them, his father says they "need to talk."

~~~

Stiles arrives in class and someone is in his seat. When he points this out to the student, she responds with sign language. He doesn't know sign language and quickly takes another seat. Suddenly he realizes that everyone is completely silent. He sees Coach at the head of the class. The coach begins signing the same message as the student. Stiles decides to leave and the entire class begins signing at him, the same message, over and over, faster and faster until he snaps awake in Economics class with Coach Finstock now blowing a whistle at him.

He thinks he fell asleep in class but Scott points out that he wasn't sleeping as evidenced by his notebook where Stiles has covered the page with the words 'Wake Up' in a variety of forms and patterns.

~~~

In the outdoor lunch area, Lydia, Allison, Isaac, Stiles, Reed, Cheryl and Scott discuss the hallucinations and waking dreams.

"Okay, so, what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asks.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not," Stiles adds.

"And is being hunted by demonic visions of dead relatives" Allison adds.

"They're all locked up because they're insane" Isaac states.

"Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles asks.

"For half my childhood I was locked in a freezer. So being helpful is kind of a new thing" Isaac explains and Scott puts his head on the table because he's tired of their bickering.

"Hey, dude are you still milking that?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that," Isaac says.

"Did you just belittle his childhood trauma?" Reed asks. Cheryl was about to say something when another voice interrupted.

Kira interrupts saying she "overheard" what they were talking about and, to her, the symptoms sound like the Buddhist concept of Bardo. She says it's a transitional state of being between life and death, marked by visits from peaceful deities and demons and ultimately resulting in death.

(Bardo is a real part of the belief system. In reality, it differs from the explanation Kira gives in that Bardo is the period between death and rebirth or reincarnation into the next life.)Kira sits with them and they all discuss Bardo. She explains that there are different stages and Cheryl asks whats the last one."Death. You die"Kira answers simply.

~~~

Stiles and Scott visit Deaton to discuss the hallucinations. He says it sounds like Stiles' subconscious is trying to communicate with him through sign language. He works out that the message Stiles was seeing is "When is a door not a door?" which is the first part of a riddle. The answer to the question is "When it's ajar" playing on the word for a partially open door and it's similarity in sound to the name of a glass cylinder used to store food (a jar).

Deaton says when they died they opened a door in their minds and apparently left it partially open or ajar which he says is dangerous. He says they need to close the doors in their minds as soon as possible.

Sheriff Stilinski arrives at the Vet Clinic looking for Scott. He wants help solving the Tate case, the apparent coyote attack from eight years before. He thinks Scott might be able to follow her scent to the body.

~~~

The Sheriff arrives at the Tate Farm. Mr. Tate is unpacking a small rat trap explaining that he's been having a coyote problem and the trap will take away the predator's food source. The Sheriff launches into his explanation for the visit but it is all just a ruse to allow Scott and Stiles time to break into the missing little girl's bedroom and sniff around.

Scott is unable to find a trace of scent because the smell of the family dog is overwhelming everything else. They leave without any new leads and the Sheriff expresses regret at the scheme because he caused Mr. Tate pain by reopening the old wound left by the deaths of his family.

Stiles explains why his father is so intent on solving the case immediately so he can solve one more while he's "still sheriff." Scott asks what he means.

~~~

Scott is yelling at his father as Melissa McCall arrives home.

"That doesn't make any sense Dad! Who are you helping?!" Scott yells at his father. "Just get out!"

"Scott..."

"What!? I can't you'd do this to my best friend"

"I'm not doing anything to your friend. I'm doing my job"

"Your job sucks"

"Some days I can't argue that"

"Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on" Mellisa, who was watching the scene with confusion written on her face.

"He's trying to get Stiles' dad fired" Scott explains.

"No. That's not true" Agent McCall tries to defend himself.

"What are you doing?" she asks, not believing her ears.

"Conducting a case for impeachment"

"Sounds a lot like getting him fired"

"A lack of resolution and inability to close cases is what's gonna get him fired. My job is just to collect the information. And it's the job my superiors have given me" Agent McCall explains while Scott starts breathing heavily from the anger.

"Your job sucks," Mellisa says. Scott becomes so angry he begins to transform, seeing this Melissa gets him away from his father into the front hallway. "Scott... Sweatheart. Calm down. Come with me right now"

"You told me that you and Stiles had found a way to control this. You find an anchor right?" Mellisa remembers. "Find your anchor" she urges.

"My anchor was Allison. I don't have Allison anymore." That triggers a memory in Scott.

~~~

"Scott!" Selene yells which gets the attention of both the boys.

"Selene?" Scott asks. He's sitting on one of the benches and Selene sits down next to him.

"You gotta find an anchor" Selene explains.

"A what?" Stiles asks.

"An anchor. Literally, something to anchor you to your human self. An anchor can be a person, a relationship with a person, an emotion, an object, a mantra, or even just a Werewolf's own sense of self" Selene explains.

"What's your anchor?" Stiles asks still trying to figure out if she's a werewolf or not. Selene chuckles, knowing why Stiles asks.

"Try Allison. I'm pretty sure it's the only thing you can think about sometimes so that'll work" Selene advises Scott, dodging to answer Stiles.

"Don't ignore me! What is it?" Stiles asks curiously. Selene chuckles again.

"It has changed through the years" Selene answers vaguely and leaves the room.

~~~

"A werewolf's own sense of self" Scott mumbles.

"You can do this" Mellisa tells her son. Scott's claws and fangs start to retrieve and his eyes become their normal brown again.

"Sweetheart, let me tell you something no teenager ever believes, but I swear to you is the absolute truth. You fall in love more than once. It'll happen again. And it will be just as amazing and extraordinary as the first time. And maybe just as painful. But it'll happen again, I promise. And until then... be your own anchor" Mellisa says.

~~~

Scott rushes over to Stiles' house and, with a flashlight in hand. He tells Stiles that they are going searching for a dead body.

(This is a callback to the series' opening scene in which Stiles comes to Scott's to enlist his aid in finding a dead body)

~~~

Alison and Selene are talking while studying on Allison's bed.

"So you're totally over Scott?" Selene asks.

"Yeah. He's moved on, I should too" Selene gives her a look. "What?" Allison asks. Selene sits upright. She sits right in front of Allison and on her knees.

"You know, it's okay to not wanna move on yet. And Scott hasn't either" Selene says and then smiles at her friend. Allison smiles back and then frowns. She notices something around Selene's neck and suddenly Kate Argent pops up behind her, pulling a garrote tight around her neck and urging Allison to help her kill Selene. Allison notes with some surprise that she has a Chinese ring dagger tucked behind her in bed.

Allison wakes up gasping in her bed and is surprised to find that she really does have a Chinese ring dagger in bed. Lydia is asleep nearby; they appear to have dozed off while studying.

~~~