Ch. 78 - WHY IS JACKSON HERE?

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Florence's outfit:

Florence's outfit:

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꧁𖤍𖤓🔥𖤓𖤍꧂

Chapter Seventy-Eight🏹 Why Is Jackson Here? 🏹

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Chapter Seventy-Eight
🏹 Why Is Jackson Here? 🏹


Florence, Scott, Lydia and Argent stood around the island table of the McCall household. On the table sat the sword that killed Allison in a black case. "Anybody mind if we close this thing?" Lydia asked and Argent nodded, "Yeah." He said, closing and locking the case before setting down on the ground.

"Does your, uh, mom know that you're here?" Argent asked, looking at Scott, making Scott look at him, "Does she know that you're here?" He asked. "No. And I kind of want to keep it that way." Argent said and Scott nodded, "Yeah, me too." He said.

"All right. Lydia, we've got the earth where she died, the weapon that took her life. According to you, that's steps one and two. What is next?" Argent asked and Lydia pulled out papers from her folder. "I was, uh, hoping you could help me figure that out. I mean, to be honest, I'm a little out of practice with all of this." She said and Scott raised his eyebrows.

"You still scream like a Banshee, right?" He asked and Lydia hummed, "Not quite like I used to. It's just like a muscle. You stop using it, and it atrophies." She said. "Why did you stop using your power?" Argent asked and Lydia was about to answer but someone else did. "She hasn't had a reason to since she left this place." Jackson said as he walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge as Scott looked at him confused.

"Why is Jackson here?" He asked, looking at Lydia and Florence while Scott looked at Jackson, "What are you doing?" He asked as Jackson pulled out a slice of pizza. "Well, firstly, Jackson prefers not to be talked about like he's not in the room. Second, well, Lydia called begging me to help, as usual. And I said, okay, so long as she promised never to tell Ethan, because I promised Ethan that I would never come back to this nightmare hellscape of a town." Jackson said.

"Thank you." Lydia whispered sarcastically and Florence shook her head slightly, "I didn't agree to him coming along." She said before Jackson looked at the papers. "Oh, I love these games." He said, going to grab one of the pages before Argent grabbed his arm. "This isn't a game." He said and Jackson cocked an eyebrow, "I have claws that drip paralytic venom, and a tail that'll snap your neck. So take your hand off of me, old man." Jackson said before pulling his hand away.

Florence and Lydia glanced at each other as Jackson grabbed all the papers and his plate of leftover pizza. He crouched down and started laying out the papers as everyone walked over to see what he was doing. He spent a couple minutes rearranging and laying out all the papers in a way it all connected before standing up.

There, laid out on the was the words "help me" and "bardo" forming the shape of a tree stump with "bardo" written largely in the middle. "It's a tree." Jackson said and Scott shook his head, "It's not just a tree." He said. "It's the Sacred Grove." Lydia said and Florence took a deep breath, "The ancient Druids call it a Nemeton." She said.

"Well, it looks like a tree." Jackson said, making Florence pinch the bright of her nose, "Jackson, you are so lucky I would never hear the end of it from Ethan if you were to arrive home burnt." Florence said and Jackson just took a bite of his pizza.

🏹

Scott pulled up to the woods where Malia stood with Lydia and Florence in the car. The girls started to get out before pausing when they noticed Scott hesitating as he looked at Malia, who also looked awkward. "Oh my god. Get out." Florence said, lightly shoving Scott's shoulder before she and Lydia got out, making Scott follow behind them.

Lydia quickly ran over to Malia, throwing her arms around her. "Oh! I missed you." Lydia said as Malia awkwardly hugged her back, "I missed you too." Malia said. "No, you didn't." Lydia said, "Okay, I wanted to." Malia said as they pulled apart. "Well, that I can believe." Lydia said as Florence walked up to her friend.

"I kinda missed you." Malia said, making Florence chuckle before pulling her into a hug, "Yeah, I kinda missed you too." She said. They pulled back after a moment and Florence moved to wrap her arms around Lydia's shoulders before Malia looked at Scott.

"Hi." Scott said and Malia nodded, "Hi." She said as he awkwardly hugged her for a quick moment. "It's good to see you." Scott said, "It's kind of awkward to see you." Malia said, making both Lydia and Florence roll their eyes as they glanced at each other.

"I know." Scott said and Malia nodded, "Okay. Let's go find a tree in the woods." Malia said, walking away, making Florence, Lydia and Scott follow her. "Come on. You said we need to find this thing by nightfall." Malia said as they walked through the woods.

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