Pools of Black
Chaos is the new pastime.
The bite was supposed to be the hero in all of this. It was supposed to save Stiles.
The bite was a lie.
Stiles sat in against the large tree, surrounded by the dark woods, squeezing his best friends Scott's hand, clinging to life. Holding on to a life that hadn't been his for a while.
This- this was the end of the road for him. What sucked was that nothing that he had ever accomplished mattered in this world. He was still going to die, no matter what.
It didn't matter that he was 17. It didn't matter that he had saved countless amounts of people. It didn't matter that he was the only family his dad had left.
God, he had almost forgotten about his dad. He had never gotten the chance to say goodbye.
Nobody ever had time to say goodbye.
Not even his mom. No, she had left without a word, without a goodbye.
Strife is the new black.
Stiles was in so much pain that it felt like his insides were liquefying, heck, they probably were. Stiles wiped away the liquid coming from his nose and mouth with the back of his hand. It felt like the worst nosebleed. He looked at the blood on his hand and his heart almost stopped.
This blood wasn't red, but pure black.
Now he knew how Paige had felt the night that she had died young in Derek's arms or how Allison's grandpa, Gerard, felt when he was tricked. But Gerard had deserved that, he was ruthless and was willing to kill anything and anyone to get what he wanted.
Stiles supposed he deserved what he was experiencing now too. The Nogitsune and Gerard were no different, after all. They had both wanted the exact same thing: power.
He had done terrible things, had killed innocent people, granted it was the dark spirit in him that made him do it but it had still been Stiles' body. The worst part was that Stiles had seen every single thing that his possessor had done, yet he had no control over his own body.
He guessed it was his fault that all this happened; Stiles was the one who let it in, who gave the demon the key to his body, stating that it could do whatever it desired. The contract to his Soul.
It was all because of him.
Stiles was the Nogitsune.
He looked over at his best friend, Scott, who was crying. "It was all my fault... wasn't… wasn't it? The Nogitsune got in because I was too weak."
Scott looked up at him with a pained expression. "Stiles, no it's not. This wasn't your fault. The Nogitsune-"
"Did this?" Stiles cut in, and weakly pointed to himself. "Let's not forget that it was my hands that killed all those people. My body. Me."
Scott put his hand on Stiles' shoulder. "No! It wasn't you Stiles and- and you know it!"
Just for the sake of his friend, he nodded.
But he didn't feel innocent.
Pain is the new normal.
No matter how much pain Scott tried to take away, it wasn't enough.
It was never enough.
Stiles breath was shallow now because breathing was only a luxury to the living. And pretty soon, Stiles wouldn't be.
"I'm scared Scott," Stiles whispered, that was all he could do.
Scott winced as he took away more of the pain from Stiles. "It's going to be okay, Stiles. I promise."
"Is it, Scott? Because-"Stiles shuttered as the pain intensified. "Ah God!"
"Help is coming Stiles. Just hold on."
"I don't know how much longer I can hold off." Stiles grinded his teeth.
"I know-"
"Do you Scott? Cause I don't think…. I don't think you do. The bite worked on you. So don't tell me that you know. And don't tell me that you know how much pain I'm in."
"I'm sorry," Scott said quietly. "I thought I could fix this, fix you."
"No….you don't need to apologize."
Scott wiped away the tears. "I shouldn't have bitten you."
"You did the right…. thing man. Everything good that's happened to me, has been because of you. You expelled the Nogitsune. I can now die with my dignity."
"No, Stiles, don't talk that way."
"Scott, you've done a lot for me and my dad. But now, you just have to accept what is. I'm going to die. Derek once said that the bite either changes you or it kills you." A cough ripped through Stiles and more black liquid made its way down his chin.
He wished nothing more than to be in his own bed, lying on his trusted pillow, instead of trying to cling to a life that he was about to lose.
He wished a lot of things were different. He wished that his dad wasn't a single parent. He wished that his mom were still alive. He wished that he didn't have to leave his best friend.
Stiles lowered his already quiet voice and Scott had to lean in more to hear him. "It's going to kill me."
"Stiles-"
"I'll never be able to finish high school. I'll never go to college or drink. Hell, I might as well write off having a girlfriend and having sex or even getting married." Stiles managed a slight smile at the last part. "It's crazy the things you think about when you're dying. God, everything hurts, Scott." Stiles took a deep breath. "I don't want you to take any more pain away. I think I'm ready Scott."
"But helps coming… I- I promise."
"Dude, don't make promises…you can't keep." Even in the moon light, Stiles could see Scott's face pale.
"No I promise… I, just give them a few more minutes. Please, Stiles."
With a smirk, Stiles said, "Do you remember, how it was before, you and me?"
"Yeah?"
Stiles gave Scott his biggest smile. "I want you to remember those times. Because, Scott, you're my brother."
Scott hugged his best friend. "I love you too."
A few minutes later, Scott watched as Stiles' eyes turned from brown to pitch black.
Scott wept for his friend…
His brother…
His blood…
Like he had never wept before and like he'd never weep again.
END.