(I love how you guys are testing me ;) Enjoy it.)
Note at the bottom. Just read it.
Chapter Six: Goodbyes
Home started to feel a bit more like, well… home. Before I had left Derek's place, Allison said we should have a dinner with everyone from before. I said I'd maybe show up, but no promises. Scott didn't like maybes as he looked a little sad. I can see that Ari gets that from her father.
The actual reason was that I had decided to fly home the next day, and I wanted to get a head start on packing. I'd probably stop by for a minute, say goodbye to everyone (Arianna mostly) and then leave. It was heartbreaking to think about, but it was for the best; I agreed to be her guardian just to get them off my back, but I couldn't make ties here anymore. Because even though Beacon Hills was my first home, my heart was set in Italy.
The first thing I did though, when I finished walking home, was get a new door. I went to the nearest home depot I could find, asked them about door replacement, and they said they could do same day door installation. I hitched a ride back with them as they fit and installed it, paying them with whatever money was sitting in my bank account.
After that, I found a can of paint from the garage and painted my packs insignia on the door; black on white, standing out boldly against the white door, telling them that this was Alpha territory. The next thing to do was to pack for tomorrow. That's when it hit me.
The severe pain that shot straight up through my abdomen. The silent screams only I could hear in my head, the sounds of "Kill the abominations! Burn them all!" It wracked my body, making me collapse against the wall, crying out in pain. Then I heard it.
"Stiles! God damn it, where are you when we need you?!" Romario's voice, strained and exhausted from the fighting. He didn't get to finish whatever else he had to say before the sound of a bullet piercing skin sounded.
His pack was in danger. He needed to get back to Florence.
It was stupid to come here, he thought as he shoved his clothes back into his bag.
He shouldn't have gone. Stiles was just lucky enough to be able to get his ticket switched over to Tonight, but it still would probably be too late. They'd all be dead.
And it was entirely his fault.
Stiles grabbed the keys to his now decrepit jeep, begging that it start. And it did, thankfully. I speed dialed Scott on my way to the Airport, guilt sitting in my gut.
"Hello?" he asked, voice calm.
"Scott, it's me." I say, voice shaky.
"Stiles!" The background noise grew quiet as my name was ushered. "Dude, we've been waiting for you to show up for twenty minutes! Where have you been?"
"Why have you been waiting?" I shook my head. "That doesn't matter right now, I'm at the Airport. I'm going home." Scott grew quiet. "Listen, Scott; I can't take you up on that offer anymore on being her guardian. You'll have to protect Ari by yourself."
"What? Stiles, you said yes already, you can-"
"Well I changed my mind. Don't argue with me, Mccall, because I am really not in the mindset to do so." He gasped when I used his last name, and how I growled out that sentence.
"Stiles, just… take it easy, okay? I'll give you to Derek, see if he-"
"If you give me to Derek, I'm throwing the phone out the window." Nothing involved Derek right now; nothing.
"Stiles, please. Don't repeat what you did last time." I swallowed, staying quiet as I continued to drive to the airport.
I take a shaky breath. "Tell baby girl I love her."
"Stiles." Scott says, anger starting to creep into his tone.
"Tell her I'm sorry we can't hang out right now, but I'll be back to hang out later.
"Stiles, for god sakes, don't leave us again." Scott sounded like he was going to cry tears. I already felt mine on my face.
"Goodbye Scott." I said, hanging up the phone and tossing it out the window. I didn't know when I'd be back, or if I'd even return at all. All that matters is my pack.
The flight felt too long; too drawn out, like a weak poison that kills you slowly. When I had gotten on the flight, I could smell them nearby. But I kept walking, blankly giving the man my ticket as I walked onto the plane.
I felt another Alpha on my territory, Derek, who was searching the house, looking for any sign of me. I was in New York by then.
It was mid-afternoon when I finally touched down. I grabbed my bag and ran as fast as humanly possible without turning into a wolf to get back home.
I stopped for breath, gasping when I was ambushed; Wolfsbane knife buried to the hilt in my side, legs kicked out from under me, face covered with a black bag. They knocked me unconscious, and next thing I know, I'm bound, shirtless, hanging from the ceiling, a dozen pair of eyes trained on me with guns pointed straight at my vitals.
"So," A familiar voice says, from some unknown area. I couldn't crane my neck around, because it was bolted to what I was hanging from.
"Whoever you are," I say, voice raw and scratchy. "I'm going to kill you." I was shocked with electricity then, howling with pain.
"Oh just shut the fuck up and deal," it spoke again. The voice… it was so familiar. But I couldn't place where I've heard it.
"You've come after me and my pack. Why?" He laughs, walking closer out of the shadows. Just a little more…
But no, he decides to stay just out of view. In the shadows, where my eyes couldn't adjust because of the bright lights.
"All of you werewolves are the same; 'why did you attack me? Why did you hurt my pack?' blah, blah. Blah." He laughs a laugh that makes my skin crawl, and shocks me again. This continues on until I can feel my body stop healing itself, that whenever they would cut or stab me, it would heal up. I blacked out somewhere around the eighth or ninth wave of electricity.
"Derek, where are you taking me?" I ask, laughing as he covers my eyes with his hands. I can feel his body heat from behind me, wanting so much to touch, but not yet.
"Just hold on, and I'll show you." He says, ushering me to keep walking.
"Derek, you know I'm impatient, right?" He keeps silent, breathing evenly. When I bump into a door jam, and I giggle a bit, we stop. "Can I open my eyes now?" I ask, him taking his hands away as answer.
I gasped; the pathway up to his bed was covered in rose petals, with glasses of champagne and chocolate strawberries on the bedside table, and candlelight. Soft music was playing and Derek was standing there unsure of if I'd like it.
"Okay, you know you've ensured yourself Blowjobs for a month, right?" He laughs tiredly, wrapping me in his arms and kissing me.
"Happy Valentine's Day," he says into my mouth, and I say those three little words to him in response.
That was the last time Derek showed he loved me. And then he tore my heart out.
I gasp awake, a pair of hands on my right hand. I go to say something, but a warm, firm hand is pressed against my mouth and nose. I knew that scent… Romario?
"I knew something was up when they told me what had happened…" he whispered, picking the lock on my right hand with a bobby pin. He grimaces as he can't get it open, before sighing as he did, going to work on the other hand.
"When they came to tell me, I wasn't sure about it, but I went along with it, made sure it didn't look like I was going to investigate. When I smelled you," he paused as the other lock came undone. "I knew you hadn't deserted us. I followed you here, and well, here we are, probably about to die." He smiles weakly. "Smoke bombs only last for so long, you know?"
I wrap him in a tight hug, pulling away quickly when I hear footsteps. We hide in a closet, and soon, we're running out of the building, taking down the occasional hunter as we went, stashing their dead bodies in a pile of hay ("Shut up, I've always wanted to reenact Assassins Creed in real life" "Yeah, sure; that insult to Italians everywhere." "Well, I am an American at heart, so I have the right to.") and keep running. By the time we're out of Florence, I'm panting, and hoping to find a shirt. Then Romario punches me square in the nose.
"Stiles, you idiota. Why did you leave us? You knew it was dangerous, and yet you just-"
"I know," I say, looking at him. "But I needed to see my father one last time, before I say goodbye for good."
He looks at me then, questioning me. "Are you not going back?" A small smile played across his face when I nodded to that.
"It's too much of a risk now." I ask him how many we've lost.
"Just over twenty. I'm the only one left though, the rest went Omega because they couldn't deal with you being so far away. They didn't meet a fate that was welcoming…" he swallowed, looking away.
"Don't worry," I say, resting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find new people to have in our pack. Just like how Anton did it; find the sick on the streets, offer them a brighter, healthier future for them. No more sickness, no more pain." I never did like how Anton did it. But, it got people interested, even begging for it sometimes. Some even came to us a few days after saying no, changed in their decisions.
"We will be strong once more, Alpha. I promise." Romario smiled at me, weakly, pulling me into a hug once more. Sadly, I don't think "strength" is something I'll find anytime soon.
Notes -
Thank you guys for giving me the feedback, negative and positive. You let me know if you want me to continue this, because telling me this is terrible and that I'm moving too fast before I can work everything out just makes it so the updates will come slower.
Thanks anyways.