This chapter was the hardest thing that I've ever had to write! I had no idea what to do with it because it was the flashback episode with Kira's parents. I tweaked a few things and changed one major scene, but I did it for a reason.
I also re-read a couple of chapters from Aeonian and realized that I've changed Scarlet's personality. I want her to seem like she has no idea what she's doing, but not as much as I did. I tried to bring back her fiery personality and her smarts, and I hope that it works. If it doesn't, I'm sure you guys will let me know as nicely as possible.
I took a deep breath before taking the club that Allison handed me. The thought of ever having to use it on Stiles made my stomach give a painful lurch, but I held it regardless. She was trying her best to just find the non-lethal ones and there weren't a lot of them. Seeing that, I said a silent prayer of relief that Stiles had gotten possessed after she'd gotten her sanity back. I couldn't even imagine the psychopathic Argents hunting him, it made me want to vomit.
"Hey, we're going to do this. We have to," she said, sensing my unease.
I felt a bubble of hysteria coming up and ran to the bathroom. I puked into the toilet until I couldn't anymore before standing up. I washed my mouth out, but I couldn't seem to make myself meet Allison's eye. She was so strong and brave, there was no way she could understand my weakness.
I was beyond surprised when she pulled me close to her and hugged me. I tried my best to take in all of her strength and courage, hoping that maybe some of it would rub off on me. I needed as much as I could get before we went into what we were about to go into.
Allison and I were on our way to the hospital to meet with Sheriff Stilinski. Her dad and Derek were going to Eichen House to try and find some scent for Stiles. He'd gone missing from there as well, but we had enough evidence to show that he was full Nogitsune now.
Scott was with Kira and her parents learning the story behind the Nogitsune. I couldn't stand sitting still while Stiles was out there somewhere so I went with Allison instead of him. I figured Scott and Kira could do all of that and then report it back to me later or at least that's what I told myself.
''I'm sorry, I just can't seem to make my hands stop shaking," I finally spoke. "I'm trying, I really am."
"It's okay, let's just go," she said, turning on her heel and expecting me to follow. "We can do this, there's too many of us not to."
I knew there were so many holes in her logic that it could be a net, but I ignored it. I knew there was a huge chance that not all of us would survive this, maybe not even tonight. I was human with only the minimal training that Allison gave both me and Lydia last year after she'd been trained by Kate. I couldn't even kill flies so I knew that it wasn't going to do me much good.
Allison and I were in the hospital when I finally talked again, "I'm sorry that I'm not as strong and fearless as you are. I try so hard to be like that, but I'm too fragile. I'm too scared and useless."
"Do you seriously think that I'm not scared out of my mind right now?" she asked me, reaching out and stopping the elevator before turning her body to face mine. "I'm not fearless… I'm terrified."
She started to cry at that and it triggered my own tears. Allison powered through her tears and said, "I'm always scared, I know I act like I know what I'm doing, but I don't. I don't know if Isaac's dying right now. I don't know if I made a mistake with your brother. I don't know what my dad is thinking. I don't know if we should trust Derek. I… I don't know anything."
I did the only thing I could think to do: I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. She was sobbing against my shoulder and her walls finally broke. The careful mask she'd sculpted since her mother seemed to crash to the ground and she was the scared little girl I saw in the hospital hallway.
That's what we all were, really. We were all just scared little kids that had been forced into something without signing anything. I had a brother who was suffering with his "true alpha" persona, a boyfriend who was possessed by something evil, a friend who screamed every time someone died, and a ton of other people who were going through stuff too. It wasn't fair, we were just teenagers who should be happy and not full of worry.
"It's not fair, we're all just kids," I told her through our combined cries. "We should be worrying about passing Econ and homecoming, not whether or not my demonically possessed boyfriend is going to light up and entire hospital or if your… Isaac is going to live with his burns."
I felt Allison's laugh more than I heard it. "You're right. Nothing about any of our lives is fair, but nothing about life is either. Sometimes you just have to compartmentalize things; put all of your emotions into a little box and deal with them later and I think this is one of those times."
We'd let go of each other by now and were just standing with a few inches between our bodies. "I've always thought of you as a friend because of Scott. I've never seen you as anything other than this fearless, courageous, completely intimidating girl that can do anything. I've always admired that about you."
"Are you serious?!" she asked, wiping her eyes and smiling at me. "If anything, I've always admired you! You're the girl that's friends with everyone. I've never met anyone that has a bad thing to say about you, you're literally perfect. As if that wasn't enough, you're beautiful and have the temperament to think that you're not fearless and courageous in a way that's all your own.
"You're a human who runs with wolves, banshees, hunters, Kanima, Nogitsune, Kitsune, Oni, and god only know what else by the end of this semester! I saw the way you stood up to Peter that night that the killed Kate, the way that you screamed at him to back off of us and distracted him so I could shoot the jar," she told me. "I remember that night in the school when you took charge and calmed all of us down when your brother ran out to be killed. You were sobbing, but you still managed to be strong and calm all of us down. I wish I could have the humility that you have."
I'd never thought of myself like that before. I seriously just thought that I was some sniveling little girl that everyone just put up with because of Scott. It was reassuring to know that other people actually liked me. I hugged Allison once more before wiping my face and pushing the button to start the elevator again.
"Girls, I'm glad you got here safe," he said, taking in our disheveled appearances. "You are okay, aren't you?"
"We will be once Stiles is safe," I answered for both of us.
A sudden buzzing noise drew all of our attention. The Sheriff pulled out his phone and explained, "Someone's breaking into my house. After Stiles started sleepwalking, I had some security precautions put in: motion sensors, cameras…"
He trailed off and I saw why. Stiles, well the Nogitsune version of him, was sitting on his bed waving at the camera. I felt hope swell in my chest that he was alive, but it was quickly trampled when I remembered that it wasn't him. He wasn't him anymore and it killed me.
We'd all reconvened in Stiles' room, but he wasn't in there. I didn't really expect him to be, but there was always that sliver of hope that I was wrong. The only people in the room were Chris and Derek. I didn't even want to know how they got inside honestly.
I looked over at Stiles' nightstand and saw a picture frame. It held a picture of the two of us from second grade. I was missing one of my front teeth and my hair was in pigtail braids. He had three missing teeth on the bottom and I remember the whistling sounds when the pair of us talked.
"Why are there all these sticky notes on the chess pieces?" Derek asked, drawing my attention away from the picture frame.
"This is what Stiles used to explain to me about all of you," Sheriff Stilinski explained, making me smile at the humorous memory. As if he was thinking the same thing as me, he added, "It didn't work as well as he'd planned."
"You think there's any reason my name's on the king?" Derek asked, eyeing up the chess board.
"Well, you're heavily guarded," Sheriff Stilinski tried to justify Stiles, but I knew there wasn't any way to do that. "Though I guess the alarming detail is that you're one move from being in checkmate."
"This isn't a message from Stiles, it's a threat from the Nogitsune," Chris said, drawing out attention over to him.
"Oh my god, it means he's at the loft. That's what he's trying to tell us," I said suddenly as all the pieces fell together for me. "And he wants us to go there with him."
"That couldn't sound any more like a trap," Derek said, thinking over what I'd just said.
"I don't think it is," the Sheriff said, his desperation to find Stiles outweighing his good judgment.
"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, Sheriff," Derek argued. "He has no rhyme or reason behind anything that he does. He's a trickster, the killing is just a by-product."
"If you're saying that it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that," Chris said.
"It won't. The Nogitsune wants irony, it wants to play a trick," I said, making them all look over at me like they forgot I was in the room with them. "It wants a joke, all we need to do is come up with a new punchline."
Allison's speech earlier made me realize that I'd lost who I really was. I wasn't the helpless, useless girl that just followed others around. I was smart and I was going to help them find Stiles.
OMG this chapter was so short and so shitty! I'm so sorry, but review maybe?
