I'm very proud of Scarlet in this chapter, she becomes such a strong character. It's also a long one and a lot happens in it, but I think it's one of my better chapters.
The Sheriff was the first person to walk into the loft. I knew he thought that he could convince Stiles to go back to the station without a fight and I didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong. He could've convinced Stiles to go back, but Stiles wasn't the one standing there.
Chris, Allison, Derek, and I were standing just outside the door. Derek must've heard something that the rest of us didn't because he growled and walked in. The rest of us followed him, but I made sure that I stayed behind them. I knew that if I looked at him, I was going to be a goner.
I saw Allison lift her arm and heard the Taser buzz. I stepped out from behind Chris in time to see Stiles grab the string and let the electricity course through him before he dropped it. He smirked at her before advancing, or at least I thought, but he was just tricking us all.
Derek didn't seem to catch that. He pounced onto the Nogitsune and I expected a harsh fight to break out, but it didn't. Derek wasn't an alpha anymore, he was a beta and no match for the Nogitsune's strength. He was tossed to the side like he weighed nothing and I didn't see him moving to stand up.
I rushed over to Derek and saw that he was still breathing, but I shouldn't have moved. It drew the Nogitsune's attention to me and it was going to use it. It smiled at me and it looked so much like Stiles that my heart gave an uncomfortable leap.
"Scar, are you okay? I don't want you to get hurt," it told me, crouching beside me and holding my face in its hands.
I bit my bottom lip and leaned into its grip, even though I knew I shouldn't. I missed Stiles and wanted his touch no matter how I got it. The Nogitsune seemed to sense that because its grip tightened on me and its eyes turned cold. I felt my jaw starting to ache, but I wasn't going to tell it that.
"You're so stupid, little girl. You think you're strong by not saying anything, but it just makes your pain that much sweeter," it seethed, leaning forward and sniffing near my ear. "It's amazing!"
I heard Derek growl from beside me, tearing me out of the Nogitsune's tight grip. I winced and stumbled over to Allison, clutching her arm in my hand as I tried to steady myself. I was more than surprised that tears weren't in my eyes. Then I realized that I wasn't sad, I was pissed beyond belief.
Derek was tossed to the side again but not as roughly as before. He stood up and I saw his eyebrows raise considerably. I followed his gaze and saw Chris holding a gun up, level with the Nogitsune's face. Even if it wasn't Stiles, I still felt fear course through me.
"Argent, listen to me," Sheriff Stilinski said, obviously having the same thought that I did. "Don't do this."
"Why not? I've done it before," Chris said without looking away from the Nogitsune as he clicked the bullet into the barrel. "Werewolves, beserkers; I can easily add a Nogitsune to the list."
"You're not going to shoot my son," the Sheriff said.
"You said it yourself, Stilinski, that's not your son," Argent replied, still not backing down.
They were at a standstill, both of them too stubborn to back down. Sheriff Stilinski was fighting for his son, or what he thought was his son, and Argent was trying to do what he thought was right.
"Put it down," Allison said suddenly, moving up to her dad.
"Put it down," Sheriff Stilinski repeated.
"Dad! He's going to shoot me," the Nogitsune was the perfect Stiles. "He's going to kill me, dad!"
"Don't listen to him," Derek tried to help. "He's not your son, he's playing with you."
The next thing I knew, the Sheriff had his gun pulled and was aiming it at Chris. Everyone was still screaming and yelling at each other. The air in the room was desperate and intense and completely crazy. Then it hit me; this was what the Nogitsune wanted. It lived off strife and chaos and insanity.
"Stop, stop it! This is what it wants," I screamed at everyone, making them all fall quiet and look at me. "This is exactly what it wanted from the very beginning."
"Not exactly, I was kind of hoping Scott would be here," the Nogitsune told me, smirking at something I couldn't see. "But I'm glad you all have your guns out because you're not here to kill me, you're here to protect me."
I looked out the big window behind the Nogitsune and saw that the sun had gone down. This was yet another trick that it was playing on us. Just as I was thinking that, the Oni manifested thought the big window and stood in front of all of us.
A lot of things happened at once after that. Allison handed me the club from earlier before ducking around me. She drew back her bow and let an arrow sail through the air. I wish I would've brought a better weapon with me, I was fucked if any of them came near me.
I heard Derek hiss from the side and saw him hit the ground. Despite what happened earlier, I scurried over to him and bent down by his head. I wasn't doing anything productive anyway, I could at least check on him,
"Hey, are you alright? Your shoulder is nasty," I told him, helping him sit up slowly. "Like, gushing blood and hanging skin nasty."
"You're not being helpful," he told me through clenched teeth, clutching his arm as he tried to stand up.
"Shut up," I said to him, wrapping his good arm around my shoulders and helping him stand the rest of the way. "I think they're gone now."
Right after that left my mouth, the doors burst open and Scott ran inside. I felt a bit of relief that he was okay, but it was very minimal. I helped Derek walk over to one of his couches and sit down before rushing over to Scott. He hugged me and I felt his shoulders sag; he'd been worried about me, too.
Kira ended up staying the night with Scott so I spent the night at Lydia's. She didn't question why I was there, she just led the way up to her bedroom. I excused myself into the bathroom and showered off Derek's blood. I didn't even realize that he'd bleed on me.
When I got out, I was looking in the mirror and saw the bruises. There was almost a perfect thumb shape on the right side of my jaw and a big blue one on the left side. They were what the Nogitsune was smiling at earlier, I would almost place money on it. It loved the idea that it'd hurt me.
I yanked a brush through my hair quickly and hurried back into Lydia's room. She was sitting on her bed, leafing through a magazine. Her eyes wandered up to me, and she was immediately on her feet when she saw my face. She gingerly tilted my face up with a finger under my chin.
"Scarlet, what happened to you?" she asked in a hushed whisper.
I took a deep breath before telling her about everything that went down at the loft. I didn't leave out any details, only stopping when the story ended. I still wasn't crying, my voice didn't even waver as I spoke. I wasn't weak anymore, she must've rubbed off on me.
"Stiles did this to you?" she asked in confusion.
"No, the Nogitsune did," I answered her without a doubt in my voice. "I know Stiles would never, ever hurt me like the Nogitsune has."
I couldn't tell you how I ended up in the backseat of Lydia's car with Aiden in the front, but somehow I did. I had no idea where we were going and, by the way Lydia was driving, she didn't know either. I could tell that Aiden was just as confused as I was when we made eye contact in the side mirro.
"Lydia, are you going to tell us where we're going?" I asked her trying my best to be delicate.
"I've told both of you, I've got to check on something," she answered, turning right without looking back at either of us.
"Well, I'm actually a little worried that we're totally lost," Aiden said, lacking the amount of subtly that I had.
"Why do you think that?" she asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
"Because you just made your fourth right," I answered for Aiden. Then I added, "And four right turns make a circle."
"I did not! Did I?" she asked, more to herself than to us. Then louder she said, "This is a brand new car, the GPS was fine before."
"Maybe the GPS would work better if it was on…" Aiden said, trailing off when Lydia's eyes met his. "Are you okay?"
I could feel the fear coursing off of her. She thought she was listening to the GPS, which probably meant that it was something banshee related. I'd learned to not question things a lot through the two year crash-course in all things supernatural that I'd been forced into.
"I need to stop," she said, suddenly veering off of the road into a parking lot. "I need to pull over right now!"
She kept driving until we stopped in front of someone slumped over on the ground. I pushed open the car door and slowly made my way over to the body. I heard Aiden mumble something behind me before stepping ahead of me. I'm sure it was something along the lines of "you need to be more careful," just a little more colorful.
"Is that Stiles?" Lydia asked, standing beside me.
"I'm going to call my brother," I told her, pulling my phone out of my sweater pocket. "It's the Nogitsune, Aiden; be careful."
Scott and Aiden were struggling underneath the Nogitsune's dead weight. They dropped it onto our couch before coming to stand with mom, Lydia, Deaton, and me. We were all just kind of staring at its body, wondering what we needed to do next.
"Guys, this is crazy! He needs to be in the hospital," mom said from her spot between Lydia and me.
"Mom, remember what happened the last time he went to the hospital?" Scott asked her, trying his best to convince her otherwise. "Deaton's here, and he's better than a doctor when it comes to stuff like this."
"It doesn't look like he's bleeding," Deaton said, moving forward to check out his stomach. "I think he might even be healing."
"You mean like we do?" Scott asked, moving forward to stand with Deaton.
When Deaton nodded, I asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"For him, yes; for us, I'm not so sure," he answered and I felt my stomach plummet to the floor.
After Deaton said that, I went into the kitchen. I really didn't want to watch what was going to happen. Even if it wasn't Stiles, he still looked just like him. If they were going to hurt him, I didn't want to be a witness to it.
I was tapping my fingers against the counter when a hand covered them. Mom smiled at me softly when our eyes met and I threw myself into her arms. I just wanted to feel her warmth and her stability, she was the only thing that was constantly the same in my life.
"Tell me what's going through your mind right now. I can practically hear the gears turning," she said after I let go of her and she sat on the stool across from me.
"I know that that's not Stiles, I feel it in my stomach that it's not," I told her. "He looks just like him, talks just like him, and acts just like him when he's playing with us. Then he does something and it's like a punch in the stomach because I forget long enough that he's the Nogitsune and then I remember."
Mom held my face in her hands and I tried my best to not flinch. "What's wrong with your face? Am I hurting you, Scarlet? Did that thing hurt you?"
I pulled out of her grip and looked down at the tiles of the kitchen. I felt her thumb rubbing against the skin of my jaw and then I heard her gasp when she saw the bruises. I'm sure they were even worse than they were this morning. I felt shame course through my body and couldn't meet her eyes.
"I'm sorry." I whispered to her, biting my bottom lip.
"What? Why are you sorry, baby? You didn't do it," she said, standing up and pacing the floor.
"No, but I didn't stop him from doing it. I stood there and let it happen so it's my fault." I told her. "I should've tried to get out of his grip."
"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I can't keep my kids safe; Scott's a werewolf and you're getting bruised by a Japanese demon," she said, scrubbing her hands down her face in frustration.
"Do you feel that bubbling in your stomach? That tightness that almost makes you jittery? That's how I feel all the time," I told her, standing up and stilling her. "I'm constantly frustrated because everyone treats me like I can't handle myself in this mess, but I can. I can't change that I'm human, but I'm smart enough to keep myself alive and I feel like everyone forgets that."
"You are so my daughter," she said before pulling me back to her in a tight hug. "Stubborn, strong-willed, and a temper. God, you're going to do wonders."
"Hey, do you think you can come patch him up?" Deaton asked, coming into the kitchen with us. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."
"You're fine, I think we're finished here," mom said, stepping back from me. "Scar, can you grab the first aid kit from the bathroom for me?"
I nodded and made my way upstairs to the bathroom. I dug around for a while before coming out with the white box that she wanted. I stood back up and caught my reflection in the mirror. The bruises were dark blue, almost black, and stood out against my pale skin. I seriously needed to get back outside soon, it wasn't normal for a Hispanic to look pale.
I jogged back down the stairs and into the living room. I saw Scott and Deaton talking over in the corner while mom sat in front of the Nogitsune. She didn't look scared to be near him, she looked pissed and I knew she wasn't kidding earlier. I was most definitely her daughter.
"Here you go," I handed her the box without looking at the Nogitsune.
I was standing with Lydia as she twisted her fingers nervously. She was still nervous when it came to Peter Hale and I didn't blame her. The man took complete advantage of her and practically raped her mind; she had every right to be pissed at him.
I moved in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders, making eye contact with her before speaking, "You don't have to stay here, Lydia. We can go grab some fro-yo or something."
"No, I have to deal with him. I'd much rather do it with you, Scott, and Deaton here with me," she answered, taking one of my hands in hers when the door rang.
Peter walked into the living room and Lydia's grip on my hand tightened. Her look stayed fierce and determined, making pride course through me.
"He doesn't look like he would survive a slap across the face, much less the bite of a werewolf," he said, eyeing up the Nogitsune sitting on the couch.
"You don't think it'll work?" Scott asked sadly, rubbing his palms against his jeans.
"This is more a war of the mind than the body," Peter told him, smiling like it was all a game to him. "There are better methods to winning this battle."
"What kind of methods?" I asked, biting my lip nervously.
Peter's smile become absolutely sinister when he replied, "We're going to get into his head."
He turned to face Lydia and she let go of my hand to approach him. It made me nervous for her to be that close to him, but I doubted he would do anything with all of us here. While they were talking, my eyes drifted over to the Nogitsune.
It was looking at me with molten caramel eyes that made my stomach twist uncomfortably. It had no right to look so much like Stiles. I felt anger flood through me as I marched over to him, clenching my fist and connecting it with his face.
"Whoa, shit!" Scott explained, rushing forward and grabbing me. "That was one helluva punch, sis."
"It has no right to look like Stiles. None," I snarled, still spearing him with my glare.
My hand was throbbing now, but the look on its face was worth it. The pure shock that colored his features sent a surge of happiness through me.
"Okay, sit down and don't hit anyone else. The last thing we need is for you to break your hand," he instructed, pushing me into a chair before going back over to Peter and Lydia.
"Put this on your hand to reduce the swelling," mom said, waking over to me with an ice pack. "That was fantastic and I'm glad you did it because it would've been inappropriate if I did."
I held the ice pack to my hand and felt the cold soaking into my aching knuckles. I'd probably split them because I'd hit him straight across the cheekbone. I still didn't regret it in the slightest bit though.
When the group broke apart, Deaton said, "So, do we have a plan?"
"Scott is going to try and dig through pale and sickly Evil Stiles' mind to unearth pale and sickly Real Stiles. Then guide him back from the depths of his own subconscious," Peter explained. "But he's not going to do it alone."
I saw Scott raise his brows and he quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
"Somebody needs to go in with you. Someone that has a strong enough hold on Stiles that he would follow them anywhere," Peter said. "Almost like a lovesick puppy."
Everyone's eyes flitted over to me and I knew that I was going to go under with Scott this time. In many ways, I was Stiles' anchor even if he wasn't a werewolf. I knew he was my anchor as well and I would do anything to help bring him back to safety.
"I'll do it," I said with a note of finality.
I ended up sitting beside the Nogitsune with Scott behind us on the coach. Apparently he was going to sick his claws into our neck and we were going to go into Stiles' mind somehow. I wasn't totally sure what was going to happen so I figured I'd ask some questions.
"So what do we do if we find him?" I asked, chewing on my bottom lip.
"You're going to have to guide him out somehow; try to give him back control of his mind, his body," Peter answered cryptically.
After another squabble between Lydia and Peter, I felt Scott's claws at the base of my neck. I felt them pierce my skin and a whimper escaped my lips. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly until the pain faded and I forced them back open again.
I was strapped into a bed from my head to my feet. I tried to wiggle my way out of it, but the restraints were too tight to move. I heard rattling and looked over to see that Scott was tied down like me.
"Do I need to remind you that you've got super-wolfy-strength?" I asked him, straining to make eye contact with him. "Can't you tear out of them like they're nothing?"
"Yes, but we're in Stiles' head," he said like that made a difference.
"And you're a supernatural creature with supernatural strength. That doesn't change just because we're in a different place," I told him. "Break free!"
I saw him straining and at first nothing happened. Then I heard the bed start groaning and then ripping until Scott was on his feet. He rushed over to me and unstrapped all the things around me. I shivered at the thought of Stiles being tied up like that, it was awful.
"Okay, we're free. What do we do now?" I asked him, clutching his hand in mine.
"I don't know," he answered, lacing our fingers together. "This is my first time in someone else's head. This is all new to me. Just stay behind me, okay?"
I nodded and followed him until he just disappeared. I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found. I was standing in a basement with a couch and table in front of me. I saw two people laying down on it, but I couldn't see who they were.
As I got closer, I saw that it was Stiles and he wasn't with me. It was Malia Tate and they were making out more than Stiles and I ever had. He pulled away from her long enough to pull her top over her head before going back in for more kisses.
"Stiles! What are you doing?" I cried, pulling the sleeves of my sweater down over my hands. "Stop it!"
When he didn't even pause, I turned around. I wanted to get as far away from them as I possibly could. I saw a man with bandages all over his face and a slit where his mouth should be back against a wall. He smiled at me and I saw rows of razor-like teeth. Then he moved his hand along the wall and drew the backwards five that I had behind my ear, the kanji for self.
I knew I had to get out of there so I ran up the stairs and found a door. Then I heard Lydia screaming my name and knew that I needed to follow it. I couldn't explain why I did, but it just made sense to me. I pushed through the door and into a big white room.
"Scarlet!" Scott shouted, running over to me from the other side of the room. "Why are you crying? Are you okay? What happened to you?"
I just shook my head and wiped my eyes. I had bigger things to deal with than whether or not my boyfriend cheated on me with a stupid werecoyote. Movement in the corner of my eye made me look over and I saw Stiles sitting with the thing from earlier. I realized then that that thing was the Nogitsune.
"Scott, look!" I said, turning him to face what I was seeing.
They were sitting cross-legged across from each other with a stump between them. When I looked closer, I saw that it was actually the Nemeton. There was a board game sitting on it and they were both lost in concentration about their moves.
Scott and I both started running over to them, but they seemed to get further away instead of closer. We started yelling his name and flailing our arms, but it was useless. He had no idea we were there.
I was trying to figure out a way to get his attention. If he couldn't hear our voices maybe that meant there was something louder. Or something that would draw all of our attention like a scream or a howl.
"Stiles is a part of your pack," I said, hoping he got what I was saying. "We're all your pack, we might not all be werewolves, but your howl should still work."
"And wolves howl to tell their pack where they are," Scott said, suddenly getting what I was saying. "Oh my God, Scarlet, you're a freakin' genius!"
He looked over at them before his eyes turned red and his fangs sprouted. The howl made my ears perk up and it seemed to settle inside of me. Almost calming me down, soothing my frazzled nerves.
I saw Stiles look up for the first time and look over at us. He knocked the game off of the Nemeton and jumped to his feet. The Nogitsune started screaming and throwing things, but that was the last thing I saw before everything went black.
I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes to see that I was back in the living room. Lydia was crouched in front of me, holding tissue to my nose. I raised my brows and she quickly explained.
"Your nose started to bleed and I started screaming your name," she told me, hugging me tightly. "Peter said that you were lost and you needed help finding your way out."
I was about to respond to her when I heard someone start coughing. She moved back as I lunged over to the Nogitsune. I lost sight of her as I focused on what was happening in front of me.
I thought I was beyond being freaked out with all the things I've experienced, but I was so wrong. When dirty gauze started coming out of the Nogitsune's mouth instead of vomit when it gagged, I felt my stomach flip. When it stopped vomiting, a black smoke appeared around the bandages and a hand came up out of the middle followed by the rest of a body.
The body tried to run forward, but Scott and Peter slammed it back into a chair. I slapped a hand over my mouth in horror, what the hell was happening right now?
Out of nowhere, Scott said, "Let him go! Something's not right!" Then he started pulling the gauze off of him slowly.
"Scott?"
Underneath it was Stiles, the real one. I rushed forward and wrapped him up in my arms, forgetting what I saw earlier. I pressed kisses to the side of his head and every other part of him that I could get to. His hand meekly held my waist and kissed my hair weakly in return.
"Where is the Nogitsune?" Scott asked suddenly, making me pull away from Stiles and crouching beside him on my knees.
I looked around the room and saw that another person was missing. Fear flooded my veins when I finally forced out, "Where's Lydia?"
I know you guys are reading this story still, or at least I hope you are. Do you think you could review this chapter? I haven't gotten any reviews for the last two and I feel a little bit neglected... but no pressure.