Authors Note: So this is a cliffhanger chapter everyone. I'm sorry to have to do this to you but I'm trying to start staying under 10K with chapter length so I don't get carried away plus since it's Motel California, I figured I'd break up all the happiness. This will be one of my first chapters with triggerwarnings. I'll be sure to say which are below and where to skip over if you need to. Thanks again for reading the story, you all are lovely people and I enjoy your faces!
~!TRIGGERWARNINGS~!
Abuse warning in Isaac's POV/Talks of Suicide & Self Harm warning in Stiles POV & Boyd's POV. I'll totally understand if you need to skip these next two chapters considering this is Motel California PRT1
[Scott's POV]
The bus grew quiet as the sun started to set. Coach had announced that we were going to have to pull into a motel for the night which made me a bit anxious. The smells alone would probably drive me crazy but I was already feeling better physically. Allison had kept stealing glances at me and I wasn't sure if it was because I almost died in front of her or because of something else. She just smiled whenever I caught her staring and blushed. It's the closest we've been since she's come home. It was nice to have her next to me again.
"What are you thinking about?" Allison leaned her head back next to mine.
"Just how bad I let myself get. I shouldn't have worried you all so much. I'm sorry." I rolled my head to the side and she frowned.
"Well we care about you. We're always going to worry." I couldn't fight the smile that pulled across my lips hearing her say that. Sometimes I thought she hated being around me and even if she just wanted to stay friends, I'd hate for her to suddenly not want to be near me.
"You kept your cool under pressure though. The stitches turned out pretty nice. I'm almost sad that they're popping out." I patted my side lightly now that the wound was healing over and pushing the stitches out.
"I was actually on the verge of losing it when Maggie showed up. You had stopped breathing and I thought that was it, we were too late and we'd lost you but Maggie came running in just in time." Allison let out a sigh and I bit my lip.
"I knew how special you and Maggie's relationship was when I first saw you two together but seeing you like that…her begging with all she had for you to come back to her…she knows it's not your fault. Everything that happened with Derek…she needs you Scott. Don't ever think otherwise." I looked up ahead at the back of Maggie's head just barely peeking out behind the seat as she leaned against the window. She had asked to sit alone after Stiles had patched her up and I hadn't really gotten a chance to thank her for coming all this way to snap me out of it.
"I don't know why life always tries to tear us apart. When we were kids, when Peter killed her, when she went away for the summer…I just wish for once we could exist without the world trying to tear us apart." I explained sadly.
"The bond that you two have can't be torn apart. That's why the world is constantly testing you both. There are so many different types of love. Yours doesn't know time or distance or even misfortune. It only knows that there are certain hearts that it will never stop loving no matter what tries to come between them." Allison's words made my heart feel warm. It made me think about just how much I cared about her and Maggie, in two totally different ways but the feelings I have had always been strong.
"What you have is special." She put her hand on top of mine and I tensed just slightly before letting my body relax to her touch. I gave her a nod letting her know that I appreciated the comfort but I turned my attention back up to Maggie and moved out of the seat slowly to go sit up next to her. She didn't jump like she had when Stiles sat down with her earlier but she did let out a heavy sigh like my presence annoyed her.
"You're blowing it McCall." She breathed not even looking over at me at first but rolling her entire head, lying back against the seat to see the confusion on my face.
"You two were bonding back there. That's a big step from being the awkward mess you two were before." I blushed knowing that Maggie was apparently eavesdropping on Allison and me.
"You could have come back there to sit with us if you were going to listen-"
"I've been monitoring your heartbeat. I wasn't listening to your conversation, I just knew you two were talking and you seemed to be pleased about it." Maggie clarified.
"Why are you monitoring my heartbeat? I told you I was doing better." I pressed but she stared at me suspiciously.
"Color me a bit overprotected. I plan on keeping you in my sight as long as I can until I get my magic back to heal you properly." The bus pulled onto the lot of a motel and everyone got up slowly. We were all pretty drained from the bus ride but something in my chest kept me on edge. I couldn't pinpoint the feeling exactly but something about it felt familiar. Like the aftermath of an asthma attack or something.
The sign out front glowed Motel Glen Capri in neon letters. The place itself looked a bit worse for wear but it was only for a night. How bad could it really be?
"I've seen worse." Stiles' mouth was pulled into a disbelieving grimace as he stared at the motel set up in disgust.
"Where? Where have you seen worse?" He countered as I felt Maggie brush against my left arm.
"Fan of Bate's Motel, are we?" She raised her eyebrow making Stiles and I both look at her.
"It smells...weird." I cringed trying to block out all the peculiar smells that hit me in the face the moment I stepped off the bus.
"I was going to suggest breathing through your mouth but you don't even want to know what I just tasted in the air." Maggie stuck her tongue out and shook her body like she got a chill of revulsion.
"Oh that's gross." Stiles mimicked Maggie's body movement equally nauseated by what she'd just said. We were interrupted by Coach's whistle.
"Listen up, the meet's been pushed til tomorrow. This is the closest motel with the most vacancies and least amount of good judgement when it comes to letting a bunch of degenerates like yourselves stay." Coach held up a handful of room keys.
"You'll be pairing up. Choose wisely." I stepped up and grabbed a key for Stiles and I but Maggie had disappeared.
"They've got to pay for their own room probably. They'll be fine man, let's go see how horrible our room is." Stiles hit my arm and jerked his thumb up the steps towards our room for the night. I figured since the three of them had pretty much just saved my life that they'd be fine on their own to get checked in. I don't think I've ever known three girls as capable of handling themselves like Allison, Lydia and Maggie.
I put the key in the door and pushed it open to survey the room carefully.
"It's not so bad." Stiles looked over at me like I was crazy.
"I've literally seen porn backdrops with this exact layout." He gestured to the mustard color bedsheets.
"Well that's an overshare." Stiles jumped when Maggie spoke up from behind us. I must have been too wrapped up in taking in the room to even hear her come up the stairs.
"Just because you're small doesn't mean you should sneak up on people." Stiles blushed as he tossed his bag down.
"Just because you have terrible taste in porn doesn't mean you should share it." She sniped back pushing past him to plop down in the open chair.
"You get your room worked out?" I asked before Stiles could say anything else to make the situation more awkward.
"Yeah Allison and Lydia don't mind sharing with me." She seemed tense as pulled her knees to her chest and got comfortable.
"You could have bunked with us. All three of us have shared a bed before." Maggie looked down at the floor and Stiles cleared his throat uneasy.
"The last time I was sandwiched between you two we were still kids. Not really the same thing Scotty." Maggie bit her bottom lip and I knew that it was more about Stiles than me but something told me she was going to be hanging around no matter what.
"Not that I don't enjoy your company but why are you over here if you're rooming with Allison and Lydia?" Stiles opened his bag and pulled out his toothbrush.
"Lydia is creeped out to the core for some reason so I figured I'd give her some space and I'm too annoyed at Isaac and Boyd to hang out with them so I figured I'd keep an eye on Scott." I sat down on the bed in front of her.
"I told you that you don't have to worry. I'm fine." I tried to ease her nerves but she looked anxious.
"I know and I can smell that you're healing but I guess Lydia's bad vibes are rubbing off on me so deal with my presence okay?" She pressed hugging her legs tighter. Stiles laughed and sat down on the bed.
"We'll find a way to put up with you." He said playfully making her hide her smile. I knew how weird things were with Allison and me but Stiles and Maggie were like a soap opera. One day I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to start making out and the next it was like they'd never met. It gave me whiplash to watch them go back and forth.
"However if you're sticking around then you have to deal with the topic of conversation which is the Darach. We need to talk suspects." Stiles leaned back on the bed and I did the same.
"Alright I have four." I whipped my head towards him.
"Four? How did you get four suspects?" I questioned baffled.
"It was originally ten-"
"Naturally." Maggie sighed because it was Stiles.
"Technically it was nine but I had Derek on there twice." Stiles cleared his throat uncomfortably admitted that Derek somehow always managed to be a suspect in his book even though he was dead.
"Naturally." Maggie repeated because again, it was Stiles.
"So who was number one? Harris?" I quickly tried to move the conversation along so Maggie wouldn't get offended.
"Just because he's missing doesn't mean he's dead." Stiles replied firm in his stance.
"Same could be said for Derek then so it looks like your list went back up." Maggie spoke up like she wasn't really invested in the conversation but took the time to add commentary.
"So if he's not dead, our chemistry teacher is out secretly committing human sacrifices." I said it slowly so that we could focus on how unrealistic it was for Harris to be the one killing people.
"Yeah I guess it sounded better in my head." Stiles looked as though he mentally scratched Harris off the list but I felt like he was on the right track.
"It could still be someone else from school. I mean remember Matt? We didn't know he was killing people." I looked over at him and he stood up abruptly.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry what? I- yes we did, I called that from day one actually." Maggie was pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head like I had just unknowingly opened a can of worms.
"Yeah but we never really seriously thought that it was Matt." I sat up on my elbows as he tossed his arms around.
"I was serious. I was quite serious about it actually. Deadly serious. Maggie back me up on this." Stiles looked over at Maggie but she was staring down at her phone, typing on it like she was starting to get frustrated with whoever wasn't responding. My guess was Cora considering she'd been clutching her phone since we got on the bus at the rest stop.
"He did in fact make his creepy vibes known quite frequently." Maggie encouraged Stiles but I was trying to focus on the sounds of arguing in the next room without startling Maggie.
"Who were the others?" I asked but Stiles let out a huff.
"Really? You're going to try and evade me now? As if that's even possible. Admit it McCall, my hunches have been pretty on point this far in the whole things that want to kill us game." Stiles pressed.
"He's not listening to you anymore. He's listening to Isaac and Boyd." I looked over at Maggie to confirm that she was in fact listening to them too. I could feel her anxiety wafting off of her in waves.
"I know I'm not their alpha but maybe I should go talk to them. We don't need Isaac getting in anymore trouble and Coach probably is just waiting to find someone to take out all his frustrations on." I offered and Maggie just shook her head.
"It's not your responsibility, it's mine but thank you for offering." Maggie stood up and looked me over. I could tell her hesitation was because I was still healing but she couldn't hover over me if she was taking care of what I guess would be her betas now.
"Go check on the werepups. I'll keep an eye on him and promise to scream bloody murder if he starts to look green." Stiles gestured to the door and Maggie kept eyeing it before looking back at me.
"Maggie, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Now go check on Isaac and Boyd." I couldn't help but laugh at how torn she seemed to be. I loved that about Maggie. Despite her being pissed at the others, she always cared.
"I'll be back in a bit. Don't do too much moving around until those stitches pop out completely." She cradled her phone in her hands as she moved towards the door giving us both once over glances before fleeing quickly.
"She's been trying to get ahold of Cora. Do you think maybe we should try-" Stiles cut me off checking his own phone as it lay carelessly on the bed.
"I've been texting her and Nathan since we left Beacon Hills. I even texted Peter which got me a quick wrong number reply but I know it's his." Stiles explained. I was shocked he went that far considering how he feels about Peter but I knew I shouldn't be. He would chew glass at this point if it would help Maggie.
"Should we wait for her to come back to keep talking suspects?" I asked but he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.
"Probably not since my next suspect is Cora." I looked over at him confused.
"Why Cora? She seems to be on better terms with Maggie and has actually helped watch her back since Derek..." I rolled to one side and balanced on my elbow trying to focus on the movement rather than not being able to keep bringing attention to the fact that Derek was gone.
"No one knows anything about her, where she was all these years or how exactly she heard that Derek was the alpha. Plus most Hale's usually hang out on the suspect list and before you give me that look, I'm aware of what Maggie is and I felt guilty even considering it so let's just move onto the next suspect which is your boss." I sat up completely this time.
"My boss?" It sounded more defensive then what I had intended.
"Yeah your boss. I don't like the whole Obi Wan thing he's got going on, it freaks me out. Plus Derek had Maggie being trained by the guy and he still was out of the loop on things which reflects poorly on Derek as a guardian but makes Deaton look even more suspicious." I looked at Stiles like I agreed with him mostly because I didn't want to get yelled at about Star Wars again. He paused when I had no rebuttal.
"Oh my God have you still not seen Star Wars?" I was busted.
"I swear if we make it back alive I will watch the movie." I promised with a laugh.
"It just…it makes me crazy. Come on man." Stiles wiped at his face.. His obsession with the Star Wars saga was one of the nerdiest things about him but I never knew what he was talking about whenever he made references. Honestly I should have watched it by now just to know half of the thing he says like when he once said I look like a demented Ewok whenever I wolfed out. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
"Who's the last suspect on your list?" I moved on and Stiles looked towards the door a bit more pained about the person he was about to say.
"Lydia." He moved back to the bed and sat down. It was the last name I expected to end up on his suspect list to be honest. Even over Maggie's name.
"She was completely controlled by Peter and had no idea. Not to mention she has this strong connection to Maggie and if she can somehow tap into Maggie's abilities like she was earlier then we might be in way over our heads." Stiles let out a heavy sigh before rolling onto his back, relaxing into the semi comfortable bed.
I got up and walked into the bathroom to have a few moments to myself to process the list of suspects. I honestly didn't want anyone on that list to be involved with the sacrifices. I looked myself over in the mirror and felt completely out of it. I didn't know if it was because of blood loss or what but I felt weak. I lifted my shirt to see that my stitches had fallen out completely but the skin was still healing. I'll have to remember to thank Allison again for basically saving my life. It was nice to know she still cared about me to not want me dead. I know some people break up in the lunch room and actually hear them mumble that they wished they would drop dead. As far as teen romance, I wasn't doing too badly. The lights from the mirror made my eyes flash for a moment and that's when I saw it. I stretched over the sink to take a closer look. I pulled the skin under my eye down, feeling oddly tired and dazed until my eye started to glow crimson.
"Yo Scotty! As I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time someone pissed out here, I'd prefer to do it in there." Stiles knocked on the door startling me. I opened the door and let him push past me and shut the door so he could do his business.
"Hey thanks again for making that awkward spooning offer to Maggie earlier. As if things weren't already weird enough." Stiles as he shouted from behind the door. I was saved from answering when my phone started ringing and my mom's name popped up on the screen.
"Hey Mom, what's up?" I answered thankfully but received no response.
"Mom?" I said her name again hearing breathing over the line.
"Scott..." The way she said my name instantly made me tense. She was upset, distressed for some reason.
"Mom what's wrong?" I asked worried.
"I-I'm sorry, he just came in the house. I tried to stop him. I'm sorry." She was crying. She would never call me crying if things weren't really bad.
"Who, Mom? Where are you?" I looked around the room as if there would be something in here that could help me get to her as soon as I could. I knew Maggie was operating on no magic so I couldn't bank on her.
"Outside. Look outside." I looked over my shoulder at the window and ran over to it. Mom was standing in the parking lot being held hostage by Deucalion who had his clawed hand wrapped loosely around her throat as he body shook with fear.
"Scott…can you hear me?" Deucalion asked assuredly knowing he had me at his mercy.
"What do you want?" I kept my eyes on his hand, terrified of him moving too much and hurting my mom.
"Isn't it obvious? You're an alpha now Scott." I thought back to the glowing in my eyes and freaked.
"I'm not! I'm not! Derek- Derek could still be alive. He could-"
"He's dead. You know he is. Why do you think Maggie gave up and ran to you? She's actually made this quite easy for me." I couldn't think as far ahead as I needed. All I could comprehend was that Derek was dead and Deucalion had my mom.
"Made what easy?" I questioned carefully.
"Coming after you. You and everyone you love." His eyes narrowed and his tone changed.
"I'm coming for all of them." He growled before running his claws over Mom's throat making me jump in shock as she gripped her wound and fell to her knees, blood pouring from through her fingers. I felt paralyzed. I felt my heart beating so hard in my chest I was afraid it would explode.
"Scott? You okay?" Hearing Stiles voice made me turn around. He looked at me strangely as I stared down at my phone. Looking back to the window, both Deucalion and my mom were nowhere to be seen.
"It wasn't real…it wasn't." I muttered to myself unable to function enough to answer Stiles. The only times I've ever been so shell-shocked have been when I was first bitten that night in the woods and when Maggie died. The thought that I was all the way out here and my mom was all the way back home where Deucalion was stalking around now made me feel incredibly terrified. I knew I needed to calm down, find my anchor and focus but it was hard. Allison had been my anchor since I was turned but now that we weren't together, I felt lost.
Stiles muttered something about carb loading before sprinting for the door but I just ignored him. The only thing I needed right now was my anchor. I needed Allison.
[Isaac's POV]
Boyd had been pacing since we walked into the poorly decorated room. Maggie's icy glare and disappointment had really gotten to him despite me being the one was pummeling Ethan. I didn't feel bad about beating him up. He had it coming. I didn't understand how Maggie could be so self-righteous considering all the things she's done to protect the pack. Boyd had shoulder checked me for the second time since entering the room and I just laughed.
"You don't have to pretend to be so disapproving you know? She's not here to see the little dance you're doing so the whole body checking is just wasteful." Boyd turned around quickly.
"You're stupid, you know that? Derek's been out of the picture for a few days and you're already McCall's little lap dog." Boyd seethed in disgust.
"Because you didn't follow Derek around like a little bitch." I challenged earning a hard shove this time. Just as I shoved him back, the door opened and Maggie let out a groan.
"What? Ethan wasn't enough of a challenge? Now you want to rile him up too?" She shut the door behind herself and I rolled my eyes at the shitty timing.
"Trust me, he doesn't need me to be riled up. He was trained that way." I sniped at him and Boyd growled.
"Cut the shit. I'm so freaking tired of you two acting like children. Grow the hell up." Maggie looked between us and Boyd sat down on his bed like a good little boy.
"Really? You back down so easily now that she's actually standing here? Wow, Derek trained you well." I spat making Boyd jump to his feet so quickly I barely had time to brace myself as he knocked me back into a lamp, sending it and me crashing to the floor.
"BOYD! STOP!" Maggie grabbed his arm and pulled him back long enough for me to get back on my feet and grab the front of his shirt.
"ISAAC! BACK OFF DAMMIT!" Maggie continued to yell at the both of us as I slammed Boyd into the wall making the drywall crack from the force. Maggie tried to squeeze herself between our bodies but when Boyd shoved me backwards, I tripped over the lamp that had already been knocked over and cut my hand on some of the pieces. Maggie stood in front of Boyd putting her hand on his chest and pushing him back into the wall looking like a child trying to stop a mountain.
"Boyd please! Just take a walk, cool down. Please." She pleaded making me laugh. Boyd took heavy breaths through his nose before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind himself. Maggie looked at me like she couldn't figure me out.
"What's the matter with you? Why are you acting like a complete jackass?" She threw her arms out as I looked at the blood on my hand waiting for it to heal.
"I'm not in the mood to be lectured, especially by you." I pushed past her to grab the remote and she snatched it from my hand.
"Clearly someone has to talk some sense into you because you obviously took one too many blows to the head in that last brawl. You're aware that Boyd could probably snap you in half right?" She pressed.
"And upset you? I doubt that." I tried to yank the remote away from her but she pulled back.
"Seriously, what's going on with you? Why are you acting like this? You've never been this aggressive before and you'd never try to push Boyd into a fight. What's gotten into you?" Maggie made the face. The one where she was trying to mother me or guilt me into feeling some sort of shame for reacting or feeling a certain way. I hated that face.
"Give me the remote, Maggie." I clenched my jaw hard but she remained unmoved.
"Is this about Derek? You know there was nothing you could have done to prevent that." The more she talked, the more I could feel my entire body burning with rage.
"Nothing's wrong with me and I don't need to talk about it. I just need you to give me the remote and leave me alone." I kept my eyes on the black screen and Maggie squatted in front of me.
"Something's obviously wrong or else you wouldn't have tried to beat Ethan to death in front of the entire track team. No matter what was happening to Scott, you can't just go off like that. You know better, especially with the way your dad-." I stood up so abruptly that Maggie took a step back.
"I know better? News flash Maggie, you aren't my mother. Last I checked she was dead. Just like Derek, just like Scott almost was and just like Laci." The name made Maggie freeze where she stood, gripping the remote tightly as I took a step towards her.
"You remember her don't you? You tore her to pieces and even when she was dead beyond a doubt, you still tore through her like some blood thirsty psycho and you have the nerve to talk down to me for beating up a guy who killed two members of our pack!?" I stared down at Maggie feeling powerful. Something inside of me had snapped and all I wanted was to show that I didn't need anyone trying to control me. I was in control.
"Face it Maggie, I'm not the one everyone should be worried about. You're the real killer here." I seethed as she swallowed the hard truth.
I made a move to grab her wrist and snatch the remote away but she swung me into the wall hard creating a hole where my body had struck it. I slid down to the floor feeling dazed like something in my brain snapped. I shook my head like I was waking from some sort of fog. Maggie had crouched to the floor, curled into herself and glaring at me. I had really just said those things to her. It was like something took over inside my brain and blurted out the most hateful things it could come up with and now I was staring at the face of someone who looked ready to set me on fire.
"Maggie I didn't mean-" I reached out and grazed her hand only to have her pull away violently.
"Don't…touch me." She held herself secure and I put my hand to my forehead feeling a cold sweat dripping out of my hairline.
"I don't know what's wrong with me right now. I don't feel right. I feel out of control." I leaned my head back against the wall smelling the broken drywell on my shoulders and burning my nose hairs with the dust.
"Maybe that's my fault too. Maybe being around me this summer as I was going off the rails like a blood thirsty psycho has made you think it's okay to just lose control whenever you want." Maggie made eye contact with me and I trembled. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make one of her worst fears an existing reality.
"Maggie please. I didn't mean that. You aren't a blood thirsty psycho. You saved my life." I pressed but she just held her glare as she go to her feet. I had an overwhelming feeling that Maggie was going to walk out of the door and never speak to me again and that scared the hell out of me.
"Maybe I should just go and give you some space. You don't need me. You can handle all this on your own." She turned the TV on and walked towards the door as I scrambled on the floor to reach out to her again.
"NO! NO that's not what I want at all. Please Maggie! I'm sorry!" I pleaded with her, praying she would hear me out but she just turned to look at me carefully, eyes glazed over with zero feeling.
"Don't leave this room Isaac or you will see an animal." She threatened before shutting the door. I put my head in my hands trying not to let myself go into a full blown panic attack as I rocked back and forth.
"Please don't leave me…you're the only family I've got..." No one was there to listen. No one was around to comfort me or hear me out. I'd screwed everything up and now I had no one.
I moved around the room carefully after that, picking the overturned lamp up off the floor and sitting it upright only to have flicker out leaving the room dark. I dejectedly climbed onto the bed and closed my eyes, unable to keep them open to look around the room that was now a wreck from the altercation with both Boyd and Maggie.
I had really screwed up and now Maggie wanted nothing to do with me. I tried to keep my breathing steady again to avoid a panic attack and the sounds of the ceiling fan made me open my eyes. It sounded like someone was moving around in the rooms next door or banging on the walls.
"Maggie?" I called out hopeful. She'd probably already told the others to stay away from me by now and that made my chest tighten. The more I listened to the movement around me, the more I seemed to recognize it.
"Oh hell son, you broke it. You break everything. How much of a moron are you?" I could hear my dad's voice echoing off the walls of the dark motel room and I sat up on the end of the bed quickly.
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I responded feeling my eyes well up with remorseful tears.
"You didn't mean to? You didn't mean to? You think that changes things? You think that makes up for you being a complete failure?" I shook my head and hit myself in the temple trying to shake the voice out.
"I'm trying…I didn't mean to hurt her-" The sounds of his mocking laugh rang in my ears and I bit my lip.
"The only girl that's ever cared to look you over twice and you practically spit in her face. You're a disgrace. Whatever family you thought you had, you shattered it." I felt frantic.
"I can fix it. I can fix it!" I kept repeating aloud, feeling my entire body shake.
"You've done enough. You can't fix anything. You're a stupid, ungrateful bastard who no one wants around." He spat.
"I can't fix this…I can't fix this now…I CAN'T FIX THIS NOW!" I gripped either side of my head trying to keep my feet on the ground but then I heard the sound of chains being kicked.
"You know where you belong, now grab the chains." My blood went cold.
"W-what?" I felt the lump in my throat growing as the sound of the chains rustling on a concrete floor made me cringe.
"You heard what I said. Grab the chains and get in the freezer. NOW!" The shout made me jump back on the bed as far as I could before covering my head with a pillow to block it out. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. He was dead and I was alone. It wasn't real. I opened my eyes slowly, turning over on what I thought was the mattress but suddenly I felt the cold walls of the freezer bumping against my elbows. I was back in the box, unable to move, unable to get out or save myself. I let out a scream of torment knowing that no matter whose name I called out for help, I wouldn't receive any. I was alone. I had broken everything and I couldn't fix it.
[Stiles POV]
I don't know if it was because we almost lost Scott at a rest stop bathroom or if it was because we were stranded at this creepy ass motel in the middle of the desert but everyone seemed to be acting bizarrely. The only simple win was that Maggie was actually talking to me which was a relief. After spending so much time playing the hot and cold game with me, it felt like she was really starting to let me back in. All I wanted was for her to open up to me and let me be there for her without any reservations but I knew Maggie and I knew how difficult that was for her.
I saw Boyd staring at the vending machine downstairs and figured Maggie was upstairs with Isaac giving him the third degree for nearly killing Ethan. I think it was a perfect time to try and build some ground work to changing the fact that we weren't really friends.
"Hey man, how's it going? Crazy day right? Thanks for not going buckwild on the bus. That would have been messy. Well messier than Isaac just doing the whole straight up beat down at the rest stop which was totally understandable by the way. The Twins are the worst." Boyd didn't even bother looking over at me as I ranted. He just continued to stare blankly at the selection before him.
"Hopefully Maggie wasn't too hard on you guys. I know things have been tense since...I just want you to know that I'm around if you need anything. I know we aren't friends but I wouldn't mind getting to know you better." Boyd still hadn't made any moves to indicate that he was even listening to me. For a second I thought he was paralyzed in place or something but then he reached out slowly and typed in the three digit code for the peanut butter crackers.
"Hey look at that. That's what I'm getting. Maybe we're more alike than either of us thought." I chuckled wanting to pat him on the back but too afraid that he might literally rip my throat out. The peanut butter crackers moved a few inches before getting stuck in the rack.
"Oh, you know what? Don't worry. I've got a patented method for this. See I've already got your back-" I barely had time to grip the top of the machine, ready to give it a good shake to free the crackers that Boyd wanted but his fist flew into the glass, shattering it and opening the machine without even blinking. His eyes looked completely void of any emotion as he reached in to jerk the snack from the machine before walking back up to his room.
Obviously I was going to take advantage of the free snacks now because I didn't break the machine and it's not like everyone else was going to put their change in the machine if they could just take it. I'm an opportunist and seriously, this place sucked anyway. The least they could do was give us complimentary snacks. I heard the sound of little feet stomping down the stairs and knew it was Maggie. She was looking down at her phone and mumbling to herself like an old man trying to figure out technology. I grabbed a bag of M&M's along with my other snacks and ran after her as she spun in circles in the parking lot looking for a signal.
"Hey, I got you some candy. Apparently your talk with Isaac and Boyd didn't go so well considering Boyd just leveled a vending machine." Maggie stopped what she was doing and looked at me.
"What?" I thumbed over towards the broken machine and she let out a sighed frustrated.
"I can't even deal with anymore right now." She tucked her hair behind her ear and strained her eyes like she couldn't see what was on the phone in front of her.
"Anything I can do to help? I mean I could try talking to Isaac. Boyd probably needs some time to cool down and I had a nightmare once that he punched an actual hole through my head so I'd be more up for talking to someone I could verbally tango with." I offered but she just shook her head, keeping her attention on her phone.
"Boyd's just been through a lot, with losing Erica and then Derek...he's just got a lot going on." She looked worn out but if there's one thing my dad's taught me is that you never tell a woman when they look tired or worn out.
"I know how he feels." I shrugged making her finally look up from her phone at me.
"I seriously doubt that." She said confused.
"How easily you forget that you died in my arms once. That kind of pain...you don't really get over it so yeah Mag's, I know how he feels." Her face relaxed as though she actually did forget that that ever happened and I wondered how that could even be possible when I still had nightmares about it.
"I mean our story isn't a tale of werewolf love but it's still a story." Maggie bit her lip and shook her head at me.
"Stiles, now is really not the time for this conversation. I have a million things going on right now-" I put my hands up.
"I know you do but you don't have to do it alone. I'm here and once I get these snacks in Scott's body, he'll be up to help out too." I smiled at her but she was clearly trying to put the wedge back between us. The moment her phone started to beep, I knew I'd lost her.
"No...no it's fine. I can handle it." She turned her back and started to walk away from me.
"Cora? Cora can you hear me?" She was shouting into her phone but the call dropped.
"DAMMIT!" She roared looking as though she'd like to spike the phone on the ground but knew she couldn't.
"Hey, what's going on? Talk to me." I pocketed the snacks and followed after her.
"I can't get anyone back home to answer. They promised me they'd keep in touch with me and no one is answering." She explained still trying to walk away from me.
"Alright let's just calm down here and think for a second. I can try calling Cora-" She spun around so quickly that I stopped in my tracks, phone in hand and ready to try Cora's phone.
"Look stop following me around and clinging to me like a freaking shadow okay? It's driving me crazy." I was pretty stunned. I wasn't picking up on the vibes that she wanted me to leave her alone this much but apparently she was sick of my company.
"I…I'm not trying to be clingy, I'm just trying to help." I finally spit my words out realizing I had been standing in a stunned silence for a few seconds longer than I should have.
"Well I don't need your help alright? I don't need your advice or your company." She put her hands up and I could feel how tense she was. Something was off.
"Maggie, just talk to me please. What's going on?" I stepped towards her trying to show her that whatever was going on, I was here and ready to help. I wasn't just going to let her keep pushing me away.
"I just want to be left alone, why is that so hard for you to understand? I don't need your help, I never need your help so back the hell off." She raised her voice and I could hear the sound of heels coming down the steps knowing instantly that Lydia was approaching us. I was already too embarrassed to fight Maggie's decision so I just swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
"Fine." I put my hands in my pockets and watched Maggie walk away, punching at the buttons of her phone to try and get someone to answer her.
"What the hell was that about?" Lydia stood next to me keeping her eyes on Maggie as she bounced around the lot like a crazy person.
"Every time I take two steps forward, she shoves me eighty feet back. I don't know how much more of it I can handle before I lose it." I ran my hand down my face in frustration and Lydia put her hand on my arm.
"Give her some space for now. I need you to come with me. Something weird is going on." Lydia was vague but there was nothing I could do to help Maggie at the moment so I followed Lydia up to the room where Allison paced, fingers covering her lips looking pretty shaken up.
"Hey you okay?" I asked concerned.
"No not really. Something's up." Allison kept her arms to her chest and I narrowed my gaze.
"I went to get fresh towels early to replace the gross nicotine saturated ones and found out that this motel has the highest suicide rate in the country. They actually keep a count pinned to the wall in the office." Lydia explained and I could suddenly see why there were at least two rooms with tape over the doors to be remodeled.
"Well that's morbidly unsettling but I don't understand-"
"The number went up by three in just 10 minutes." Lydia finished.
"Are you saying that three people have killed themselves in the last 10 minutes and we just aren't aware?" I was trying to catch up to whatever they were talking about but I was confused.
"I'm saying that the last thing that was in three's was a set of sacrifices." Lydia was getting frustrated that it was taking me so long to put pieces together.
"I think it's the wolves." Allison spoke up again.
"What? Why would you say that?" I stepped towards her.
"Earlier when Lydia got the towels, Scott wandered in here. I was in the shower and he was just walked right in but he was completely out of it. He started saying really strange things and the only other time he's acted so weird was on a full moon. He was fine on the bus but after half an hour in this place…something's wrong." I couldn't believe that in the time I walked downstairs to get snacks that Scott went up and totally crossed the line with Allison. I could tell she was taken aback by whatever happened between them but I knew I couldn't persist.
"He seemed pretty off earlier that's why I went downstairs to grab some snacks. Boyd was out of it too. He put his fist through the vending machine without even flinching." I remembered Boyd's face expressionless the entire time I stood inches away from him.
"What about Maggie? Is she doing okay? She only spent like 2.5 seconds in here before she said she was going to keep an eye on Scott." I felt Lydia look over at me and I felt myself blush at the reminder that she'd witnessed Maggie telling me off.
"She was fine in the room but she just kind of unloaded on me for no apparent reason. I just sort of chalked it up the oh so lovable tug of war we have going on." I put my hands on my hips but Lydia stepped towards me.
"I'm telling you, it's the motel. Either we need to get out of here right now or someone's going to need to learn how to do an exorcism before the werewolves go crazy and kill us all. I'm serious you guys. Maggie may not have her magic right now but I know she can feel what I'm feeling and what I'm feeling...it's bad." Lydia pulled a bible out of the bedside drawer and held it up which seemed a bit extreme.
"Alright let's just hold on a second. What if the number doesn't just mean 3 more sacrifices. What if it means 3 werewolves?" Allison furrowed her brow at me.
"Scott, Maggie & Boyd." She breathed.
"Maybe we were meant to come here. Whoever this druid is had to have known that Maggie would go to great lengths to get to Scott and her defenses would be down." I snapped my fingers together knowing that we were utterly screwed.
"EXACTLY! Now can we please get the hell out of here?" She pleaded desperately. I noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the bible she was holding and took it from her.
"What is that?" I scanned over the article as Allison read over my shoulder.
"28 year old man hangs himself at the infamous Glen Capri." I read aloud before seeing another stuck to the page underneath. There seemed to be another stuck to that as well so I turned the book over and started to shake it watching dozens of articles fall onto the bedspread. We started to sift through them.
"These are all for room 217." Lydia pointed to the number that came up in the articles.
"If every room has a bible-" Allison started.
"There could be articles in all the rooms." Lydia finished making me clap my hands together.
"That's a beautiful thing. Most places leave a mint under the pillow. This one leaves a record of all the horrible deaths that occurred." We were literally lured to a death motel by the Darach and now team human was going to have to save everyone.
"What if the room next door has the one about the couple?" Lydia asked Allison but caught my attention.
"What couple?" I asked curiously.
"I was hearing voices in the vent early. Maggie got freaked out, almost like she could hear them too. She jumped off the bed to come see you and Scott the same time the gun went off." Lydia explained. That's all I needed to hear before bolting out the door to go find her. If she was under some sort of suicide trance, I needed to find her ASAP.
"Stiles wait!" Allison called after me as Lydia tried to get into the room next to theirs.
"This door was not locked before." Lydia kept trying the handle as I scanned the parking lot. Maggie was no longer roaming around on her phone, at least not in plain sight.
"Forget the room, we need to get the others out of here before something happens." Allison said but just as they started to walk away from the door, a loud roaring noise coming from behind the locked door.
"I'm not the only one that can hear that too, am I?" Lydia froze in front of the door making me double back.
"It sounds like someone turned a handsaw on." Allison pointed out making me stumble to the front of the door.
"Handsaw? Seriously!" Not putting eyes on Maggie had me freaking out. What if she was behind the door? What if she was going to try to handsaw herself to death? All I knew was that I needed to get into the room and stop whatever was about to happen from happening.
I threw my shoulder into the door as hard as I could once, twice and a third time, it finally swung open to reveal Ethan standing in the middle of the messy room that was being remodeled, handsaw whirling like crazy and inching it towards his abdomen.
"HEY ETHAN DON'T!" I screamed over the handsaw buzzing towards his skin. I ran towards him and grabbed the handle of the saw. He wouldn't let go and I knew I wouldn't be able to wrestle anything away from an alpha werewolf but I was only hoping not to lose an arm.
He tossed me and the handsaw to the ground hard but I braced myself from running face first into it just as Lydia pulled the cord on it. I could feel how hard my heart was beating in my chest when Allison pulled me over to where she'd been pushed out of the way probably by my body when Ethan tossed me. We both gawked at Ethan waiting for his next move but he extended his claws quickly and started tearing into himself. We jumped back to our feet and grabbed at his arms to try and pull them away from his sides.
"ETHAN STOP IT!" Lydia screamed as he growled in pain, the claws slipping deeper into his flesh no matter how hard we tried to pull them away. He tossed us again but landed on the hot plate that was sitting in the middle of the room apparently on because the moment his skin collided with the heat he yelped snapping out of it.
"What just happened?" He got to his feet quickly looking us over as if we were the cause of his freak out. He didn't wait for an explanation. He just took off, grabbing at the sides of his shirt to close it as he fled.
"Wait, Ethan!" I ran after him, the girls trailing me.
"I don't know what happened but stay away from me." Ethan dismissed me.
"We have to talk about this. What were you trying to do?" I questioned.
"Didn't you hear what I just said? I don't how I got there or what I was doing." He started back towards his room and I stopped at the bottom of the steps.
"You know you could be a little more helpful considering we did just save your life." I was agitated and panicked by what had just happened and he had the nerve to act like we were the inconvenience.
"You probably shouldn't have." He turned his back and slammed the door to his room shut in our faces.
"Are you freaking kidd-" I was about to go pound on his door when Allison grabbed my arm to stop me.
"What now?" Lydia paced nervously.
"We find the others and get them out of here. The best thing we can do is get them out of this place." Allison started back up the stairs and I eyed Lydia as she started to follow. Somehow Lydia always had a way of finding death but maybe it was her finding it. Maybe it was finding her. There was no way Maggie had no idea what Lydia was by now. Not with all the resources she had. Whatever Lydia was, Maggie knew and now Maggie was on the chopping block.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Lydia caught me staring and I tried ot play it off.
"Wh-no no I wasn't-"
"Stiles! What is it?" She raised her voice not buying it. I let out a sigh knowing that there was really no good way to tell her what I was about to tell her.
"Look Lydia, I didn't want to say anything but this, everything we're going through, we've kind of been through something like this before. A lot like this." Lydia crossed her arms over her chest as she wracked her brain for memories of what I was talking about.
"What do you mean? When?" She asked still not understanding.
"Your birthday party. The night that you poisoned everyone with Wolfsbane." I kept my eyes on her and watched her go over what I'd just said in her head before she finally looked at me.
"So you think I'm doing all this? Wow thanks Stiles. I appreciate that." She walked down the stairs and started towards the lot.
"Lydia! Come on Lydia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you were trying to kill people. I just meant maybe, maybe you're somehow involved in getting people to kill themselves." I took a breath and realized that I was only digging the hole deeper.
"Now that I say that out loud it just sounds really terrible so I'm just gonna stop talking." I paused my strides as she slowed to a stop.
"Stiles…do you hear that?" I watched her kneel down in front of a sewer drain like she was trying to hear a conversation or something.
"Lydia? What do you hear?" I stepped closer trying to hear what she was hearing.
"A baby crying…I hear water running. Oh my God she's drowning the baby! STILES SHE'S DROWNING THE BABY!" Lydia stood up abruptly, panting.
"Someone's drowning!" She shrieked. I instantly started to panic looking back at the Motel. There were five wolves in there and only two of us. Even if we found who it was that was drowning, we had no idea how to save them. We were in over our heads but we had to keep fighting. We had to save the wolves.
[Boyd's POV]
I didn't feel like going back to the room with Isaac just yet so I decided to grab some ice so I could at least have a cold soda instead of a hot one. I don't know why everything was irritating me right now but I hated feeling this way. I could control it. I could keep my anger to myself but I felt like I wanted to explode. Isaac was just the tip of the iceberg. His melt down boiled down to not disappointing Scott now that he'd completely given up on Derek and his own repressed daddy issues. I wasn't going to let him pull me into some stupid fight just to have Maggie pissed off at me. He could seek that attention on his own.
I threw the lid to the ice maker open trying not to listen to Stiles and Maggie talking in the distance but it was hard not to. He actually thought he knew what kind of pain I was in. He didn't have a clue. When Maggie was killed, she came back. Erica didn't get that second chance. Erica will never get that second chance. I just have to live the rest of my life without her. Stiles was a complete moron if he honestly thought he could even touch my pain.
"Don't." I stopped scooping the ice when I heard a familiar voice.
"Don't leave me." I felt the chill of the ice as I ran my hand over it, moving it out of the way slightly.
"You weren't supposed to leave me." I knew the voice. It's haunted me since I was a kid.
"Alisha?" It was the first time in years I'd actually said her name out loud. When you carry that kind of onus around, it's hard to put even a name into your mouth without feeling the bitter taste of guilt rolling around on your tongue.
"Why did you leave me?" I started moving the ice more frantically as the voice grew louder.
"Alisha?!" I used both hands now, tearing through the ice like I had all those years ago when I'd lost her until finally a face poked through the ice. Her eyes opened wide and I stumbled back in shock, dropping the bucket I was holding and spilling the ice I'd collected all over the pavement.
"No! You can't be real! You're dead!" I ran back up to the room leaving the ice scattered as I slammed the door shut behind me and tried to catch my breath.
"Alisha is gone…she's been gone. Snap out of it!" I said aloud to myself hoping to calm myself down. I needed to find Maggie. Something was happening and I didn't know what but somehow she always had the answers or a way to calm me down. I turned to open the door again when the clock radio clicked on by itself. I walked over to it quickly and turned it back off. I barely got two steps away from it when it clicked on again, this time voices came through the static.
"Do you remember about what time you last saw her?"
"I…I don't know. I can't remember."
"Sometimes it helps to put yourself right back in that moment. Imagine you're seeing Alisha skating on the ice, plenty of other people around, then what?"
"Then she was just gone. I was watching her! I swear I was watching her. I was just too tired. I didn't want to skate anymore."
I felt my chest tighten. Listening to a memory. This was all just a memory. It wasn't real.
"Is she dead? Is it my fault?" I slammed my hand down on the clock shutting it off again. I looked down at my hands and noticed that they were shaking, despite being clenched tightly into a fist. I knew it was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten off the ice that die. Alisha died because I was too weak to save her.
The clock radio turned back on but this time it was just static. For a second, I thought I'd snapped out of it and the clock was just being screwy but then I heard a new voice.
"Boyd…Boyd can you hear me?" I felt a cry get caught in my throat.
"Erica? Is that you? How-" I shifted on the bed.
"Yes it's me. God it's so good to hear your voice. I've missed you so much. I wish you could be here with me." I closed my eyes for a moment listening to her voice and picturing her face. It felt like she was so close to me. I wanted her to be close to me again.
"Boyd, I never told you enough but I love you so much. Every day without you is so lonely and empty. Do you…do you still love me?" I let tears roll down my face as I nodded knowing she couldn't see me.
"Of course I still love you. It's hard to function without you here with me." I said honestly wishing I could hold her again. Wishing I could go back in time and take her place. It's too hard to do this all alone.
"Then why didn't you save me? Why didn't you protect me from them?" Her voice changed slightly and I felt panicked
"I tried. I tried the hardest I could but I just couldn't-" I pleaded with her. She'd told me that she was okay the night they took her away in the vault and that it wasn't my fault but I knew it was. I should have tried harder. I should have saved her.
"You let me die. You let your sister die." She raised her voice and I ripped the clock from the dresser, disconnecting the cord unable to hear anymore. As much as I missed Erica, I couldn't live with knowing she hated me.
"Why did you let me die? Why did you let us die?" Her voice was so sad when she said it. I could picture tears rolling down her pale cheeks and something inside of me broke.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." I started to sob for a moment, gripping the clock to my chest as the static grew heavier and finally shut off.
"NO! COME BACK! ERICA COME BACK!" I shouted at the blanket clock until I knew it wouldn't be turning back on. I threw it across the room and let myself get carried away with grief. I didn't want Alisha to be alone anymore and all I wanted in the world was to have Erica back. There was only one way I could get to her again, feel her skin on my own, hold her in my arms, and prove to her that she means more to me than anything. There was only one solution for making sure that they both were watched over and taken care of so they knew how much I loved them both.
I'd have to kill myself.
~Special Thanks~: For all those who have read, reviewed and supported me, I thank you greatly. You can find me on tumblr at AngelsAnarchy-
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**ALSO a VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to
narelclollie for going through the ENTIRE Strangers series and reviewing every single chapter in such a short time, my mind is completely blown. Thank you so much! Feel free to inbox me any time3