Chapter 21: Insatiable part 2
Meredith found herself in the music room. She heard a faint whispering that seemed to be coming from the piano. She went and pressed her ears towards the strings to try and listen better. She still had trouble hearing what was being said so she went and plucked a string to try and make it louder. It became a tone louder so she went and plucked it again.
"I can hear you," she muttered. "But I can't understand. Just…a little louder. Please?" She then began plucking the string again and again.
She didn't notice that the door to the room was opened. Slowly and silently, Brunski was stepping inside, and heading for her. He was completely unnoticed by Meredith until he took his electric taser gun and made the electricity crackle through the air. Meredith finally straightened up and turned around to stare at him, terrified.
He let a smirk creep on him as he saw her fear. "Let's go sweetheart. As you well know, I'm not adverse to using the tools of my trade," he said with slight amusement as he made the electricity crackle again to illuminate his smiling face. "As often as necessary."
But Meredith shook her head. "I…I just…I need another second," she told him before she moved to try and listen to the strings again. "Okay, they're trying to tell me something."
The smile faded from Brunski as he resumed moving for her. "Meredith," he lightly growled.
"Please. They're trying to tell me something," she begged him.
Brunski moved and raised his taser to zap her but his wrist was grabbed before he could bring it down on the girl.
It was Coach. "This school has a strict 'No Bullying' policy," he growled before he drove the taser into Brunski's chest and zapped him. Brunski fell to the ground and Coach couldn't help but smile and chuckle down at him. Scott, Stiles and Kira came running into the room but froze at the sight of him standing over Brunski and he gave them a look. "Well? Get her out of here," he spat at them.
That seemed to snap the kids out of their stupor as they moved and grabbed Meredith before they all ran out of the room.
Brunski grit his teeth as watched them all leave and glared at Coach. "You little piece of-"
But he didn't finish as Coach went and brought the taser down to zap him again. "We also frown on cursing."
The kids ran out of the school, towards the parking lot where Stiles had parked his jeep. Stiles helped Meredith inside while Kira went to Scott by the passenger door.
"I'll call you," she told him.
"Okay," Scott muttered.
She then looked over at Stiles. "And be safe."
"Thanks," Stiles told her. She then took off and the two of them turned to look back over at Meredith. "Okay," Stiles breathed. "Where's Lydia?"
Meredith shifted her eyes at the two of them. "Who's Lydia?" she asked.
That made the two boys share a pointed and aggravated look.
"Let's head back to my house," Scott told him. "Isaac will be there waiting for us."
Stiles nodded and started up the car. Stiles backed the car up before he went and sped up out of the parking lot. He sped them up so suddenly that Meredith was bumped a bit and her nails scraped through the leather of the seats. The scratching seemed to echo in her ears. She focused her eyes on her fingertips as she went and ran them down the seat cover again. The scratching sound vibrated in her ears and she narrowed her eyes as she listened to the echo. She could distantly hear a deep breathing sound followed by a howl. The howl had her head snap up to look over at the rear view mirror. She could see Stiles' eyes looking ahead as he was focused on the road. She saw Stiles blink his eyes before he opened them up for her to see that they were glowing gold. Her eyes widened up at the sight of them and the echoes of howling grew louder in her ears before she blinked her own eyes and saw that the glow was now gone.
"He's crying," she muttered.
"What?" Scott asked as he turned back to look at her.
Meredith kept her gaze on Stiles. "He cries for you. Clawing and howling to be with you again."
Stiles looked up at the rear view mirror to look at Meredith. "Who does?"
Meredith then looked up to meet his eyes at the mirror. "His crying…it's quieting down but, he's not stopping. Just like you don't stop crying to have him again."
"Okay, that's enough Meredith," Stiles said cutting in and making Meredith lean back in her seat.
Scott's eyes left Meredith and looked over at his friend who looked away from the mirror and back on the road. Scott saw his eyes try to focus but they were softening as a…longing came over him. Stiles' eyes seemed to notice that Scott was watching him so he cleared his throat and took a deep breath before he settled back in his seat. Now, it looked like Stiles had nothing bothering him. Scott then remembered what Lydia and Deaton told him. About what Stiles was trying to do without him knowing. From what Meredith just said, it seemed Stiles was hurting in more ways than one and he still didn't want him to know about it.
Chris melted the block of silver until it was as hot and thick as syrup. He then put the bowl of it right by his daughter. "Remember you can start over," he said gently. "I was a bit of a perfectionist about it myself. Always wanted the seal to look just right." He then reached in and pulled out his silver bullet. He held it so that they could see the engraved crest shine out on the polished surface of the bullet. He couldn't help but smile at his pride and joy.
Allison looked it over, top to bottom. "How many did you make?" she asked as she started to feel a bit nervous.
"Six, but I used them all. And only at close range. Despite some legends, silver is not quite so accurate as lead." He then left the bullet there for a guide and got up to leave Allison to her task.
But she stopped him. "Dad, wait. I-I think I should use my own mold."
He widened his eyes. "You have a bullet mold."
Allison shook her head. "No, not a bullet. An arrowhead." Her father looked confused. "The bow is my weapon so, I think I should make a silver arrowhead," she explained.
Chris smiled at her. "To each their own," he said as he bent down to give her a kiss on her forehead.
"Dad," she said when he broke away. "If something happens,"
He cut her off. "You don't have to say anything pumpkin."
"I know but, I didn't get to say anything to mom."
"You didn't have to say anything, and I'm going to be around for a long time."
"Yeah…it's just, with everything that's happened to you, being on the run now, I don't know what's going to happen. So…I love you," she said to him softly. "Maybe you don't need to hear it, but I need to know that I said it. I love you," she said sternly and without blinking an eye. "I'm proud of you."
Chris deflated a bit as he looked down at her with sadness in his eyes. Allison shouldn't feel so proud of him. He was the one that should be proud. For the first time in years, he felt that he was genuinely serving a noble purpose. Before, he always had moments where he questioned the things he had to do and the lengths that his family went. Now, he never felt so sure of his course of actions in years and it was thanks to his daughter that he was doing so. He gave his daughter another kiss on her forehead.
"I love you too sweetheart," he said to her. "And don't worry about me. I'll figure something out, okay?"
"Okay," she said almost inaudibly as she watched him leave so she could begin her ceremony.
Scott and Stiles ran into the house with Meredith but froze when they saw that Isaac wasn't alone in the house. Scott's father was also there and they seemed to have been waiting for them.
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked him.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," his father said back to them.
Scott then remembered that they were supposed to be in school right now. His mother knew that he didn't go but his father didn't. Before Scott could try to come up with some kind of excuse, Stiles jumped in and took care of that for him.
"Free period," he chimed in enthusiastically. "Group study."
The man's eyes went over to Stiles. "I heard you were back. Good to see you again Stiles," he said in a dull tone before his eyes went over to Meredith. "Who's she?"
And they also didn't want Scott's dad to know that they had just brought a girl that had escaped from a mental institution to his home to help her find Lydia who had been kidnapped.
"Oh," Stiles said before he went and quickly put his arm around it. "It's my girlfriend."
Meredith just looked at him and didn't seem to know to play along as she just shook her head at him. "You're not my type."
Stiles tried not to let his irritation show in front of the man. "Obviously we have a lot to talk about. We should maybe take this upstairs?" he asked, hoping Meredith could take the hint.
Apparently not as she just smiled over in Isaac's direction. "He's my type."
That made Isaac widen his eyes at her before he looked over at Scott for some help. He just stared back helplessly, not knowing what to say or do about that, even if his father wasn't there.
Stiles thought that it was best that they just get out of there. "Okay, Isaac can come too."
Stiles then led Meredith away and Isaac got up to follow after them, leaving Scott alone with his father in the kitchen. He didn't know why his father was here but he knew that he didn't have time to waste with trying to work around him.
"Dad, look I'll explain all this later."
But his dad cut him off. "I don't care that you're not in school. I know your grades are fine. All I want to do is talk."
"Now's not really a good time," he said as he still wanted his dad gone so that he could focus on trying to find Lydia.
"Scott," his dad said more firmly to him. "We need to talk." He then directed Scott to the living room. "Please, take a seat."
Scott sat down and saw that his father seemed to be taking a moment to himself. "Dad, can we do this tomorrow?" he asked as he spared a look in the direction of the stairs where he wished he was right now.
"That's actually something I've been saying for a long time. Come here." He then went and led Scott to the stairs and pointed to a spot at the foot of them. "You see this? This indent on the floor?" he asked as he bent down over it. "That was from your head. The night before I moved out your…your mother and I were fighting." Scott then moved to bend down to look at the indent too. "You came out of your room, I pulled you by the wrist but you pulled back. And you fell. We watched you tumble down those stairs. You were out for like 20 seconds, when you came to you didn't remember a thing." Tears were starting to collect in his father's eyes. "Your mom told me to be out by the morning. That's the last time I ever had a drink. That's why I left," he finished softly.
Scott took a moment to take this in. His mother never told him about this. Whenever the subject of his father came up, she would always just say that he just left. Overtime, he began to think that he just didn't want anything to do with them anymore. Scott thought that his mother didn't tell him because she thought she was protecting him. Afraid of him getting hurt? Scott couldn't help but feel angry. Both at his mother and at his father. He deserved to know about this. He deserved to know a lot of things going on with the people closest to him but he pushed back those thoughts to focus and deal with the problem in front of him.
He took a deep breath and then walked over to the living room. "Okay dad, let me show you something. You see the edge of this windowsill?" he said pointing it out for him. "When I got my first skateboard, I slipped right into it, broke my collarbone." He then heatedly pointed to a table. "This used to be glass until I fell on top of it trying to catch a lacrosse ball from Stiles, I got three stitches in my cheek!" he said to him heatedly. "This house is full of accidents. The stairs…maybe it was an accident, maybe it was worse. But I heal and I don't need your apology. Whatever happened with you, me and mom back then, it doesn't give you the right to come back here and try and hurt my best friend and his dad. It's them you should be apologizing to, not me. If you needed to talk to me so badly then you just had to come and tell me you want to talk. Don't try and hide behind your job or go through mom or my friends to do it." He then shrugged his shoulders at him. "So, see you at graduation, or whenever you decide to show up again."
He then stormed off leaving his father standing in the living room staring after him.
Aiden was coughing out heavily as he was starting to spit up some black blood while Ethan was holding his wounds to try and stop the bleeding. They had been taken to some cave and Derek was at the entrance, keeping a look out.
"Where are we?" Ethan asked.
"It's a coyote den, now keep quiet," Derek hissed at them.
But Ethan was in no mood to be quiet right now. "Did you see the shooter? You know who it is?"
"No, I was a little busy. Who else have you two pissed off?" he asked them heatedly. The last thing they needed was unexpected trouble with the Nogitsune still out there.
"We pissed off everyone. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to us," Aiden spat out. This was why he and Ethan wanted to have Scott as their Alpha. For protection. But it seemed like it was too late for that now.
"The bullets had wolfsbane in them, so if I don't get you out of here soon the poison's going to spread." Derek then moved for the entrance. "Stay quiet. I'll be back," he told them as he left to try and find a trace of the shooter.
Stiles and Isaac took Meredith to Scott's room and sat her down.
"Okay," Stiles said clapping his hands together and jumping right into it. "You know who I am, right?" She nodded. "And you know the rest of us, right?" She nodded again. Stiles smiled. "Okay, then you must know Lydia?"
"Who's Lydia?" she asked again just like before.
Isaac's eyebrows rose up. "How is she supposed to help us again?"
Stiles let a frustrated huff out through his nose. "You know it's amazing. I'm gone for a couple of days and you're still unhelpful as ever." Isaac rolled his eyes as he stepped back while Stiles stepped closer to Meredith. "You chose to come here, right Meredith? Why? You heard something didn't you? Yesterday…it was Lydia, wasn't it?"
Meredith narrowed her eyes as she seemed to think harder on it. "Lydia? You mean the red-haired girl?"
Stiles let a relieved smile loose as he stepped back. "Yes, yes, this is good. Progress," he said giving Isaac a pointed look before looking back at her. "Now you can help us. All you gotta do is tell us where she is."
"Okay…if she tells me."
"If she tells you?" Isaac repeated. "Uh, can you ask her?"
"I already did," she told them.
"Perfect, what did she say?" Stiles asked.
"She said…she doesn't want to be found."
Stiles then sighed. "That's good too," he said as he moved to go into the bathroom to vent out some of his new frustration.
Isaac followed after him. "I'm liking this plan more and more," he smirked at him.
"Shut up," Stiles said as he started rubbing his eyes.
Isaac smirk faded as he noticed the dark circles in Stiles' eyes and the fact that he was wobbling a little in place. Stiles took another step but grabbed onto the sink to help keep himself steady. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just tired," Stiles said dismissively before looking back over at Meredith. "We need to find Lydia. If Meredith spoke to her somehow, then she has to know how to find her."
Isaac sat down at the sink and focused his gaze on her. "But she just said that she wouldn't tell us." His eyes then narrowed a bit. "You know, there is a way to make her tell us."
Stiles' eyes widened. "No, we're not going to torture her. Besides, she didn't say she wouldn't tell us. She wants to help us or else why would she even come here? She just said that Lydia doesn't us to find her."
"Okay…so we're supposed to find Lydia when she doesn't want to be found? How do we do that? How do we get Meredith to do that? I mean, you said that you think she's a banshee. You think that she might be able to find another one?"
"Maybe," Stiles mumbled as he kept his gaze on Meredith. He remembered how Lydia always talked about how her hearing. She heard things, whispers, voices or sounds that seemed to relate to what she was sensing or trying to sense. Sound had to be the key. "Alright, follow my lead," he whispered as he pushed himself forward. He then started to tap at random places in the room, audibly run his hands across the surface of walls, even took a string of yarn and plucked it.
Isaac's rose a questioning eyebrow at him. "Lead to where, back to nut house?" he whispered back. He was starting to think that maybe Stiles going crazy might not have all been the nogitsune.
"Shh," Stiles shot back with a hard whisper. He had a theory. He remembered how something always seemed to set Lydia off. A sound or vibration. Something connected with what she was trying to hear out or wanted her to hear it. He was hoping that the sounds he was making might trigger it for Meredith like it did for Lydia. "Listen to the sounds around you," he said to Meredith as he went to his dresser and knocked at it. "What do you hear?" he asked as he gave the top a tap.
Meredith narrowed her eyes. "A tapping sound."
Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I think I can hear it too," he said gently to her.
Stiles glared at Isaac's direction before he moved over to kneel in front of Meredith. "Focus Meredith. Listen…to the silence. Focus on the silence."
"Yeah, listen to the silence. Focus on the silence. Listen and focus," Isaac said after him.
"Okay, you know what Isaac, stop helping. Please, just be silent," he said not letting his gaze leave Meredith's face. "I have more experience with banshees."
Isaac shrugged. "Yeah and mental patients."
Stiles let his hands slam down at the sides of his legs as he turned to give Isaac a look that clearly told him to just shut up. Stiles' right hand actually made contact with his phone that was in his pocket. Hitting it seemed to send something through the air that made Meredith's eyes widen.
"Is anyone going to get that?" she asked.
"Get what?" Stiles asked her.
"The phone."
"What phone?" Stiles asked her. He didn't hear a phone ringing.
But she pointed to the phone in his pocket that he had just hit by accident.
"Your phone," Isaac told him.
"My phone?" Stiles said as he pulled it out. It wasn't ringing or vibrating. But then Stiles had a flash of when he first met Meredith. She had been saying all that stuff, to the phone. He wondered if banshees might have anchors and triggers just like werewolves did for suppressing or unleashing their shifts. If they did then perhaps phones were Meredith's. "Oh, my phone," he quickly said as soon as the idea came to him. "Uh, hello?" he asked as he held to his ear. He then nodded. "Yes, she is actually. She's sitting right here actually." He nodded and then held the phone out to her. "It's for you."
Meredith took it from her and seemed to silently be listening to something. She then handed the phone back to Stiles. "They say Coup de Foudre."
"Coup de Foudre?" both Stiles and Isaac repeated.
"Is that Spanish?" Stiles asked.
"It's French," said Scott as they all looked over to see him standing in the doorway. He looked like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs but he had a hard look on his face. Scott knew where he had heard that before. "I know where they are."
"I don't know where she is," Mr. Yukimura told his daughter. "But I do know that she is trying to keep you out of this for as long as possible," he said as Kira stared at him with a hard look on her face and her arms folded.
Kira had come back home from school to find that her mother was nowhere in sight and given all the things her mother has been doing lately, she didn't trust that was a good thing. "Well, maybe she should've thought of that before she had me magically rebuild a samurai sword."
Her father sighed. "Look, I know that a lot of this has got to be strange for you. You're going to need to learn a lot and quickly Kira."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like board games," she said as she gave the Go board a side look.
He turned around to eye it himself. "In Korea we call it Baduk." He then led her over to it. "There are different styles of play. Aggressive, Passive, Orthodox."
Kira calmed a bit. "Can you tell who's who?"
"I know you're black. The novice player always goes first."
"And white's the nogitsune."
Her father then went and held up one of the white pieces. "But these stones are placed in your mother's style. Aggressive."
"Yeah but, she put them down to represent the Nogitsune."
His eyes widened a bit. "You sure about that?"
Kira's own eyes widened. She knew she was right to worry about her mother not being home right now.
Allison was letting the metal cool completely down before she went and held up the finished arrowhead. She then went and compared it with the silver bullet her father left. The crest engraving on the arrowhead seemed to match but then her eyes fell a bit. She didn't know why but holding these two items together in front of her eyes like this was sending up red flags for some reason.
"What am I missing?" But before she could think more on it, her phone was vibrating. She saw that it was Scott calling her. "Scott?" she quickly said as she answered.
"We know where Lydia is," Scott told her.
Derek brought Ethan and Aiden to his loft after he came back with Chris Argent. They laid the two on the couch where they could safely recover from the aconite poisoning. Chris was surprised that Derek would go to him for help with this but hoped this was a good first start in trying to move away from their past. Derek was a little surprised himself that he would call the hunter so quickly but he knew he needed Chris' help when he investigated the area.
"I found these on the ground," he said showing Chris one of the shells that the shooter left behind.
Chris gave it a small glance. "This wasn't Araya, was it?" Though the woman and her band of hunters had come to town, he didn't think they came all the way to Beacon Hills just to go after the twins.
Derek shook his head. "No, I don't think so. They don't look like her shells." Given that he and Peter had dodged quite a lot of them a couple of weeks ago, he had a pretty good idea what they looked like.
Chris took the shell to give the casing a better look and his eyes fell on the engraving. There was a crest on the bottom and his eyes widened at the sight of it. "That's not possible," he muttered. But before he could say or do anything else, his phone started ringing. He picked it up and found that it was his daughter. "Allison?"
"They found her dad," her daughter quickly said. "They found Lydia. I'm on my way."
"Allison, wait, hold on. You have to wait," he quickly said to her. If what he thought turned out to be true then things in this town were about to get more complicated, and dangerous.
"I can't dad!" she cried.
"Allison, wait for me," he said more sternly.
"There's no time," Allison said back to him. "It's already night, there's no time dad."
"Wait, Allison. Wait!" But Chris heard a dead tone at the other end as Allison had hung up.
At the old gates of the Oak Creek camp, Noshiko walked up to them with the Oni flagging her from behind. She went and ripped the chain off the gate before she pushed them open and lead the Oni inside as they marched. She was going to finish this once and for all.
Down below the surface of the old camp, Lydia was stuck looking into Stiles' face as Void finally broke eye contact and looked up. He felt the presence of Noshiko close by. She was here and most likely had all her Oni with her. As he gazed up, Lydia's breathing started to settle a bit as she saw through the action.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" she told him. Void then brought his gaze back to her. "You know they're coming." It was nightfall. The Oni would be active and on the hunt for him now. "You know they're going to kill you," she said mockingly at him.
Void just moved his hand so that he trapped Lydia right in front of him as he leaned closer to her and stared at her with a hard look. "That's exactly why I'm keeping you so close," he said confidently.
After Allison hung up on her father, she grabbed her new silver arrowhead and headed out of the storage lockup. She scrolled down her phone's contacts and called Kira to ask her to meet her outside as Scott asked her to pick her up so that they could meet the guys at Oak Creek. Kira was waiting in front of her house as Allison pulled in and she quickly hopped in before they went off on their way. The ride was silent as Kira just tensely held the sword that was in front of her. Allison looked over and saw how nervous she seemed.
"You didn't have to come, you know," Allison softly told her.
But Kira shook her head. "No, I did. I helped do this to Stiles."
Allison's jaw stiffened. "None of this is your fault Kira," she quickly argued.
"It's because of me that the Nogitsune got the power to take control of him. And my mother has been trying to kill him. That makes everything he's been through my fault and it means I'm responsible. I have to help him, no matter what."
The hunter sighed. "Believe me, if there is anyone responsible for what Stiles has been through, it isn't you. It's me," she finished in a sad mumble.
Kira turned and gave Allison a look. "You?" Then Kira remembered the things her father said about Allison's family and how tense things seemed to be whenever Allison and Stiles were in the same place. "Something happened between you and Stiles, didn't it? Back when he was still a werewolf like Scott."
Allison took a deep and tired breath but she nodded. "Yeah, something bad. And Stiles hasn't quite forgiven me for what happened."
"What? Why?" Kira was surprised. "I helped ruin his life and he doesn't seem to hate me or my mother for any of it?" To her, it seemed Stiles was too forgiving. Why would he forgive her but not forgive someone as nice and sweet as Allison?
"Because neither of you wanted or meant to hurt him. I did." Allison then felt a tear start to roll down the side of her cheek and she quickly moved to swipe it away.
The tear didn't escape Kira's notice. "But you're sorry. I mean, I can tell that you're not proud of what happened. I'm sure that Stiles will forgive eventually."
"Yeah…everyone keeps saying that. That's the thing though. I'm not sure I want him to."
"Why?"
Allison let a small sigh loose. This thought had been rattling in her mind for a while now but she never told anyone. She didn't understand why she was choosing to share it now and with Kira. "When I…did what I did to Stiles I was sure that Scott would understand and eventually, he would forgive me. When he found out, he understood so well that he wasn't even mad. There was no time to get back his forgiveness. But Stiles, he's unforgiving enough for the both of them. I can't help but sometimes feel that's what I deserve. That since I didn't have to even try and get Scott to forgive me…then Stiles doesn't have to."
Kira's face fell. "That's not right," she mumbled. To her, it sounded like Allison thought that Stiles' bitter feelings towards her balanced out Scott's loving ones for her. She didn't think that was right and she also didn't think it was fair. Not to Allison, not to Stiles and not to Scott.
"Maybe not…but that's how it is. But please, don't say anything to Scott about this?"
Kira let a heated breath out but she nodded. "Okay," she told her even though she felt this was anything but.
Scott and Isaac climbed into Stiles' jeep as he started to drive them over for Oak Creek. They spent a good part of the ride not speaking with a tense silence hanging over the three of them. Every so often, Scott would sneak a glance Stiles' way. In the darkness, Scott could see Stiles' paleness sticking out even more as well as his eyes looking more and more tired. Yet, every time that Stiles caught Scott staring, he straightened up and focused himself to try and pass himself off as fine. Scott sighed as it was just like earlier when Meredith spoke to him about Stiles' wolf with Scott in the car.
"Are you okay?" Stiles asked after he sighed.
Scott turned away. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied. He was nowhere near fine. Given that people seemed to be keeping stuff from him lately, and then seemed to keep wondering if he was the one that was okay. Why did everyone keep doing that? Stiles was the one that looked like he was wasting away and his friend was asking if he was fine only made him feel worse and more on edge. "You don't have to worry about me."
Isaac could hear the blip and rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'm going to say it. You look like you're dying." That made Scott jump a bit and Stiles tense up but Isaac kept going to just get it all out in the open. "You're pale, thin and back at the house you looked like you were going to fall over a few times. And you look like you're only getting worse. We're all sitting here thinking it. When we find the other you is it going to look like he's getting better?"
Scott then sighed and looked over at Stiles. "What happens if he gets hurt?" Scott asked him.
These were all questions that had been going through both Scott and Stiles' heads lately. Was the reason that Stiles was in pain and getting weaker because the nogitsune was somehow still feeding off him? Had separated them actually made things worse instead of better? They were questions they didn't want to ask but still needed answered.
Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. "What, you mean like if he dies then do I die with him?" he mumbled before he shrugged. "I don't care."
"Stiles," Scott mumbled to him. He could see that Stiles was serious when he said that. Stiles may not care but he certainly did. Stiles had been through enough, more than enough. Even more than Scott apparently knew if his time in his friend's mind said anything. He still felt cold on the inside as he remembered seeing his friend locked up with that knife stuck in him and his blood collecting on the floor.
Stiles face hardened. "Scott, I don't want anyone else to get hurt and die because of me. I remember, okay. I remember everything I did Scott. I remember pushing that sword into you and I remember twisting it."
"That wasn't you," Scott quickly tried to tell him.
"But I remember doing it. Okay…so, you've got to promise me. You can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."
"I promise Stiles," Scott said to him. "I promise that no one is going to get hurt, including you."
Stiles sighed as he just put his full focus on the road ahead. Scott could put all the false hope he wanted into this but something was telling Stiles, screaming at him, that this would only lead to despair no matter what or how hard they tried.
It was a few minutes later when they reached the gates of Oak Creek and found that Allison and Kira were already there and seemed to be waiting for them. The three of them got out of the car and met them all at the front gate. Everyone seemed nervous and scared. Scott especially but he knew that they had to do this, to save their friends.
"We've done this before guys," Scott said to everyone. "A couple of weeks ago we were standing around just like this and we saved Malia, remember? That was a total stranger. This is Lydia."
Everyone nodded as the thought of their good friend trapped here invigorated them.
Allison especially. "I'm here to save my best friend," she said before she looked over at Stiles. "And help someone we all care about."
"Same here," Scott said looking at Stiles too.
Kira let her gaze move to each of them. "I made some great friends when I came here…I don't want to lose any of them." Her gaze then stopped at Stiles. "Especially one that didn't know me and tried to help me anyway."
Stiles buckled under their looks and just lowered his gaze a bit and didn't say anything.
Isaac didn't know what to say in response to all of that. He just shrugged. "I just didn't feel like doing any homework."
They then went off and headed inside the old camp grounds. The place was huge and they decided that it was best to split up if they were going to find Lydia and the Nogitsune before Kira's mother. Scott and Stiles went one way and the others went the other way. Kira, Allison and Isaac moved through the courtyard until they found Kira's mother with the Oni outside one of the old barracks.
"Kira," she said sternly to them as she stared down at her daughter. "Turn around and go home. Take your friends with you."
But they didn't stop. They kept moving with Allison arming her bow and Isaac bringing out his claws. Kira just moved to confront her mother.
"I can't," Kira said to her. "When I looked at the game, I realized who I was actually playing. You."
Despite the tense situation, Noshiko couldn't help but be proud of her daughter for learning so much in such a short amount of time.
Allison then lifted her bow at Noshiko. "Call them off," she warned her. "Right now."
Noshiko just looked at her with pity. "You've seen what he has done. You still think you can take him alive? You think you can save him?"
"What if we can?" Kira asked.
"I tried something like that 70 years ago, your friend is gone," Noshiko lowly said to her daughter. "Even he knows it. I saw it in his eyes when I visited him last night. Stiles is prepared to die if that's what it takes to stop the Nogitsune."
"That doesn't mean we should just give up," Allison told her.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do to stop what is to happen now."
But Kira wasn't going to be moved by her mother. "Are you sure about that or are you scared mom?" she pressed. "Because if Stiles doesn't have to die then that means Rhys didn't have to die either."
At that, the Oni quickly readied their blades when they picked up their master's distress. Noshiko took a deep breath and smiled. "I see I'm no longer the fox now Kira, you are. But the Nogitsune is still my demon to bury." At that, the Oni then disappeared.
Scott and Stiles entered into the camp's old maintenance shacks and Scott quickly picked up Lydia's scent.
"She's here," Scott told Stiles before he ran off with Stiles moving to follow after him.
Void pushed the gate open, threw Lydia and himself into the room at the other side and shut the gate closed. Lydia looked around the room to see that there was nowhere else to go. They were trapped.
"They're here," she said as she eyed him smugly as he was looking up. "And I don't have to scream to know that they're going to kill you." She wasn't lying. She could feel that someone was about to die and it looked like it would be the Nogitsune.
But Void didn't falter as he looked back at her. "Good, which is why I brought you here. I needed to know when they were close enough, when death was closing in." He then pulled out the tail dagger he took from Noshiko. The next play he was going to make in his game.
"What?" Lydia mumbled.
Void and Lydia then stiffened when there were soon surrounded by the Oni. They were at the five points of the room and were staring directly at the Nogitsune. Lydia then broke away from him as the Oni readied their swords. Lydia looked over at Void but saw that he still didn't seem scared.
In fact, he was smirking. "It's only when they're close that I can do this." He then took the dagger between his hands and when the Oni closed in, he broke it.
The Oni then stopped in their movement and became still as statues. For a second, Lydia thought time had stopped but then the Oni dropped their swords and stood at attention, as if waiting for orders. Void smirked in Lydia's direction before he and the Oni vanished in a cloud of dark smoke. Now Lydia was starting to breathe quickly. The Nogitsune and the Oni were gone…so why did she still feel that death was impending? Why did she feel as if someone was about to die tonight?
Back on the surface, Noshiko gasped. She felt something strike her in the depths of her soul. Like a part of her was just cut away.
"Mom?" Kira asked as she saw the change in her mother.
Noshiko looked at her daughter wide eyed before she brought out her hand and revealed a firefly. It's light was dimming until it went out and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Isaac was freaked out by that. "Wait, what does that mean?"
"It means there's been a change in ownership." Everyone then turned around to see that the Nogitsune was there, with the Oni standing behind him. "Now, they belong to me." At his subconscious command, the Oni rose their swords up and went into a battle stance.
Lydia was just standing there, at a loss for why the feeling of death seemed to be getting clearer and closer when she heard footsteps.
"Lydia?" It was Stiles. The real Stiles and he was with Scott. "Are you alright?" he asked as Scott went to open the gate and free her.
Lydia's eyes widened at the sight of them. "No. No, no, no," she cried. "Why are you here?"
"What do you mean, we're here for you," Stiles said.
"You weren't supposed to be here. You didn't get my message?" she asked them.
Scott narrowed his eyes. "Lydia, what's happening?" Why was she so scared?
"Who else is here?" she asked them. "Who came with you?! Who else is here?!" she asked, panicked.
Scott's breath left him. If Lydia was this worried…and the Nogitsune wasn't here anymore. He then remembered what he heard Meredith say. That Lydia didn't want to be found. What if that was a warning, because she felt something was going to happen? He didn't spare another moment as he bolted and tried to hurry back up to the surface.
Void smiled at the sight before his dark eyes landed on Noshiko. "You may have been Aggressive in this game but you gave out under my Fire Style." He then held out his hand to show a ball of dark purple foxfire. Its electricity sparked menacingly in his palm as he watched it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world for a moment before looking back at Noshiko. "You recognize exactly where we are, don't you?"
Noshiko gave the area a look before her eyes widened. Memories of the mob gathering here to surround the doctor's car. And the spot she was standing. The very spot. She gasped as the memory of seeing the Molotov cocktail break at Rhys' feet before he burned. "No," she cried.
Void nodded. "Truly poetic isn't it? Now you get to burn where your beloved Rhys did with your loved one present to watch." He then went and threw the ball for her.
"No!"
"Kira!" Noshiko shouted as her daughter jumped in front of its path.
Kira made a swipe at the ball of foxfire with her sword. As soon as the blade made contact, the firefox broke apart into tiny specks of light that sparked as they fell to the floor and fizzled out like firecrackers. Allison, Isaac and Noshiko stared open eyed at Kira as her eyes widened as she looked up and down at her undamaged sword.
But Void just softly snorted at them. "Cute. No I mean it, that was really adorable. But don't think that some beginner's luck will be enough to stop me."
"We will stop you," Kira said to him as she tightened her grip on her sword.
Void's eyes widened. "Oh?" He then smirked at them. "You think because your mother ran to a wolf and was able to get the jump on me that you'll do better because you ran to a pack of them? Things aren't quite the same as they were last time for me. You see, just like my host, I've learned from past mistakes, even if they're not mine. And I've risen passed them."
Isaac narrowed his eyes at the mention of Stiles. He remembered asking about how the Nogitsune would look when they found him in comparison to Stiles. Looks like he was right. This guy looked far better than Stiles did. Even though he seemed just as pale, he looked stronger and sturdier than Stiles was looking right now.
"I don't think taking Stiles was as smart as you think," Allison glared at him. "For one, it made you more enemies than you could handle."
Void rose his eyebrows up. "Have I? Well, then I'll have to see to that. Starting by cutting that number down by four." The Oni behind him then had their luminescent eyes glow brightly for them as they all let out a group hissing sound.
"Stop!"
Everyone turned to the side to see Scott emerging from one of the sheds and running into the courtyard.
Void rose his hand up and the Oni stood down. He then smirked over at Scott. "Well Scott, glad you made it in time. I didn't want you to miss this. Seems I've become Alpha of my own little pack," he said as he looked back to the Oni behind him. He then turned to have his smirk pointing back to him. "How about that huh? Birds of a feather, am I right dude? Or should it be fur?"
"Stop talking like you're Stiles, Void," Scott spat his name out at him. "And you have no pack," he scoffed. "And you're definitely no Alpha."
Void went and stuck his bottom lip out a bit. "That hurts Scott. One would think that you believed you were the only special one allowed around here."
"Just leave Stiles alone and go back where you came from and no one has to get hurt," he growled at the Nogitsune.
Void finally lost the calm look on his face as he narrowed his eyes at Scott. "And if I don't?" he challenged. Scott just stared back at him with the glare still on his face. Void matched the hard look at he stared Scott down before he loosened up and tilted the right side of his mouth into a side smirk. "Ah, typical Scott. All bark and no bite, in more ways than one," he mumbled the last part to himself though Scott still heard him. But he then rose his tone again. "And you're wrong about me. I actually have more of Stiles in me than you'd think. I just don't have the parts that will let you hold me back and keep me from realizing my true strength."
But Scott shook his head. "Stiles, the real Stiles is stronger than you'll ever be. And I, all of us," he said giving his friends all a look, "are part of the reason why. I know because all of them are the reason why I'm stronger. Why all of us are stronger. And that's what's going to help us stop you."
Void's smirk grew deeper. "That so? Well then Scott, you should be willing to put your money where your mouth is."
Scott narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"The timeless and classic tradition and game of war: Single Combat. One on one, leader against leader, you and me. You win then you can have Stiles back. I win, then you're all mine. What do you say?"
"Scott," Allison said to him. She didn't think this was a good idea as she was sure that this had to be some trick.
But Scott didn't turn away as his glare only deepened at the Nogitsune. "Fine then."
The Oni stood at firm attention as soon as Void straightened himself. Scott gave Allison and Isaac a look and silently told them to stay away and let him handle this. They didn't seem to like it but they moved towards Kira and her mother. Void and Scott then moved a bit closer until they were a few feet from each other, facing one another. Scott was looking at him with a focused hard look on his face while Void had Stiles' face looking calm and at ease. A moment passed and they then charged at one another. Scott tried to punch at Void though when he caught the sight of Stiles' face, he pulled it back and Void easily caught it.
Void rolled his eyes and pushed at Scott so that he was backed away a few feet from him. "Is this the strength and power you bragged about? If it is, then you better start kissing your friends goodbye. The question is, who do we start with first?" he asked as he looked at the others.
Scott gasped. He wouldn't lose his friends, not one. He had to stop and remember that this wasn't Stiles he was fighting, no matter how much it might look like him. Just a while ago, he promised Stiles that no one would get hurt and he saw the resignation on his friend's face. Stiles may accept that there was no chance but Scott wouldn't. He couldn't. That trail of thinking started to make his pulse go faster and the temperature of his blood go higher. It ran to the tips of his fingers, expelling his claws. Traveled to his jaws and made his fangs appear. Spread to his face and to the center of his eyes making him reveal his fully shifted face. With his red eyes, he looked upon Void and saw that his aura was present, and the dark fox was leering at him. Scott then roared at Void with all he had making him look squarely back at him.
The roar didn't frighten Void, it settled him. "Now that's more like it."
Stiles and Lydia were moving through the tunnels, trying to get to the surface to meet with everyone else when Stiles was starting to falter a bit. He then started to lean against the walls a bit and he wasn't moving as fast.
"Stiles, are you okay?" Lydia asked him
"I…I'm-" But Stiles couldn't say anything more than that his feet started to give out.
"Stiles!" Lydia cried as she bent down in front of him.
Stiles stared back at her bleary eyed before he let his shoulders slump and seemed to go unconscious. For a cold second, Lydia thought that what she was feeling right now was about Stiles, given how the Nogitsune kept taunting her about it earlier. But, when she quickly checked Stiles' pulse, it was lower than normal, but still there. Stiles seemed to have simply just passed out from exhaustion. Lydia then looked upwards. The feeling was getting stronger, but it didn't seem to be coming from Stiles. But then who was it going for?
Scott made a swipe at Void's head but he backed away from Scott's claws before he tried to throw a kick his way. Scott blocked it with his arm before he charged forward with a punch. Void spun backwards to avoid it as he brought his leg up to kick at Scott's back. Scott fell forward to his knees but he quickly threw himself up to his feet and turned around to face him, still able to fight. Void then moved to attack this time and threw some punches for Scott but he intercepted each of the blows with his upper arms but Void's barrage made him start to back up a bit. Scott then quickly jumped as Void sent another punch and then kicked off from Void's shoulders which caused him to stagger forward a few steps. Scott landed on the floor and then quickly pounced at him, his claws poised to strike when Void's left hand quickly snapped backward and caught Scott's right hand by the wrist. He then quickly tightened his hold and twisted his arm which made Scott gasp in pain before bending forward. Void then took his right hand and quickly sent three hard blows to Scott's ribs before throwing a hard right hook across his jaw. The blow sent Scott falling to the ground in a slump. Scott tried to pick himself up and was on all fours when Void went and sent a solid kick into his ribs which had his arms give out and his face meet the ground. Void faced Scott as he rolled over a bit and coughed up some blood on the ground.
"Scott!" Kira cried out.
Void's face fell into a devious smirk as he looked over at the Kira and the others before looking back at the fallen alpha. He then held his hand out and let sparks fly above his open palm before his foxfire took the eerily familiar form of a ball of electricity. Everyone watched as Void was raising it slowly, getting ready to hurl it down at Scott. Isaac breathing quickened and he let a growl loose before he charged. The next moment, there was a flash of movement and blood sprayed out into the open air. Everyone looked over at Isaac as the edge of a sword had swiped at him and wounded him across his chest. One of the Oni had drawn its weapon and struck at him before he could get too close to Scott and the Nogitsune. Void glared in Isaac's direction and then threw the ball of foxfire for Isaac. Allison quickly fired an arrow and intercepted it in mid-air.
"You violated the rules of Single Combat. You know what that means?" Void then looked over at the Oni. "Attack," he calmly commanded.
The Oni then moved for the others and they sprung into action. Allison met their blades with her bow as Kira pushed her mother back before bringing out her sword and blocking each of their hits. Isaac tried to hurl himself at the Oni fighting him but it easily jumped over him and sent a hard backhanded strike that threw him to the side. Scott lifted his head and watched and grit his teeth as he tried to get up to help them through the lingering pain he was feeling. Void just moved to the side and was leaning against some old crates, watching in amusement.
Kira was fighting two Oni at once, frantically trying to block each of their attacks. "How do we stop them?" she cried at her mother.
"You can't!" Noshiko cried.
Allison tried to fire an arrow at one of them but they swung their sword and cut the projectile in two as it fell uselessly to the floor. She moved to try and launch another arrow and another but the Oni kept dicing them up as it moved for her. Allison then moved to string her last arrow when Isaac pounced at the Oni going after her and threw it against the wall. He gave Allison a look before the one he was fighting before moved and struck him across the stomach. Isaac gasped before the Oni he pushed away moved to strike its sword across his back. Isaac then stiffened up from the blow exposing the full of his front to the Oni that cut him first. It was now standing in front of him, lifting its sword high, ready to deliver a killing blow when an arrow went and flew into its chest. Allison fired her last one into it, the one that had her freshly forged silver arrowhead. The Oni dropped its sword as it moved to try and pull the arrow out. However, a bright golden light seemed to shine where it was hit and soon it screeched before it exploded right there.
The explosion seemed to make everyone freeze in their place as their eyes just widened at what just happened. Void, however, recovered quickly as he went over to grab the destroyed Oni's fallen sword before he went and harshly flung it for Allison. The movement caught her eye and she turned just in time for the sword to find it's mark into her stomach.
Down below in the tunnels, Lydia drew in a deep breath as she felt death come and claim its target. Their identity suddenly loud and clear to her. "ALLISON!" she screamed out.
Void turned and looked over at Scott whose face had paled and was frozen in shock. "One down," he said before he turned around and walked off towards the Oni. They began to fade into black smoke and Void walked into it and vanished along with them.
Allison stared down at the sword that vanished into black smoke along with the other Oni but left a wound that was now bleeding more heavily and freely without the blade blocking it. Her bow slipped from her fingers and she began to fall to the ground.
Kira ran over to her mother and embraced her as they looked over at Allison laying on the ground. Isaac was on his knees, clutching one the sword wounds decorating his body, but finding himself unable to move for her. Instead, it was Scott who managed to get to her. He sat by her and lifted her up onto his knees.
"Allison," Scott cried as he looked in horror at the blood gathering in Allison's hands as she tried to cover her own wound.
"Did you find her?" she gasped. "Is Lydia safe?"
"Yeah," he quickly whispered to her as he lightly moved the hair stuck to her face. "She's okay." He then moved to take hold of her wrist just above her bloodied hand. He focused as hard as he could, but nothing seemed to be happening. He wasn't able to take the slightest bit of her pain away from her. "I-I can't," he gasped out. "I can't take your pain."
But Allison just smiled at him. "That's because it doesn't hurt."
If it didn't hurt, then that could only mean one thing.
Scott shook his head. "No," he said he kept trying.
Allison's face softened a bit. "It's okay."
Scott's eyes were starting to shine a bit. "Allison,"
"It's okay," Allison cut in. "It's okay. It's perfect. I'm in the arms of my first love. The person that I love. The person that I'll always love. I-I love you," she cried to him. "Scott…Scott McCall."
Tears were now freely falling from Scott's eyes now. "Allison, please. Don't please," he begged.
Allison felt her strength leaving her and she had to make sure that they knew. "You have to tell my dad," she squeaked out. "Tell my dad and…tell Stiles…he doesn't have to-" But her throat started to fill up with blood and she was having trouble breathing. She kept her eyes on Scott's face for one last moment before she felt everything going dark around her.
"No," Scott gasped out as he saw Allison closing her eyes and he tried to shake her to stay awake.
But Allison's body relaxed and then stilled as death finally claimed her.
Kira began crying as her mother took her and pulled her to her so that she could cry into her as she lightly rubbed the top of her head.
Lydia was crying as let herself rest against Stiles' shoulder as he sat there, still unconscious though there still was a pained look on his face.
Isaac felt his insides shrivel up as he stared at the sight of Allison in Scott's arms. Soon he felt his body going numb and he didn't have enough strength to keep his head up keep seeing the sight.
Chris Argent ran into the camp with his gun already ready and quickly spotted everyone but stopped when he saw that they seemed to be in some kind of emotional distress. Distress that he began to share in when he saw the sight of his daughter, not moving, in Scott's grasp.
A man opened the door to an apartment where there were a handful of men, cleaning and assembling their guns. He walked on passed them to the woman sitting by the window, sipping a cup of coffee.
"Well?" she asked.
He nodded even though she wasn't looking at him. "Yes, you were right." He then went and put a bullet shell by the table next to her.
Araya Calavara gave it a side look before she smiled into her cup. "Bueno," she said before she rose her cup to take a sip of her coffee. "Mmm, muy bueno."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this emotional and heart wrenching chapter. It took me a long time to write and went through countless rewrites at scenes. And speaking of re-writes, I wanted to alert you about a massive one I did just the other day to chapter 6 of my first story Teen Wolves. I added a new scene to it. I thought the chapter lacked some Stiles time so I gave him a new one. Check it out, when you feel up to it.