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Chapter 10: Self

Daria rifled through her closet like a tornado as the afternoon sun beamed through her window. Derek was coming over soon. And whether it was a date-date, or just hanging out, or whatever they were, it made Daria's nerves buzz with anticipation.

She finally settled on a medium blue v-neck blouse and a black mini skirt.

She sat at her desk and began to tap her foot on the floor.

"Gah, stop acting like a high school girl."

She clapped her hands across her nose and mouth inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself.

Was it a date? The power was still out, so the usual date-date type activities were no longer possible.

She heard a tap at the window and blushed scarlet.

"What on earth are you doing?" She gaped at the sight of Derek holding onto the ledge with only his hands.

"You said you prefer when I knock," he grinned.

All of her previous anxiety dissipated, and she bit down a wide smile. "Come in, you silly wolf."

He leapt in the window easily, and as she took stock of his clothing, she laughed.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"We match…" she giggled.

It was true. From the blue v-neck down to his black jeans.

"All I'm missing is black, leather jacket of my own," she teased.

He slid off his leather jacket and stepped behind her, draping it over her shoulders. "Now you look perfect." Daria's heart thrummed like hummingbird wings, and he gave her a knowing chuckle.

"It's not fair, you know. Listening to my heart like that." She felt his warmth from behind and shivered.

He took her hand and spun her toward him, pressing it to his chest. "Then feel mine."

It drummed rapidly beneath her fingers, and she gasped softly. "They feel the same."

Derek nodded, leaning in to kiss her lips, and she felt both of their pulses rush. He caressed her tongue with his own, and it made her feel feverish and heady. Suddenly everything Peter had said at the gym the previous day came pouring back into her mind.

The exquisite pleasure of lovemaking.

Her fingers weaved themselves through Derek's hair, and he responded with an untamed growl.

Daria felt the air whir around her and found herself on the bed beneath him.

Her heart pounded. She'd dreamed of moments like this. She wanted it, and she could see the longing of equal measure in Derek's eyes.

She was about to speak when the doorbell rang, making her jump.

"Shoot! The trick-or-treaters! I completely forgot!" She groaned, wiggling out from beneath him.

"We could ignore them," Derek suggested, rising beside her and kissing her neck.

She shivered and then groaned again, tugging him downstairs. "I can't. I promised Dad I'd hand out the candy." She gave him one last wistful glance before pulling open the front door.

"Trick-or-treat!" said two young children as their mom waited back on the sidewalk.

"Oh my goodness! What adorable costumes!" Daria crooned. She gushed over the witch and fairy princess and sent them on their way with ample amounts of candy.

The door closed, and Derek wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You… are adorable."

She hummed in satisfaction and led him to the couch.

"How long are you staying?"

"As long as you want me to." He grinned as her blush deepened. Then her face faltered slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Scott and Stiles don't know you're back yet."

"That can wait until tomorrow."

She half smiled for a moment, and then the wistful expression returned.

"What's really wrong, Daria."

"It's probably nothing."

"You can tell me."

She smiled sadly. "It's Stiles. He's been acting a little off lately."

"Isn't 'a little off' normal for him?"

"Well, yeah," she laughed, "but it's more than that. Stiles has always been overprotective of me. And we were always tight knit, but he's been so distant the past couple of weeks. He hasn't… been himself."

"Stiles has been through a lot."

"I know. I can't help it though. I put a hand on his shoulder the other day, and he flinched away from me. Twice in one week. Any time I go near him, he acts like I've hurt him."

She felt awful derailing the date when the evening had looked so promising, but Derek must have sensed how heavily it weighed on her thoughts. "Tell you what. I'll go find Scott and Stiles tonight. I'll make sure your brother's okay."

"You don't have to do that for me. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go…"

Derek squeezed her hand lightly. "It's all right."

He got up from the couch, and Daria started to pull off the jacket he'd let her wear.

"Hold onto it for me," he said, grinning as her pulse rose.

"Thank you," she beamed playfully. "Now I can look perfect."

He took in her twinkling silver eyes, wavy brown hair, and rosy lips. "You already looked perfect."

Daria blushed profusely. Then her eyes widened, and she bounced up from the couch and grabbed a blue bag of candy.

"Take this with you in case you run into any more trick-or-treaters. Dad always buys too much so he can secretly snack on it after the night is over."

He laughed and then glanced at her lips. "I'll come back tonight."

"I'll leave my window open."

He leaned down, breathing in her scent as he pressed his lips to hers. Things were beginning to look up.

–

"Daria…"

Daria sat beside a tree stump, tracing the rings with her fingers.

"Daria…"

"Huh? Derek?" The voice felt out of place. Where was he?

"Daria…"

She jerked awake and saw Derek smiling tenderly at her, and the dream quickly faded from consciousness.

"I… fell asleep?" Daria blinked several times in confusion. The last thing she remembered was waiting on the edge of her bed for Derek to show up. Then she frowned at the sunlight flooding in through the window. "You're late!"

"I'm sorry." The way he looked made Daria forget that she was supposed to be annoyed.

She suddenly became very conscious of her morning breath and shot out of bed. "It's okay. I gotta… take care of stuff. Hang on!"

He suppressed a grin and nodded, picking up an old book from her nightstand as she closed the door. Daria peered into the bathroom mirror and cringed. Makeup had caked itself in random crevices of her face. Fortunately the hair was okay. Taking a minute to relieve herself and freshen up, she managed to get all traces of mascara out from under her eyes and thoroughly scrub off the rest of her makeup. Then she opened the door and shimmied back under her covers.

"Better?" he smirked, setting the book on her bedside table.

"Yeah, I'm just cold in the mornings."

"Let me help." He inclined his head toward the bed, and Daria's pulse quickened.

"Okay." She folded over the corner of her blanket and scooted over so he could join.

Derek propped himself against the headboard, shuffling under the blankets until he was right beside her. Then he pulled her between his legs and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Daria sensed a hint of urgency in his embrace, and she leaned back into his chest. "Why didn't you come last night? What happened?"

The wolf shook his head. "I didn't find Stiles. What I found… was terrifying."

He told her about demons that had risen from the shadows. Faceless, unkillable beings in all black that were targeting the supernatural.

"There were five of them, and they left a mark on everyone they touched."

Daria sat up and turned to face him. "What kind of mark?"

He turned his head so she could see the back of his ear, and Daria gasped. It was a black symbol, like a boxy number five in reverse, burned into the skin near the hairline.

"What is it? What does it mean?"

"We don't know yet. But all five of them were facing Scott. Then when the sun came up, they disappeared."

Daria inhaled a deep, shuddering breath in an attempt to compartmentalize her fear. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and find your brother like I promised, and I'm going to make sure Scott is safe."

She fell against his chest and peered out the window. "Make sure you're safe too."

He kissed the top of her head and held her for a little longer.

–

An hour later Daria entered the preserve to survey the terrain. Derek said he would be tailing Scott all day and had subtly suggested that it would be justified if she stay home from work, but it was a fieldwork day, and no supernatural being would keep her from it.

She had only taken a few steps into the woods when she felt a presence behind her.

Whipping around she sprayed a canister of pepper spray at her would-be assailant but instantly realized her error. "Peter?!"

He shouted expletives into his balled up fist while the burn in his eyes healed supernaturally.

"I'm so sorry, Peter. You should have said something!"

"Note… to self. Next time Derek asks me to keep an eye on you, the answer is a resounding no." He swore again. "And do you honestly think a can of pepper spray is going to do anything against an unkillable ghost demon?"

"Better than nothing," she grumbled.

"You humans are so predictable," he said, earning himself a glare.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Staying out of harm's way, of course."

Daria rolled her eyes. "You really are just self-serving, aren't you…"

"I never claimed not to be. You simply chose to assume the best - another common error of humanity."

She groaned, trying to ignore him as she did some plant surveying.

It was like that throughout most of the day, littered with innuendos on Peter's part. And when she went back into the main office to file some paperwork, for once was grateful to be inside.

"Be home before sunset," Peter warned before parting ways, so she hurried home and made sure each door was locked.

The power was still out, so she lit a candle and began to read to distract her thoughts.

It was nearly 8 pm when Daria heard a tinny screeching sound from the floor. The candle flame went out, and a figure all in black emerged from the shadows.

Dropping the book, she shuffled to the side of the bed and crouched down to hide.

It was the ghost demon, and it was more terrifying than Derek had described. It had hollow eyes and wore a blackened mask that seemed to gnash its teeth like a feral dog.

She froze, afraid to even breathe, when another materialized behind her and wrenched her upwards from the floor. Its eyes glowed yellow, and as it cupped a blackened hand around her left ear, Daria felt as though she had just been suspended into an icy lake, and the world faded into darkness.

–

Scott jogged beside the gurney as his mom and Emergency Personnel wheeled his father through the hospital doors. The demon warriors, the oni, had stabbed his dad through the chest while trying to see if he or Kira were possessed by the Nogitsune: an evil, dark kitsune.

"Stab wound to the left chest. Possible collapsed lung. Pulse is weak."

He was about to tell his mother that he was going to find Stiles when he heard someone faintly call his name.

"Scott…"

The echoed whisper of a female voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Scott…"

"Your father's in good hands now, so everything should be all... Scott?"

"Huh, what?"

"Scott, baby, what's wrong?"

"Scott…"

Finally he recognized the voice.

"I need to find Daria."

"Honey, it's late. Maybe you should let her sleep."

"Scott…"

A sense of urgency flared inside of him. "No. Something's wrong. I need to find her right now. Make sure Stiles is okay."

He ran out the door and ran with wolf speed in the direction of the Stilinski residence.

Scott called Daria four times, but there was no answer. "Come on, Daria. Pick up. Come on…" he yelled at his phone.

Finally he tried a different number.

"Scott?" Sheriff Stilinski answered hastily. "Sorry, I just got home from the station. What is it; is Stiles okay?"

"I'm not calling about Stiles. I need you to check on Daria. She's not answering her phone. I'm almost there. I just… need you to check on your daughter right now."

Scott held the phone to his ear as he ran.

"Oh no… How close are you, Scott? Her skin - it's like ice."

Scott felt his heart lurch with worry. "I'm a block away. You need to get her warm RIGHT NOW."

Scott leapt in through Daria's window thirty seconds later and flew to her side.

"I-I can't feel her heartbeat. She's too cold."

Scott closed his eyes, training his ears on Daria's vitals.

"Her pulse is weak. We need to get her to the hospital."

Daria's father wrapped every blanket he could find around her body, and Scott climbed into the passenger seat of the cruiser, clutching her to his body. Cranking up the heater, they sped to the hospital.

"Scott…" he heard her voice project into her mind.

"It's going to be okay, Daria. I've got you."

The sheriff turned to Scott, his forehead creased with worry. "I can hardly wrap my head around all this with psychics and banshees, but I'm grateful for Lydia's premonitions right now."

Scott frowned. "Lydia didn't hear your daughter though. I did."

"You? Is that an Alpha wolf thing."

"No. No, it's not."

"Then how did you know?"

"I heard her voice calling me in my mind."

"How does that happen?"

Scott shook his head. "I have no idea…"

–

Scott sat by Daria's bedside as the staff took her vitals. They had laid a heavy, heated blanket with pockets of warm air over the top of her body to help with circulation.

"You know after hours visitors are supposed to be family only, Mister McCall," one of the nurses reminded him.

"Daria is family."

"I mean biological family."

"The Sheriff asked me to stay with her," Scott said simply, and the conversation thankfully dropped.

Two things gnawed at him that he needed answers to: First, how he had heard Daria's voice in his mind from miles away. And second, making sure the kanji symbol on her neck matched everyone else's.

While Scott and the others were trying to fight, Allison, her father, and Isaac had discovered that the ghost demons were called Oni - an unstoppable force that had only one quest - to find the Nogitsune, a dark fox spirit with the ability to possess a being connected to the supernatural. Anyone who passed their test was marked with 己, the kanji symbol for Self.

The nurse finished taking Daria's temperature and left the room. Now was his chance.

He gently pulled back Daria's hair and exhaled with relief. 己. It was the same symbol as everyone else's. Then he caught a hint of black and pulled the hair further back.

Scott's mouth fell open. There was a second symbol, 器, and he had no idea what it meant.