Chapter 29: Lost and Found

"Xayne? Xayne! What are you saying? Where are you? I'm coming!" Derek yelled through the phone that lay on the floor at my feet.

Kate had tossed Stiles back towards me and disappeared in the second I'd tried to catch him. He had one foot on his seat, the other the floorboard, and he sat between the two buckets seats with his head in my lap. A slow but steady stream of blood ran down my face and dripped with a pat pat pat onto my chest. My shirt was already drenched. The only other sound was my own frantic breaths. It was with numb fingers that I'd called Derek but all I could manage to say was, "Kate killed... Stiles... dead," before the numbing tingle of hyperventilation caused me to drop my phone. I could see the blackness as it creeped in from my peripheral vision. If I was to pass out from blood loss and too much oxygen, then the last thing I wanted to see was Stiles.

My eyes traveled from his shoes up his body and came to rest on his face; his clothes were clean and his eyes were closed as if he merely slept. I leaned forward and placed a bloody kiss to his parted lips. "I'm so sorry, Stiles," I whispered. Silent tears struggled to wash away the blood that ran into my eyes from the gash on my forehead as I sat back up. A wave of dizziness caused me to sway before I felt myself fall backward. I hit my head on the window, which cinched the blackness around me.


A muffled voice woke me. "Xayne? Xayne!" I felt my head loll as my body was urgently shook, but I couldn't move, I couldn't open my eyes, and I couldn't breathe. The door I leaned against fell away and me with it. I was caught and laidd down onto the cold, hard pavement. When I was flat on my back, my head was tipped back. My lungs screamed for air, but there was no more room. My broken nose was held closed as frantic lips were pressed to mine and blessed air was breathed into me. "Breathe, Xayne!" came the voice again.

I was rolled onto my side and blood poured out of my mouth before I was rolled back and another breath breathed into my lungs. I could hear it as it gurgled back out. The process was repeated again and again, each time copious amounts of blood surged out of me, but my lungs still wouldn't respond on their own.

"Come on, breathe! I don't know what else to do! When did you stop breathing? How badly are you hurt? Do you have a concussion?" Frantic hands touched my hands and face. "You're pulse is getting weaker.. forget it, I'm not taking any chances." I heard a grunt and then felt fresh warmth poured over my face and into my open wounds. Some of it went up my nose and I could feel it drain down the back of my throat.

"Stiles? Xayne?" a voice called from a distance. It was Derek.

"Over here!" Stiles called back.

"What happened? She- she said you were dead. She said Kate-?" questioned Derek.

"It was Kate," said Stiles firmly.

"Wait, what? What happened? Are you..." Derek paused then yelled, "What are you doing?" There was a scuffle and a grunt.

"She saved me, now I'm saving her," defended Stiles. "She wasn't breathing! Her lips were blue- she was drowning in her own blood. CPR wasn't working. I had to do something fast. Look at her! Just listen!"

The pain that had been blessedly numb, woke. A fire burned across my forehead and it felt like a white hot poker was shoved up my nose and across my lips. My wrists felt like they were made of shards of glass and my lungs were on fire, but then, all at once, the pain was gone and I was released from the paralysis. My eyes flew open as I sat up and gasped for air. I could still taste blood. I reached up to touch my face and nose- they were still wet and sticky but they felt normal, and my wrists were fine. I was a mess, but I was ok.

I looked in the direction of the two figures near me. Derek and Stiles were frozen in their pose; Derek had Stiles by his collar while Stiles just stood there, his eyes on me, arms loose at his sides. Derek slowly released him as he blinked once and then was at my side in an instant. He held me tightly in his arms as my face crumpled and I wept into his shoulder for several minutes as the adrenaline wore off. Finally, I calmed down and leaned away to look him in the eyes.

"It was really Kate?" he asked, still in disbelief as he looked to Stiles for answers, but Stiles was gone.

"He must be upset," I whispered, but a minute later he was back and Derek stood quickly.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Derek asked of him in a low growl as he took a few menacing steps toward Stiles.

"I'm so, so sorry, Stiles," I whispered as fresh tears ran down my cheeks.

In a blink, Stiles was at my side (completely ignoring Derek's threatening growl), his eyes wide. "You didn't do anything!" he murmured earnestly. "I'm not mad or upset about this." He took my hand in his and linked our fingers. With his other he gently lifted my chin until I looked him in the eye. "But I woke up with the taste of you on my tongue and it took everything in me not to pounce on you like a cat on a mouse." He licked his lips.

I bit my lip and blushed. "Yeah- I know that feeling," I whispered, a little breathless at his earnest gaze.

"Dude..." Derek said. We looked at him; his eyes flashed and his lip curled, "gross."

Ignoring him again, Stiles turned back to me. "I tracked a coyote that was nearby. I'm sorry I bolted." He stroked my bottom lip with his thumb before he cupped my cheek and leaned in until he was a mere breath away. "Remember our conversation... about power... at the motel?" he whispered across my lips.

I blinked and remembered what he'd said about the power he'd had when he was possessed. "Mmhmm," I hummed in the positive.

"Mmhmm," he echoed and nodded warmly as a slow smile wound up his cheek... and the hungry look he gave me had me feeling hot all over. I let out a shuddered breath as he closed his eyes and then took possession of my lips. As it turned out, it was a good thing we were already on the ground because the passion he poured into that kiss had me weak in the knees. I was breathless when Derek cleared his throat, impatiently a few minutes later.

Suddenly, lights flashed over us and we pulled apart to shield our eyes. Stiles scooped me up and set me on my feet. "It's Lydia," he said as my eyes still struggled to adjust. Derek glanced over and passed Stiles a look.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Lydia doesn't eat pizza," he said as if that explained their worried looks.

"Okay-?"

"She's got fresh pizza in her car and look," he nodded in her direction.

I squinted to see through the window at her, but everything was too blurry. "Hold on," I said and went to the open passenger door. I felt around for at least one half of my glasses. When I found one on the floor, I quickly held it up to look through and looked back towards Lydia's car. She still hadn't moved. She looked dazed and unseeing as she stared out her windshield a few seconds before she opened her door and glided towards us. "Lydia?" I called to her. She just blinked and looked from my bloody appearance to Stiles, then across the road into the woods before she looked back to me again.

"Where's the body?" she said barley above a whisper, as she still stared unblinkingly.

Stiles stepped closer, "There's no body, Lydia," he said gently. She gave her head a little shake and finally blinked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"There's no body; not anymore," he replied. She blinked again, still confused. Stiles tried to clarify, "I was- but I'm not now- it was Kate and she's not anymore either... Xayne almost... but I saved her..."

Before he could get another word out, a motor sounded close by and was quickly getting louder. Seconds later, Scott's dirt bike pulled over to us and Allison hopped off from behind Scott's back. At the look of bewilderment on my face, Derek explained simply, "Group text and lo-jacks."

"Are you guys ok?" asked Allison.

"What happened?" asked Scott at the same time.

"Define ok," I said.

"It was Kate," answered Stiles at the same time.

"What do you mean?" asked Allison (looking hard at Stiles) and Scott (looking hard at me.)

Derek stepped forward and saved us both from our poor explanations. First looking at Allison, he said, "Kate attacked them," then to Scott, "She killed Stiles."

The silence was deafening. Then all at once, the questions started flying; "What do you mean Kate-?" "Are you sure?" "You're in transition now?" "Why are you so bloody?" "Are you hurt?" "Did she say anything?" "How is she alive?" "Does that mean she's a werewolf?" "What are we going to do?"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Stiles gave a whistle and everyone fell silent again. "Yes, I'm in transition. I didn't get a look at her; it sounded like her though. She said she's coming for Scott and Derek. Xayne got hurt just before Kate showed up (there was a deer in the road) and had a lot of injuries; she passed out before I woke up and by then she was drowning in her own blood. So I saved her."

Everyone looked at me. "I'm ok now; and she was certainly something. She had claws and fangs and..." I shuddered, "her eyes glowed green."

Stiles put his arm around my shoulders as Scott and Derek looked at each other for answers but Derek just shook his head. Everyone fell silent again. After several minutes, Stiles spoke up. "Let's talk tomorrow morning; my house. Xayne needs to get cleaned up and my dad is waiting on us and some pizza."

As if the word 'pizza' was her cue, Lydia turned and went to get the pies from her passenger seat. She handed them to me but didn't let go right away. "I'm glad you're not dead," she said, then turned to Stiles, "You, too." Then she left.

"I need to tell my dad," said Allison as she gently tugged on Scott's sleeve. Scott didn't say anything; just looked between Stiles and I as Allison dragged him away.

Derek came over and took the pizzas from me and gave them to Stiles before pulling me close for a tight hug. "We'll figure this out. We'll find a way," he said before releasing me. Five minutes later, I sat numbly with the pizzas on my lap. Stiles and I rode in silence for a while before he spoke. "Maybe you should get cleaned up before we talk to my dad," he said quietly.

"Ok," I whispered.

A few minutes later we pulled into Stiles' driveway and got out. Stiles took the pizzas from me and as soon as we entered the house, I darted up the stairs. Apparently not fast enough, though; I heard the sheriff say, "What happened?"

Stiles murmured his response and I couldn't quite make it out. The sheriff didn't bother to lower his voice, however as "I'm the sheriff; I've been trained and have years of experience to... 'sense a disturbance in the force.'" could be heard from the top of the stairs where I hid. Then a little louder still, he called up, "Let's talk after your shower, Xayne. That looked like a lot of blood, are you sure your ok?'"

I jumped, "Yes, Sir!" and flew into the bathroom.


After a quick shower, I stepped out onto the plush shower rug beside the tub and wrapped myself in a towel, then I realized the pickle I was in; I had no clean clothes. I figured I could whisper at the top of the stairs and Stiles would be able to hear me like Derek had the other day; then he could bring me my bag. I went to open the door when it flew inward and knocked me back. Stiles was already bringing my bag and had come in right at the same time.

The force of the door opening caught me off balance and I started to fall backwards. In my startled state, I let go of the towel to brace myself for the hard landing I expected any second. Stiles, however, with his new reflexes, dropped the bag and caught the towel in one hand and me with the other. I found myself hauled up against him, my toes barely touching the floor, his hand against the small of my back. I automatically grabbed onto him to steady myself.

"Sorry," he murmured before reality caught up with him; I was naked and pressed up against him. His eyes darted to the cleavage pressed into his chest before bouncing back to my eyes. "Sorry!" he gasped before his eyes bounced to the vanity mirror above the sink behind me that reflected my bare bottom and our intimate position, then back to my (by now) flaming face. "SORRY!" he nearly choked and blushed furiously.

He then closed his eyes, set me on my feet, and held the towel up so that I could grab it and wrap it around myself again. "I was just brining you your bag; I realized you didn't have any clean clothes. Sorry again, Xayne. I'll meet you downstairs..." Then, I could have sworn he mumbled something about needing a cold shower, but I couldn't be sure.

A few minutes later, I was dressed in a simple pair of black leggings and tank top with a plumb- colored, off-the-shoulder sweatshirt that I knew made my eyes pop. My finger- combed waves were left to air dry as I nervously made my way downstairs to find the Sheriff and Stiles sitting at the table, waiting for me. The pizzas lay forgotten on one end.

"Ok," the sheriff jumped right in as soon as I sat down next to Stiles, "what happened when you two went to go get the pizza?"

Stiles and I glanced at each other and I bit my lip. He looked back to his dad, cleared his throat, and said, "Well, so do you remember Kate...?"