Chapter nine: sabotage

Of the remaining six hours until school started, I spent four gathering all the information I could about nogitsunes. I had even texted Kira with questions and if she could forward me some good sources. Evidently she didn't sleep well that night either, because I got a response at five am.

At five thirty, the sheriff came home. Disappointed is an understatement for his reaction when he found me at the kitchen table, which had several books and at least four empty cans of redbull on it.

"You were supposed to get some sleep."

"I am also supposed to protect the people in this town, but I can't even protect my own boyfriend, so I guess I'm just a disappointment in all areas of life." I tried to laugh, but it came out strangled and sounded more like a sob.

He sighed and sat down at the table opposite to me. "We're not yet sure what is happening to Stiles. They're going to run tests tomorrow."

"I'll be there."

"After school, I hope."

"I'm giving up on school. If past experience counts for anything, I'm going to be too busy anyway." I took another sip from my fifth redbull before he could stop me. "I'll just let myself get held back, and then I can actually focus on helping Stiles, because you see, if I can't help Stiles, and the nogitsune fully takes over and starts killing innocent people, then I'll have to-" I couldn't say it. "And I don't know if I will be able to… not do that. I've never tried to stop it. So what if I shift, and it turns out I can't stop it, and then-" A wave of nausea hit me. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe it is better if you skip school tomorrow," he said, slowly gathering all the cans on the table before getting up and throwing them in the thrash. "Are you still going to the guidance counsellor?"

I closed my laptop and started stacking my books. "Once a week, mostly to check up on my schoolwork."

"You've been through a lot the past few years, it wouldn't hurt to talk about it."

I sighed and stood up "You're probably right. Also about the going to sleep thing, I- thank you." I kept my gaze on my nais, which were probably shorter than they'd even been. "For everything. Letting me stay here, keeping an eye out, all that." Then I quickly made my way upstairs.

~o~

I woke up at around five in the afternoon, after a sleep filled with nightmares of me killing my own boyfriend… who was currently in the hospital receiving a ton of tests. Shit. I got ready as fast as I could and drove to the hospital. Stiles was just between tests, and resting in his room.

I knocked on the door and slowly opened it. Stiles was awake, sitting on the bed, feet dangling over the side. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright," he said. Neither of us had the energy to call out the lie. "Dad said he'd caught you researching in the kitchen until five in the morning?"

"Guilty as charged," I said as I sat down next to him, putting my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me. It felt good, natural… I really hoped it was actually him I was talking to. "I just feel so useless. All this stuff keeps happening, and I keep being too late to stop it from happening. And… I am making this about me when you're having an awful day in a hospital."

He laughed softly. "That's okay, I don't really want to talk about it… I assume my dad has filled you in on what they're looking for?"

I nodded, and we sat in silence for a while, when Scott walked in, soon followed by his mother. It was time for Stiles' MRI.

I wished Stiles good luck first and let him have a private conversation with Scott before the MRI started. Since Scott and I weren't family, we had to wait in the hallway.

"We missed you at school today," he said.

"Yeah, kind of researched through the night and then slept through the day… have you heard anything from Deaton yet?"

He shook his head. "But he's working on something."

My phone rang. "It's Lydia," I said as I stood up. "Hey Lyds, just one second." I walked out of the hallway, into the toilet. "What's up?"

"I keep hearing this metal clanging noise," she said. "It's getting louder, it hurts."

I frowned. "Clanging? What kind of clanging?"

"This steady beat of a heavy clanging sound. It is driving me insane."

I paused. "Like the sound an MRI machine makes?"

"... exactly like the sound an MRI machine makes."

"I knew something else was going on! Stiles is having an MRI right now." I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "Something is going to go down. If you want to stop the sound, stop trying to drown it out. Hone in on it, let it pass through you. That's the quickest way. It might also hurt like hell."

"I'll try. What are you going to do?"

"Try to figure out what the hell the nogitsune's plan is. Call me if you find out anything." I hung up and ran back to the hallway. Scott had been joined by Derek. Scott's mind seemed to be racing as he slowly stood up.

"He was trying to protect us," he whispered. "We need to get to the roof." As we ran up, I told them about my conversation with Lydia. This made them run even faster, which in turn made it impossible for me to keep up with them.

I just got to the roof when I heard Lydia scream in my mind, so loud it sent me staggering backwards. Seconds later, an explosion of electricity came from a power unit in the middle of the roof. A thick cable shot loose, electricity sparking out of it as it flew around on the roof, and eventually off of it, travelling down to the parking lot.

My hands flew to my ears as over a dozen ringing sounds echoed in my head, all different pitches. The lights in the hospital below flickered… there were people on life support down there. One of the pitches started growing louder of the rest, and I felt my attention being pulled to the parking lot again.

An ambulance had crashed against a water supply pipe, which was now leaking out water over the parking lot. Mere feet away, the electrical wire was whipping around. I shifted and dove down towards the parking lot, following that instinct tugging at me. Just in time, I managed to lift up the ambulance worker who was stepping out of his vehicle. His feet were inches above the now electrified water as I pushed him away. But another ringing pitch just took over. My eyes darted over to Allison and Isaac, who were getting out of Allison's car.

"Isaac, get back in!" I yelled, and sighed as both he and Allison listened. The relief lasted only a few seconds, as a few feet away another woman got out of her car. She was dead within two seconds.

"Everyone get back!" a familiar voice yelled. Kira was standing at the edge of the water.

"Kira!" I yelled, "Get the wire! Soak up the electricity!" I wasn't even halfway through my second sentence when Kira ran into the water, unaffected by the current. She snatched the moving wire out of the air and covered the exposed end with her hand. The lights kept flickering for a while, until Kira opened her eyes. They were glowing in a burnt orange colour.

Now that the chaos was quickly subsiding, I shifted back. A person claiming to see a winged girl when nearly dying was one thing, a bunch of them seeing it standing out in the open parking lot was another.

I ran towards Kira. "That was amazing!"

She looked at me in disbelief, but with a smile on her face. "You can fly?"

"You can absorb electricity."

"Good point."

The adrenaline was slowly ebbing away now that the ringing in my ears was gone. Then a horrible thought struck me. "I'm sorry, I need to go." I sprinted back into the hospital, towards the MRI room. Everything was complete chaos, with both staff and patients running around. A nogitsune's field day.

When I got to the room, I only found Sheriff Stillinski there.

"Is he gone?" I asked, standing in the door opening. The sheriff's back was turned towards me, but I could see him nod. Both of us were wondering how far gone he was, but I think in a very different way.