If you have read any of my other stories you know I am a huge fan of flashbacks! If anything gets confusing let me know and thank you for reading!

Chapter 8

"Everyone keeps looking at me like I am going to break at any second," Madison sighed picking at the grass at the edge of the freshly disturbed dirt. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Rory. I feel so guilty that I was living in this fantasy world where I thought the scariest things out there were nightmares and now my brother is a werewolf, you're gone, and everything I thought I ever knew is just…"

She took a deep breath to try and gain her composure because if she started crying she was afraid she'd never stop. Staring at her best friend's name etched into the marble stone seemed more unreal than anything she had encountered recently.

"I try to think about what you would do with all this information if you were here and part of me thinks you would try to have me committed for losing my mind," she chuckled slightly. "I just want to go back to last year when I was naïve. I didn't even notice Scott had stopped using his inhaler or how he was suddenly so good at lacrosse. Was I really that blind or did I see it but not want to believe it?"

The bell above the door chimed letting Deaton know someone had entered the clinic. Madison didn't wait for him to come let her behind the counter, instead walking right back to the exam room expecting to find her brother.

"Madison," Deaton greeted as he stood with Derek in front of an empty table.

"Hey, I thought Scott was working tonight. He left his inhaler at home," she held up the canister, confusion clearly shown on her face when she didn't see her brother.

Deaton offered a small smile, "He was he left early. I think he said there was a big game coming up."

"I can give that to him if you want," Derek offered, hoping to end this little conversation so he could get back to the topic at hand. "I'll be seeing him later."

"No, that's okay. I'll hold onto it these things are like eighty bucks and mom would be pissed if he lost another one."

Madison left the clinic and slid back into the driver's seat of her car.

"What's the matter?" Rory question, immediately picking up on the change in demeanor.

Madison shook her head, pulling her cellphone out of her jacket pocket, scrolling until her finger landed on Scott's name.

He answered after three rings, a little out of breath. "Yeah?"

"Hey, where are you?"

"Work. I told you I picked up a couple hours tonight."

"Oh, right. Okay."

She ended the call before he could say anything else not sure exactly what was going on or why he felt the need to lie to her about it.

"Mads, what's going on?" Rory tried again.

She put her finger up, silently telling her friend to hold on. She scrolled a little further in her phone and called Stiles.

"Heyyyy, Maddie." He answered the phone a little too energetic.

"Stiles, is Scott with you?"

"Scott? Pft. No. Scott is…Scott is wherever he said he'd be."

"Except I'm sitting outside of the clinic and I already spoke with Deaton and Derek so please tell my idiotic brother that I have his inhaler and that if he lies to me again I'm putting Nair in his shampoo."

"Got it."

Rory chuckled in the seat next to her, "Caught someone in a lie, huh?"

"Damn it, Rory," Madison threw the grass she had been picking at. "How did I not pick up on any of this?! I'm sorry, I'm so very, very sorry."

X-X-X

Madison knocked on the Sheriff's front door, waiting only a few seconds before knocking again not wanting to use her key because she could barely think straight since leaving the cemetery. She hadn't even bothered to borrow her mom's car instead choosing to run. Sheriff Stilinski answered a few moments later, "Maddie? Stiles isn't home right now."

"I know," she nodded, shifting nervously from one foot to the other as her hands fidgeted with the tears in her worn sweatshirt. "I came to talk to you."

It didn't take being a cop to know that she had a lot on her mind and he stepped aside to let her in the house. She paced anxiously around the living room, having a silent debate with herself. He was used to the process having seen Stiles do the same thing when there was something important on his mind.

"Do you want a drink?" He offered, trying to be patient but she shook her head and continued to pace. "Okay, what did you want to talk about?"

Madison chewed her bottom lip, "Rory."

He let out a breath and sat down on the couch in front of her as she continued to wander the living room.

"You're the Sheriff and I have seen you sit at that table," her arm shot out to the side in the direction of the dining room. "And go over and over every little detail when a case doesn't make sense…when there is a piece of the puzzle is missing…and…" she trailed off, swallowing down the tears because honestly she wasn't even sure how she had any left at this point. "I just…I feel like everyone gave up on her."

"No one gave up on, Rory. It was an animal attack and if it had been anything different I would have done everything I could to make sure she got justice," he promised with such conviction that Madison had no choice but to believe him. "There was nothing that you could have done to have prevented this, you know that, right?"

Madison went back to picking at the thread on her sweatshirt. Her best friend had been killed by a werewolf. Of course, there was something she could have done. She could have gone home with her that day instead of with Scott and Stiles. She could have not gone into work to cover Rory's shift and instead go check on her best friend. There were too many things she wanted to differently but there was no way to go back and change it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I shouldn't have come."

Sheriff Stilinski didn't even have a chance to get off the couch before she was out of the house, the door slamming shut behind her. Once outside, she dug her nails into the palms of her hands, trying to get her emotions under control.

That was how Stiles found her when he pulled up in his Jeep. It was clear she was upset and he walked cautiously up to her, his head tilted to the side trying to catch her line of sight. He took one of her hands in his, carefully releasing the tension to see little bloody half-moon imprints in her palm.

"Let's get that cleaned up, okay?" Stiles kept hold of her hand but when he went to guide her inside she pulled away.

"I can't go back in there," she confessed, a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek.

Stiles swiped it away with his thumb, confused but not willing to press her. "Okay, that's okay, I can bring you home if you want."

She silently nodded and he guided her to his Jeep, glancing behind him to see his dad in the window a sad smile on his face.

They pulled up to the McCall residence and Stiles noted that neither Melissa's car nor Scott's bike was there which was probably for the best. Madison stood emotionless beside him as he used his key to unlock the door and ushered her upstairs to the bathroom she shared with Scott.

She sat on the closed toilet seat while he pulled out the first aid kit. Stiles used a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide to clean out the cuts on the palms of her hands and although he knew it stung she acted as if she didn't feel it at all. "Did something happen between you and my dad?"

Madison was quiet as he swiped on the antibiotic ointment with a Q-tip and he was sure she wasn't going to answer until she spoke up. "Tell him I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered him."

"I'm sure it was no bother; you know he loves you. Besides, how many girls do you think he lets spend the night on a regular basis," he tried to lighten the mood as he wiggled his eyebrows but not even a ghost of a smile crossed her face. "It's okay to be pissed off, angry, hurt…all of the above."

His cellphone rang in his pocket a few times before he decided to answer it. "Yeah?"

Madison slid out of the bathroom while he was on the phone and into Scott's room. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around Stiles but in that moment she felt as his dad gave up on her best friend too.

X-X-X

Scott came home and was so tired he almost missed the fact that there was someone in his bed. She must have heard him come in since she was awake, staring at the wall, but said nothing.

"Hey," he greeted, sitting on the edge of the bed, taking his shoes off. He noticed the bandages on her hands and quickly took one in his own. "What happened?"

He nearly pulled away when he felt the pain she was in but instead, held her hand properly and absorbed as much as he could. Scott watched her face relax though the pain in her eyes was something he wouldn't be able to easily fix.

"Can I stay in here tonight?" she asked, sounding much younger than she was.

He instantly nodded, "Of course."

Scott kicked his shoes off and grabbed his pajamas, heading into their shared bathroom to get changed. When he came out he half expected Madison to be asleep, or at least pretending to sleep so she wouldn't have to talk but she was still staring at the ceiling. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her to come to him when she was upset but it was the first since she found out he was a werewolf. In fact, it was the first she had spoken to him since she found out.

He clicked the light off and laid down next to her, mirroring her position of laying on his back; her under the covers and him laying on top.

She waited a moment before speaking up, "I know everyone is waiting for me to break."

"No-"

She cut him off, "Yeah, they are. But I get it, I'm waiting for it too. The moment it all becomes too much for me, you know? I just wish I knew how to process all of this."

"I'm not going to let you break," Scott promised, reaching over, and taking her hand in his "but if you do then I will be right there to pick up the pieces and put you back together again."

Madison couldn't force a smile as she blinked back a tear, "I feel like I'm living in a nightmare that I can't wake up from."

"I know now that I shouldn't have kept all of this from you but this is exactly what I was trying to keep you from. When I first found out what I was I was terrified. I mean, who ever thought I'd be a werewolf but it has its advantages too."

Scott had been peacefully sleeping when he swore he could hear his phone ringing. He tried to push it to the back of his mind and fall back into a deep slumber but the sound was incessant and it pulled him fully into consciousness. He quickly looked at the caller ID and saw Maddie's name flashing across the screen with a picture of the two of them from their birthday a few years ago with cake covering both of their faces.

"Maddie?" There was static on the other end and he knew this wasn't one of her pranks trying to wake him in the middle of the night from calling from her room. "Mads?" He tried again but could barely make out the sound of her breathing. "Maddie, are you there?"

"Scotty."

Werewolf or not, he knew something was wrong just by the sound of her voice and it set his nerves on fire. "Yeah, Mads, I'm here. Can you hear me?"

"I don't know where I am."

Now that he was fully awake he remembered her mentioning some party she was supposed to go to with Rory that night. "What do you mean you don't know where you are? Where is Rory?"

The line dropped and he instantly called her back but got her voicemail. "Congratulations, you've reached the great and powerful Maddie, leave a message or text if it is important."

He hung up and was about to try again when his phone rang, "Maddie? Mads, where are you? What do you see?"

"It's so dark, Scott, I don't remember how I got here."

"I'm going to come get you, okay? I promise I will find you I just need to know what's around you. What can you see?"

His phone buzzed in his ear alerting him to another call and saw that it was Stiles. There was no way that was a coincidence but he'd have to call him back because he wasn't sure how much longer he'd have a connection with Madison.

"I'm sitting on a big rock and all I can see are trees. I'm so tired."

"Stay awake, Mads, you hear me? You stay awake."

The line dropped again and he tried multiple times to get her back before he relented and called Stiles back as he went to his sister's room.

"Scott, Rory can't find Maddie."

He took a deep whiff of her pillowcase, committing it to memory, "I know."

"What do you mean you know? Rory just called me."

"Mads called, she's in the woods. I'm heading out now."

Scott shook the memory from his mind as his sister got quiet beside him again. If it hadn't been for his abilities he would have had to call his mom and most likely the Sheriff. It could have ended very differently if he hadn't found her so quickly.

Madison swallowed back the emotions she was trying to keep at bay, "Derek said that the werewolf that bit Rory was most likely trying to change her but that it doesn't always work. That the bite could kill someone too."

"When were you talking to Derek?"

She sighed, rolling onto her side, her back facing him. "Not the point. I'm just happy it didn't kill you too."