Chapter 9

Flowers sat on the floor by Rory's locker, pictures and notes taped in memory, and instead of paying respect to their lost classmate all eyes were on Madison. She chewed the inside of her lip painfully, almost wishing this were a crazy dream and she would wake up at any minute. She needed Rory to walk in, throw her arm around her shoulders and poke fun at her for being so dramatic. They had been best friends since they had learned to walk and now she was all alone.

The stares were bad enough but once she heard the whispers she spun on her heels and ran out the doors, needing to get away from it all. She ran right into someone and her books went flying around her.

"Damn it," she cursed, dropping to her knees to gather her things.

Stiles had just pulled into the parking lot, having been running late that morning, and got there in enough time to see Madison on the verge of tears. He quickly cut his engine and slung his bag over his shoulder as he jogged over to her.

"Hey," he greeted, helping to pick up the rest of her papers. "Everything okay? I mean I know everything isn't okay but are you okay?"

Any other day she would have rolled her eyes at Stiles' rambling but instead she let the book fall from her hands. "I can't go in there." He stayed quiet letting her gather her thoughts as he finished collecting her things. "I'm just so angry all the time. People I was supposed to be able to trust have been lying to me. People who are supposed to be here are six feet under in a grave. People are staring at me with pity in their eyes because I was this clueless girl that assumed she could trust the people she loved most."

"We were just trying to protect you," Stiles offered her his hand to pull her to her feet. She hesitantly accepted and when she stood he held out his elbow for her to hold on to. "Rory wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

Madison swallowed back the tears and looped her arm with his. "I don't think Rory wanted to be killed by a werewolf either yet here we are."

"You can do this," Stiles reassured her as he opened the door she had burst through. "We'll do it together."

Every fiber of her being wanted to turn and run until she could get as far away from reality as she could but instead she gripped Stiles' arm so hard she was sure there would be marks but he didn't say anything, he just led her down the hall, giving her the strength she needed to ignore the stares.

Scott was waiting by the library for Allison and Lydia to come out when he saw his best friend comforting his sister. He hated that she was hurting and there was nothing he could do to fix it; in fact, he was part of the reason she was so angry to begin with.

"They look cute together," Lydia commented, motioning to the pair, breaking Scott out of his thoughts.

He couldn't argue that if his sister was going to be with anyone at least it was someone he already trusted his own life with. They had all been friends for so long though he wasn't sure how his friend really felt about his sister. At least that was until Scott walked into homeroom and saw Stiles sitting behind his sister. He leaned forward in his desk to make sure she could easily put her hand behind her and hold his if she needed him.

Scott sat next to Stiles who was so concentrated on every movement Madison made that he didn't even bother to look in his friend's direction. Lydia smirked at him and he relented in nodding in agreement, maybe she was right.

X-X-X

Madison had been on autopilot for the last week, barely eating or sleeping just going through the motions. She had her little 'therapy' sessions with Aiden in the supply closet or under the bleachers to distract her mind. Her teachers had tried to be sympathetic but there was only so long they would accept her lack of effort with her schoolwork and she'd picked up as many shifts as possible at the coffee house to keep her mind preoccupied.

She placed the customer's order on the table in front of them and went back behind the counter, grabbing the next slip. She couldn't even say that she was angry anymore, she just didn't feel anything at all.

"Maddie," she heard her mother's voice call out to her.

She finished the next order, passing it off to her coworker before moving to the end of the corner to hear her mother out.

"I got a call from school today. You haven't been participating in class, no homework has been done in weeks… we are all getting worried about you."

"I'm fine," she shrugged it off, but the words came out so emotionless that even a stranger wouldn't have believed them.

"No you're not," Melissa put her hand on top of her daughter's, "And that's okay but you need to talk to someone."

Madison pulled her hand away, "Mom, I'm working."

"It doesn't have to be here, it doesn't have to be now, and it doesn't even have to be me but please talk to someone. I don't want to lose you too."

The bell chimed alerting her to an order being ready and she offered her mom what she hoped was a reassuring smile that didn't make it to her eyes. "I have to go."

"Maddie," Melissa sighed, her words clearly falling on deaf ears as she watched her daughter become a shell of the person she used to be.

X-X-X

Isaac closed his locker, ready to head to practice when he noticed Madison at the end of the hall just staring in his direction. He briefly glanced behind himself to make sure he really was the one she was looking at before making his way over to her.

"Hey."

She couldn't even force a smile, "Hey." They awkwardly stood there staring at each other before she shifted the bag on her shoulder. "Do you want to go for a walk or something?"

He knew how worried everyone had been and if she wanted to talk he wasn't about to turn her down. Lacrosse practice would get along just fine without him. "Sure."

They walked down the road, not a single word spoken between them. Madison wasn't sure why she had chosen Isaac of all people to try and open up to but she supposed it was because he had been the only one that had been completely honest with her. She was thankful that he was being patient with her and not pressing her to share her thoughts as everyone else had been doing recently. Honestly, she was tired. Tired of the lies, and the cover ups, and the grief; a tiredness that wouldn't go away no matter how much sleep she got.

"I don't know where I am supposed to go from here," Madison eventually spoke up. "I'm scared all the time. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be so hypervigilant every second of every day? I get that some asshole wants Scott to be in his pact or whatever but what does that have to do with Rory? She didn't know about any of this. And before you say I don't have to be scared because my brother is an Alpha and you're at the house too, how well did that work for Rory because we were basically inseparable and she still wound up dead."

Isaac thought for a moment, "You're right, there is nothing I can say that will take that fear away and I wish that there was." He motioned to a bench and they sat down before he continued. "I know it doesn't sound like much but I can guarantee that if anything ever did come for you that there would be a whole town out for revenge."

Madison leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees, "I need to figure something out because I can't keep going like this."

"I know you think getting answers will make you feel better but… Maddie, honestly, missing your best friend is always going to hurt," Isaac placed his hand on her back and felt her sigh. "I'm not saying any of us will ever give up trying to find out who it was that bit her but the answers, whatever they may be, they aren't going to bring her back."

Madison swallowed hard, refusing to cry. "I feel like I failed her. It's my brother that's the Alpha. She was at my house all the time. We should have never skipped class that day. There are so many things that we could have done differently…but I failed her."

"No, you didn't. If anything, we, all of us, failed you. We should have told you long before anything like this happened and maybe it could have been prevented. Be angry, want answers, and blame whoever you want as long as it isn't yourself. You did nothing wrong. You just need to find something that will help you be you again."

X-X-X

It had been so long since Scott had heard music blaring from his house that wasn't depressing or screaming heavy metal that he was almost sure he had the wrong house. He walked in to see Madison dancing around the kitchen, singing into a wooden spoon. He couldn't help but stare because for the first time in months there was an actual smile on his sister's face.

She turned and spotted him. Scott braced for the impact of the wooden spoon he was sure was going to be thrown at his head but instead she continued to dance. Melissa stepped up beside him, sharing in his confusion.

"It's been awhile," she commented softly, knowing he would hear.

Scott nodded, watching her dance carelessly around the kitchen, and while he wanted to feel relief she was digging herself out of the hole she had been lost in, a part of him worried what put her in such a good mood.

"Madison McCall!" Melissa gasped as her daughter's shirt rose up when she put a cup away on the top shelf, revealing a tattoo across her lower back. "When the hell did you get that?"

She rolled her eyes as she pulled her shirt back down, "Like a month ago and you can't go and get mad at me when Scott has a tattoo on his arm."

"I didn't approve of that either but-"

"But what? He got a tattoo, he has that stupid bike, and does he even have a curfew anymore because he got in at like three this morning." She only paused for a moment before turning the music off she had been listening to. "What do werewolves get special treatment around here?"

Melissa chewed on her bottom lip, not knowing what to say. It was different with Scott; he could take care of himself and she got so wrapped up in the next weird thing going on in Beacon Hills that she often forgot Madison was still just a normal teenage girl.

X-X-X

True to his word, Danny threw the best parties. Derek had left town and he kind of took over the loft. It was the perfect place for a high school party because they could be as loud as they wanted without having to worry about the cops showing up. There was body paint that glowed under the black light, a great DJ, and enough liquor to drown a small army.

Madison wished she could say things were getting back to normal but all she could really say was that this was her new normal. She'd pop a couple of pills to make it through the day and then use a different one at night to help her sleep. It wasn't ideal but it had gotten everyone off her back and it was the only thing that made her not care about the werewolves anymore.

She sat off to the side, catching her breath from dancing, and nursed her fourth drink of the night. Stiles was over talking to some girl she had never seen before and she couldn't help but roll her eyes as the girl gave him a disgusted look and stormed off. His mouth had definitely gotten him in trouble again. Scott was here with Allison and Lydia was basically seducing a lacrosse player on the dance floor; even Isaac was there. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. They deserved it.

She felt someone sit down next to her and she turned with an easy smile on her face. "Ethan?" Madison questioned, expecting his twin to be sitting next to her.

"We need to talk."

"Well, that's a great way to start a conversation," she muttered, deciding to finish her drink before following him out to the balcony. "Is this about Aiden, is he okay?"

She hadn't seen him for a couple days but it wasn't out of the ordinary. She supposed she started to care for him during their time together but it was still more of a distraction if anything and whatever they had was casual. Ethan took a deep breath, it was now or never, and he wasn't about to keep his brother's secret anymore especially since he and Scott had become friends.

Madison couldn't take the silence and was sure if this was as bad as she was expecting than she definitely hadn't had enough to drink yet. "Listen, if you're going to like wolf out or something, save yourself the trouble. I know you guys are werewolves."

"There is no easy way to say this and I wish there were but you need to know." He paused for a moment, ready for the truth to finally come out. "Aiden is the one that bit Rory."

Madison's blood ran cold, her whole body going numb. "What?"

"We had orders from Deucalion to get close to…" Ethan tried to explain but she couldn't even process the words anymore.

Her head swam with so many thoughts it was hard to see straight. The man, more like the werewolf, she had been spending so much time with, had killed her best friend. The guy who she skipped class for. The guy she slept with. The guy she fought her brother over. The guy she snuck into her bedroom.

"Madison," Ethan carefully touched her elbow, she hadn't made a sound.

The touch was enough to propel her forward, hands shaking with anger as she stormed back inside to the party. The bass of the music fueled her through the crowd. Fury was the only thing she felt at the moment as her heartbeat so hard against her chest she was sure it was going to explode. She wanted to find something to hurt him but all that was around was body paint and alcohol. She grabbed a beer bottle and stood in the middle of the dance floor, trying to find him in the mass of people that all blurred together under the black light.

"Since when do you drink beer?" Danny asked, surprised that she didn't have a mixed drink in her hand like always. Madison ignored him as she scanned the faces for Aiden. "Hey, did you take something? You don't look so good."

She didn't give him a chance to question her further as she locked eyes with the werewolf she had been waiting for. She pushed through the mass of people, Aiden waiting on the sides for her not knowing anything was wrong.

"Hey, there you-"

She didn't even give him a chance to finish as she backhanded him with the beer bottle. Aiden was stunned, it wasn't the warm welcome he was expecting, and when she went to swing again he caught the bottle, causing it to break under pressure. It didn't deter Madison though as she used the broken glass to slash and stab at him anyway she could. She didn't realize she was screaming at him until she heard her brother.

"Maddie!" Scott called out from behind her but it barely registered until he had pulled his sister off of Adien, putting himself between the two of them. "What the hell is going on?"

She tried to swing at Aiden again but she felt a familiar arm wrap around her from behind, pulling her back.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fighting against the hold Stiles had on her.

"Mads, relax," he tried to calm her down but he could feel the tremors vibrating through her body. "What happened? You're shaking."

Scott turned to Aiden who had already started to heal, "What did you do to her?" When Aiden shared a look with his twin across the room he knew his secret had been discovered and Scott moved to stand directly in front of him, his claws extended on each hand. "What did you do to my sister?"

A girl in the vicinity had the same perfume that Rory used to wear and it all became too much for Madison. She broke free from Stiles' hold and bolted to the door, not bothering with the elevator as she ran down the stairs. Her feet kept going right out into the night air and down the street until her sides burned from the lack of oxygen. She fell to her knees right there on the sidewalk, gasping for air.

That was how Stiles found her moments later as he crouched down next to her, "Maddie, hey." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear trying to get a better look at her face. "Hey, talk to me, what's going on?"

She violently shook her head from side to side as she clutched at her chest. "It…it hurts. I…I…can't…breathe."

"Tell me something you can hear," Stiles instructed, trying to get her to calm down.

Her hands continued to shake and she was sure she was going to pass out soon because how long could a person go without breathing. There was a fire burning in her chest and the loud thumping of her own heartbeat in her ears was deafening.

"Madison, tell me something you can hear right now," he was a little more forceful this time, knowing that she could be reassured that everything was okay but only if she allowed him to help.

She opened her mouth as if she were trying to answer but couldn't get the words out. He could see the panic going beyond the point of no return. Stiles grabbed both sides of her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers causing her to gasp and hold her breath.

They broke apart and the tears started streaming down her cheeks, smudging the iridescent paint that had been there. "Why did you do that?"

"You needed to think about anything else and holding your breath works when you're too far gone," Stiles swiped at her tears as he moved to sit next to her, discreetly giving Scott a nod over her head letting him know that he had it covered for the time being.

Madison shifted to lean into Stiles, his arm automatically going around her to hold her close. They were quiet for several moments and for a second Stiles thought she had fallen asleep right there on the sidewalk until she spoke up.

"He killed her."

Stiles rubbed small circles on her back, "Who?"

"Aiden…he was the one that bit Rory." Before Stiles could even react to the revelation she continued, "He killed my best friend and I slept with him."