Disclaimer: Don't own TW. Only my OC: Zarina.
"Everything's going to be okay," I told Stiles as he leaned his forehead against his locker tiredly.
"I told Barrow to murder an innocent person. I'm sure that qualifies as definitely not okay," he murmured, closing his eyes tightly.
"Hey, look at me," I ordered and he did so, eyes glazed over in fear. "Whatever happens, I will be right here; next to you."
"You're just gonna get hurt," he told me honestly.
"If it's for you, it's worth it," I smiled tightly and Stiles shook his head with a long sigh.
"God, why don't you get it? If you get hurt, because of me or not, I will never forgive myself. I don't give a shit if you think it's honorable to do that for me. It's not, okay? It's selfish and it doesn't just hurt you. It hurts everyone that cares about you."
I stayed silent, eyes flickering to my feet in guilt. The first priority in my mind at the time was Stiles. Whatever he was going through, it was my fault. I didn't let that monster in and now he had to suffer for it. The shame was eating me alive.
"Just promise me you won't do something reckless for my sake," his voice softened as he lifted my chin with his hand.
"I can't make a promise I can't keep," I admitted quietly.
"Then at least be safe, if anything, be safe."
"Okay," I nodded slowly and his hand moved from my chin to my cheek.
I saw Scott approaching us from the corner of my eye and I moved his hand from my face and intertwined our fingers, pointing at our friend. We hurried up to him and the three of us started walking down the hall.
"Something happened last night," Stiles spoke rapidly. "Something bad."
"Yeah, same here," Scott agreed, but the two of us sent him an urgent look.
"No, Scott, you need to hear this first," I persisted.
"L-Look, when we were at the black light party last night, Zarina saw something on my key," Stiles explained, pulling us into the chemistry room. "The light from the party made phosphorus show up on my key."
"Phosphorus is what make things glow in the dark. Like the paint everyone had on during the party," I clarified.
"It reminded me of something. It made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had let Barrow into the school, right?" Stiles continued, dropping his bag on a lab table.
He looked up at the blackboard and I followed his eyes, expecting to see the numbers from earlier, but they weren't there. The entire board was swiped clean. "It's gone. Okay, it doesn't matter though. It doesn't matter. I still have the key."
He pushed past Scott and I, key ring in hand as he prepared to open the closet, but stopped. The key wasn't there, either. "What the hell? I had…I-I had it here, just this morning. I swear, I had it this morning."
"The key you were talking about last night?" Scott asked in confusion.
"Yeah, I showed it to you, right? Didn't I show it to you?" He looked up pleadingly.
"No, you just told me about it. I never actually saw it."
Stiles' breathing hitched and I gripped his face between my hands softly, thumbs stroking his cheek. "Hey, hey, shhh. I was there. Remember? I saw it all happen." I looked over my shoulder at Scott. "I did. I saw it all. You have to believe him."
But Stiles wasn't listening to me. He moved away from my grasp and returned to the front of the board, Scott and I behind him, sharing worried looks. His eyes were searching the board continuously, as if the numbers would magically reappear there. They never did.
"We were here a couple of hours ago. And the message left to Barrow that spelled Kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting and I had the key to the chemistry closet," he informed Scott weakly.
"So, you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops?" Scott summed up slowly. "And then you wrote a message to him to kill Kira?"
"I know how it sounds…" Stiles shook his head and pulled a paper out of his pocket. "But this is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him. About the shrapnel bomb he used. See this? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts, and screws and then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box he wrapped as a birthday present."
He hadn't told me about this part, though the trick seemed familiar. "What does that sound like to you?"
"Coach," Scott realized. "The joke we played on coach."
"You put all the screws into a birthday present," I said softly, scared.
"That was my idea. You remember? That was my idea," his voice was panicked. "That's no coincidence. It can't be."
Scott was reluctant to say his next words. "I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you you're wrong, but I don't think you're trying to kill people, either."
Stiles crumpled the paper in his hand in frustration. "It was here. It was all here."
"Dude, are you feeling okay? You're looking really tired."
"I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping really," he took a deep breath as he looked at us.
"Why don't you go home? Take a sick day or something?" he patted his arm and Stiles nodded, eyes still glued to the board. I looked between the two.
"I'll take him home," I announced after a beat of silence. The boys' eyes shot to me and I shrugged, looking straight at Stiles. "I'm not about to let you drive when you haven't slept in who knows how long."
He smiled gratefully and we gave Scott a wave before heading towards his car. I motioned for him to give me his keys and he did so as we slid into the jeep. I put the key into the ignition and turned it, letting the rev of the engine fill the silence.
I had barely just start driving when he stopped me. "Wait, don't go to my house. Go to the hospital."
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, puzzled, but said nothing as I took the next right turn onto the road towards our new destination.
As I pulled up to the hospital and unbuckled my seatbelt, I noticed that Stiles hadn't moved an inch. I gently put my hand on his arm and he flinched.
"We're here," I told him softly. He nodded and we exited the car, heading into the hospital.
We approached the desk to, thankfully, see Melissa. She looked up at us in surprise and I waited for Stiles to talk, but he didn't.
"We need to speak to a doctor about something," I informed her. "It's kind of important." I looked to the side as Stiles' hands twisted together in anxiety.
"Of course. Let me just check who's in right now," Melissa smiled at us and swiveled her chair towards her computer. "Dr. Gardener is out of town until next week. Do you want to try waiting for one of the urgent care doctors?"
She looked up at Stiles worriedly as he stumbled backward and his breathing went harsh. "Stiles, are you alright?"
"I-I don't know," he stuttered out and Melissa went towards us as I rubbed his hand in both of mine. "I guess. Not- not really."
"Can you at least make sure he's okay?" I begged her.
"Definitely, sweetheart. Come on, you two," she grabbed Stiles' arm gently and I followed them inside, sitting onto the hospital bed with Stiles.
"What are your symptoms?" she asked, looming over his file on a table nearby.
"Blackouts, but not for that long. Sleepwalking, which I used to do a lot when I was a kid," he trailed off, licking his lips. "Um- I've also been having some really bad anxiety."
"Panic attacks?" the nurse glanced at him.
I kissed his shoulder and he looked down at me, catching my reassuring nod. "Y-Yeah, a couple," he finally replied. "Oh and I temporarily lost the ability to read, but that might have something to do with the giant magic tree and the whole human sacrifice thing."
Melissa chuckled and I bit back a grin. "I recall something vaguely about that, yes. How many hours of sleep are you getting?"
"Eight."
"A night?"
"In the last three days." The two of us blanched in surprise.
I looked down at his hands and saw he was counting off his fingers. I immediately grabbed his hands in mine and stopped him.
"This is real," I whispered. He stopped, but I could see his eyes glide across my own hands, counting my fingers instead. I let him.
"Yeah, definitely eight," he confirmed as Melissa walked over to a cabinet.
"Have you been feeling irritated?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Possibly to the point of homicide."
"Inability to focus?"
"No, the Adderall's not working."
"Impulsive behavior?" her eyes moved to him and he shrugged.
"More than my usual? Hard to tell."
"Vivid dreams during the day?" she asked finally, pulling gloves on.
"Basically all of the above," he agreed.
"Do you know what's wrong with him?" I piped up, curious.
Melissa smiled at me and walked over to the bed, needle in hand. "I think so."
"Um, what's that?" Stiles asked nervously, glancing at the needle.
"Do you trust me?"
"When you're not holding a needle," he confessed through a chuckle.
"It's Midazolam," she clarified, cleaning his skin with alcohol. Understanding her plan, I got up from the bed and stood beside the bed. "A sedative." I watched as she injected the liquid into his arm.
"Wh-why are you giving me a sedative?" Stiles questioned frantically, looking up at me for reassurance. Melissa calmed him down by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Because you, Stiles, are one severely sleep deprived young man. You need rest and you need it now," she informed him, helping him lay down into the bed.
"How long does it take to- oh, not long at all." I could see his eyes droop as his head fell onto the pillow heavily, the effects of the sedative taking their course in his body.
I sat down in the chair beside the bed and gripped his hand as he drifted to sleep.
"You staying?" he whispered tiredly.
"Always," I replied, squeezing his hand.
"Get some rest," Melissa instructed him, brushing hair from his forehead.
"Thanks, mom," Stiles shifted his head on the pillow.
Melissa looked down at him, astonished, but her mouth slowly grew into a warm smile as his breathing evened out. I felt my heart grow warm. Their relationship was amazing.
"I'll be out there if you need anything," she assured me before leaving the room, the door shutting softly behind her.
I slowly woke up when I heard Stiles groan. His eyes fluttered open slightly and he coughed as his head shifted on the pillow. I sat up straighter in my chair and tightened my grip on his hand.
"You're still here," he croaked, voice husky with sleep.
"Told you I wasn't going anywhere," I grinned lightly. "But you should go back to sleep. You still look tired."
"Are you sure?" he asked, but I knew he was going to fall asleep anyways.
"Yes, now hush. I'll still be here when you wake up again," I promised.
Not too long afterwards, his eyes were shut and his breathing was soft. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I put it to my ear after pressing 'answer'.
"Scott?" I greeted, seeing the caller I.D.
"Hey, you two doing okay?" he responded worriedly.
"Mhm," I hummed in confirmation. "Your mom just put Stiles on a sedative. Said he needed some sleep."
"Ah. Good," he sounded like something was bothering him.
"Are you doing alright?" I inquired, biting my lip.
"Um, yeah, but you never got to hear what I had to tell you this morning," he began. I stayed quiet as he embarked on his story of demonic ninjas and weird markings behind people's ears.
"So Allison, Isaac, and her dad are trying to figure out what they want from us? And you think they're after you?" I summed up.
"Basically," Scott replied.
"Wow, okay, that's, uh- a lot to take in," I gulped. But then I froze.
Zarina.
I took the phone off my ear and stared at it. Scott was still on the line.
"Did you just call my name?" I asked him.
"No," he responded slowly. "Maybe it was your brother? Is he working tonight?"
"Yeah, maybe," I lied unconvincingly.
Zarina.
"I'll call you if anything happens. I gotta go," I said quickly, then hung up.
I stuffed the phone into my pocket and let go of Stiles' hand reluctantly, turning to leave the room. He stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake as I exited through the door carefully.
I quietly trekked through the hallways, the voice calling my name getting louder and louder as I walked further. I pushed open a set of double doors. I stepped into the room quietly, glancing at the grey walls.
Have you made your decision?
My whole body whipped around to face behind me, but nothing was there. I turned in slow circles, but still, no one was with me.
You know, we are very impatient. We have tricks to play and people to fool. If you let us in now, everything will be so much easier.
"What are you talking about?" I called out.
If we told you, that'd ruin all the fun. Ah, looks like they're coming right now.
"Wait, no, what do you mean?"
I gasped as a figure stepped out of the shadows, making its way towards me. It was the ninja thing Scott had described to me earlier on the phone. I backed up towards the door, only to see two more of them behind me.
The one in front of me inched closer and closer until I was at arm's length. My blood ran cold and I couldn't move as its hand rested on my cheek, thumb behind my ear. Its head tilted as its eyes glowed bright green and I found my head tilting with it.
"Zarina?" I heard Stiles enter the room. "What is that? What are you doing to her?"
My entire body went numb as I fell to the ground, shivering violently. Its eyes were burned into my memory and I couldn't speak or move or even make out a comprehensible thought. Stiles tried to rush up to me, but the three dark figures interrupted, surrounding him.
The one that had gotten me tried to perform the same task on him, but before its hand could make contact with Stiles' face, he grabbed it with his own, grip tight.
Stiles looked at the hand, body shaking in anger. He then looked up at the demonic figure, a small smirk adorning his face. His eyes were lifeless, as if no feeling were making it to the surface.
The last thing I saw before falling into a cold, numb darkness was Stiles' hand reaching into the ninja's chest, green lights erupting from the hole.
Time's up.
When my eyes opened again, I was in my bed. I blinked sleepily and saw Alex lingering by the door, watching me as I woke. His face was twisted in concern.
"What happened?" I asked slowly, remembering what'd happened at the hospital with the demon ninjas.
"Scott and Stiles brought you back from the hospital," Alex explained. "Said you were watching Stiles while he rested and fell asleep."
I silently thanked them for lying. If Alex heard about what happened, he'd think we were all crazy.
"Yeah, well," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Just wanted to make sure he was okay."
"Actually, you know what? Funny thing is, I don't recall you ever getting a tattoo behind your ear," Alex went straight to the point and I tensed. I felt behind the ear the demonic ninja had touched and rubbed the spot gently. "Want to explain that? I saw it when I put you in bed earlier."
"Must've been the boys," I laughed nervously. "Playing pranks on me while I sleep. They think they're funny."
"Stop lying to me. Just stop," he shot at me and I winced. "I'm done with these lies."
"What else do you want me to say? You won't believe the truth. You won't believe me when I say that everything I've told you so far is real. The only thing I can tell you, that you'll believe, are lies!" I argued hotly.
"That's because the things you're saying are ridiculous!" he yelled. "You're not okay. Not since a few weeks ago."
"Great observation," I scoffed.
"No, I mean, there's something wrong with you," he clarified. "You're having bad dreams, blackouts, insomnia, hallucinations, and you're hearing voices. Zarina, do you know what those are all symptoms of?"
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I was filled with so much anger and betrayal that he thought that this was all because I had a mental problem.
"Schizophrenia," he finished. "Okay? All of these are signs of schizophrenia."
"I'm not schizophrenic," I retorted. "All the things I'm going through are all because of what or who or whatever the hell it is I am. If you would just listen to me for once, you'd see that. Not everything is a clinical problem. Not everything can be fixed with prescription medicine or a diagnosis."
"You're right, not everything can be fixed like that. But your condition is one of the things that can," he said simply.
"Stop that! Stop implying that I'm insane!" I cried out, tears building in my eyes.
"I never said that."
"You didn't have to." Silence. "You know what? I need to be left alone. Come back when this theory about me being schizophrenic blows over. I can't deal with this right now."
"I just want to help you," he told me softly.
"You can't help. Not if you're gonna blame all this on a mental condition I don't have," I shook my head sadly. "All I want is for you to believe me. These voices aren't in my head. They're real. They have Stiles now. He's not going to be my Stiles for much longer and it's all my fault. Alex, I need you now more than ever. I can't do this alone."
"I want to believe you, but this is just- I can't listen to this," Alex backed out of the door and closed it.
Then I broke down. I curled up into a ball on my bed and sobbed. The heavy weight of guilt pushed down on my shoulders and I couldn't hold it up any longer. I must've been in that position for hours, but one sentence in particular never stopped leaving my lips like a mantra.
"I'm sorry, Stiles."
AN: I'm baaaack! Hey, guys. I missed you. Got second place in our tournament! But still, twas' hard not having my laptop with me to write anything. Felt so empty and bored the entire trip. Sigh. But now I'm back and with this recent episode out, I have SO MANY IDEAS GUYS. SO MANY. MY MIND IS ABUNDANT WITH FUN AND SAD THINGS. AGH. So excited.
Thank you all for continuing the support, even when I was away. Seriously didn't expect so many people to be so patient and understand the situation. Look at ya'll, exceeding my expectations everyday.
Please continue to support! It means a great deal to me, especially reviews. Help me know what I'm doing right and wrong.
Tumblr: sstuhlinski
xx.