Disclaimer: Don't own TW. Only my OC: Zarina.
It was supposed to be a simple walk around the neighborhood. It was something I did to clear my mind, but all it did was cause even more confusion to enter my system. My mind was totally blank the entire time, my footsteps the only thing I could hear. The fresh air blew my hair around my face and I didn't bother to brush it away because I enjoyed the feeling it gave me.
Then, I suddenly stopped in my tracks, observing the scenery around me. I was definitely not in my neighborhood anymore. I wasn't even close to my house; instead, I was in an abandoned parking lot. No cars were there that I could see, but I saw a body laying still a few yards away.
"Stiles?" I called out, recognizing his form as I sprinted over to him and crouched beside him. "Stiles, oh my god."
I shook him frantically, feeling a weird mixture of concern and bewilderment. What was he doing here of all places? I let my eyes wander down his body and when I saw the giant, bloody gash in his side, my heart picked up pace. I heard a car drive up behind me and I swiveled my head to find Lydia and Aiden rushing out the doors of the fancy vehicle.
"Zarina? Is that Stiles?" Lydia yelled out and I nodded, pursing my lips.
"Help me get him in the car! We have to get him to Scott's house!" I responded and Aiden immediately came to us, hefting Stiles over his shoulder as gently as possible.
He led me over to the car and I got into the backseat, laying Stiles' head on my lap. Aiden and Lydia filed into their seats and the car lurched as we headed for the McCall house. My hand stroked my boyfriend's hair soothingly as I glanced up at Lydia through her mirror.
"How'd you find us?" I asked quietly.
"Something's up with me, Z," she admitted. "I'm hearing things that I shouldn't be hearing. I found you guys because I followed what I heard the GPS saying, but it wasn't even on."
"Weird," I muttered, eyes shifting back to Stiles' pale face.
"Is he…dead?" Aiden turned his head to look at us.
"No," I snapped. "That's not gonna happen."
The omega merely raised a skeptical eyebrow before turning back around, not even bothering to respond to my retort. I was glad that he didn't. I wasn't in the mood to argue, not when so many things seemed to be going wrong for us. I then pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Scott.
Wait outside your house. We have something you need to see.
Scott, Deaton, and Aiden all lugged Stiles body into the living room. Melissa was following closely behind, face contorted in anxiety.
"The couch, put him on the couch," she instructed them. "Guys, this is crazy. He needs to be in the hospital." They lowered him onto the couch so he was sitting upright, head tilted backwards onto the cushions.
Scott looked at her over his shoulder. "Mom, remember what happened last time he went to a hospital?"
Deaton lifted his shirt to inspect the wound further, but it seemed to be healing. It wasn't as large as it was when I first found him and that meant that something was going on inside his body.
"It doesn't look like he's bleeding. He might even be healing," Deaton told us and my brows furrowed.
"You mean healing like we heal?" Aiden offered.
"That's good, right?" Scott added, voice hopeful.
Deaton looked at the possessed boy. "For him, yes. For us…I'm not so sure."
I stared at Stiles quietly. His wound healed, yes, but his physical self in general seemed to be getting even worse by the second. He looked like he was terminally ill, his skin pallid and his eyes nursing dark bags under them.
"Then we need some way to make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous. Keep him still somehow," I suggested.
"She's right," Aiden agreed. "If we're not going to kill him, why aren't we tying him down with chains or something?"
"I have something more effective," Deaton informed us whilst pulling out a small, brown bottle. He gestured for Scott and Aiden to open Stiles' mouth and they did, making sure to hold his shoulders down as well.
As soon as Deaton squeezed a few drops into his mouth, Stiles' eyes shot open menacingly, immediately grabbing the first person he could find: Aiden. His hand gripped the wolf's neck, choking him as he let out an evil laugh.
He was actually enjoying his pain and I felt sick to my stomach. I pulled Aiden away from him by the arm as Scott pushed our friend backwards. Then, Stiles froze. His arm, then his entire body as he went slack onto the couch.
"Kanima venom, nice touch," he hissed uncomfortably as the effects took place. Aiden pulled away from my grasp and growled at him, taking a step closer.
"You know how they say that twins get a feeling when the other one's in pain? You didn't lose that talent too, did you? Oh, I hope not. You're going to need it," Stiles' mouth quirked up into a grin as he taunted Aiden. "Okay, I'll give you a hint. Ethan's at the school."
The former Alpha looked at Scott, who commanded him, "Go."
"Don't get hurt," I called out after him as he left the house and Stiles tilted his head back, laughing evilly.
"Oh, I hope he gets there in time. I like the twins," he mused. "Short tempers, homicidal compulsions. They're a lot more fun than you bakemono trying to save the world everyday."
"Doc, you brought something to paralyze his body. You got anything for his mouth?" Melissa spoke up, having had enough of his smart mouth.
"Yes, I do," Deaton nodded.
He pulled out a roll of electrical tape and ripped a long piece off, strapping it on top of Stiles' mouth. He let out a loud shout under the tape before bursting into peals of maniacal laughter. Everything about this situation seemed off, and I was going to try and figure it out.
I was cleaning off Stiles' wound with alcohol after Melissa had stormed out of the room, obviously upset with the boy. I made sure to rub extra hard, trying to take out all my frustrations on the thing that'd caused them all.
"Ouch, so rough," Stiles said and my head shot up. I forgot to put the stupid tape back on. "But it's okay, you can be as rough as you want. This is your boyfriend's body, after all."
I growled and pushed harder on the cotton ball in my hand, alcohol oozing off of it with the pressure. After I finished, I threw the cotton ball into the first aid kit and started unwrapping gauze to wrap around his wound.
"You have to hear him," he continued gleefully. "He keeps telling me to leave you alone. No, actually, it's more along the lines of begging."
"Shut up," I barked out, squeezing the gauze in my hands tightly. "I will put that tape back on your mouth, I swear."
"I'm aware, but don't forget what I told you before, sweetheart. I can kill this boy and who knows? The way you've been acting, I might do just that," he threatened with a smirk and I knew he saw the way my hands were shaking around the gauze.
"What do you want?" I squeaked out, trying to keep my voice level.
"I want war. I want pain, strife, chaos."
I shook my head slowly, completely at a loss for what to even say at that point. I was tired of this nogitsune ruining our lives. So I decided to say nothing. I set the gauze down and stood, turning on my heel to leave.
"You won't win," his voice made me stop in my tracks abruptly. "You'll lose everything. Your friends. Your family. Stiles. Everything."
I whipped back around, grabbing the piece of tape from the table angrily. I plastered it back over his mouth and simply stood there for a moment, looking down at him. Then I turned back around and left the room, bumping into Melissa on my way out.
"Honey, are you okay?" she asked, observing my teary eyes and stiff posture.
I shook my head and let out a small whimper. She pulled me into a motherly hug and I let her, melting into her warmth.
"W-We're losing him," my voice quivered slightly and I felt her shake her head.
"No, we're not. He's just trying to make you think that," she assured me gently. "Go take a break, I can finish taking care of him, alright?" Melissa held me at arms length and I nodded, smiling tightly.
"Thank you."
"Of course. Now, go. Scott could use your help," Melissa returned my smile before walking towards the couch, finishing Stiles' bandages.
As I was walking towards Scott and Lydia, the doorbell rang and Scott nodded over at me, signaling me to answer it. I turned the knob and swung the door open to reveal Peter Hale standing on the other side, smirk on his face.
"You have got to be kidding me."
We moved to the living room after I recovered from my disbelief, staring down at Stiles as Peter circled him, eyeing the boy critically.
"He doesn't look like he could survive a slap across the face," Peter admitted as he walked in front of us. "Much less the bite of a werewolf." He crouched in front of Stiles, making eye contact with him.
"You don't think it would work," Scott said more as a statement than a question.
"This is more a war of the mind than the body," Peter informed him.
"So, what does that mean?" I questioned, stepping up to Peter's side while Scott stood at his other.
"There are better methods of winning this battle," he replied, standing straight again.
"What kind of methods?" Deaton inquired, uncrossing his arms.
Peter responded by grabbing Scott's wrist and flicking it, causing his claws to emerge. Stiles turned his head towards them and raised his eyebrows, acting impressed.
"We're going to get into his head," Peter finished with a small grin.
I eyed Lydia and Peter from the corner of my eye as they talked quietly in the hallway. I didn't like how secretive they were being and I definitely didn't like how she was even making any sort of contact with the man who turned the two of us into what we were. After a few minutes, they walked back into the living room.
"So, do we have a plan?" Deaton asked, arms crossed.
"Scott is going to try and dig through pale and sickly evil Stiles' mind to unearth pale and sickly real Stiles," Peter explained. "Then guide him back from the depths of his own subconscious."
"Sounds like a really bad exorcism movie to me," I muttered and Scott nudged my ribs with his elbow warningly.
"Ah, you didn't let me finish," Peter gave me a pointed look. "He's not going to do it alone."
I gulped, anticipating what he was going to say, but Scott didn't get it. "What do you mean?"
"Somebody needs to go in with you," his gaze stayed locked on me and I went stiff as Stiles' eyebrows rose in amusement, staring at me as well.
I sat on the couch besides Stiles, keeping as much distance between the two of us as possible. Scott stood behind the couch and Deaton and Melissa watched as Peter positioned his claws behind our necks.
"So what do we do if we find him?" Scott asked uneasily.
"You're gonna have to guide him out somehow," Peter replied vaguely and I rolled my eyes. "Try to give him back control of his mind and his body."
"Could you elaborate on the somehow?" I insisted, a lump growing in my throat. "Because this doesn't seem very clear right now."
"Improvise," Peter shrugged and I breathed out shakily, eyes wide.
"What if this is just another trick?" Scott offered.
"When are you people gonna start trusting me?"
"Never," I added under my breath, but Scott ignored me.
"I meant him," he looked down at Stiles and Peter let out a small 'oh'.
"Scott," Deaton interrupted and he looked up. "We're running out of time."
All I could hear was Scott's deep breathing and I didn't even have time to prepare when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. I went tense, flinching as the pain shot down my spine and up to my brain all in one fluid motion.
My eyes fluttered closed as the world around me shook, flashing black and white. The shaking and multi-colored images stopped once I reopened my eyes. This time, I was in one of the rooms of Eichen House, strapped down to a bed tightly.
I lifted my head from the pillow and looked at Scott, who was restrained the same exact way I was. We simply stared at each other for a few moments before starting to struggle against the bonds. I gave up after a few futile tries, but Scott continued to pull at his arms harshly.
"Scott, you do realize you're a werewolf, right?" I looked at him, eyebrow raised.
"We're in Stiles' head," he responded weakly.
"And you turn into a wolf. With claws and supernatural strength," I shot back. "You can do this."
He nodded slightly before turning his head away from me. Scott grunted as he concentrated on pulling at his upper body. Within a few seconds, the leather straps broke off and he sat up, looking relieved as ever. He looked at me and I nodded, laughing slightly in approval.
Scott ripped off my restraints and threw them on the ground. I swung my legs off the bed and rubbed my wrists as I stood next to my best friend, eyes wandering around the room.
"What now?" he asked.
"I don't know, I've never been in someone else's head before," I replied.
"Just stay behind me," he began to walk towards the door and I did what I was told, two steps behind him.
The door swung open, squeaking as it did so, and he stepped through it, looking behind him at me to make sure I was there. Before I could follow him inside, the door shut loudly. I started to bang on it with my fist desperately.
"Scott!" I yelled, trying to turn the doorknob. "Scott, come back!"
I heard a click behind me and I let go of the knob, turning around slowly. The room was now empty, small cracks of light emerging from the walls. In the darkness, I could faintly make out leaves falling from the ceiling. After that, multiple leaves started to fall onto my head and everywhere else in the room. I looked up to find the source, but all I saw was more nothing.
I closed my eyes to shut it out, but when I reopened them I was standing in front of my house, the trees around me shedding their leaves as the autumn air blew past them. I was in the cement walkway wearing a familiar dress that I used to wear all the time when I was younger.
The dress was floral and mid-thigh and it always made me feel more adult when I wore it. But there was something else about it. It was the dress I wore on the day they died. I didn't wear or look at it since.
"Mom, dad?" I called out, bursting into the house worriedly. "MOM! DAD!"
My voice echoed in the empty house, bouncing off the walls. My footsteps slowed as my head moved back and forth, searching for any signs of them. I froze in my spot when I heard a scratching sound in the kitchen to my right.
I slowly looked over and saw the nogitsune carving something into the wood of our countertop. I gasped, trying to stop the tears from coming and it heard me, looking up from its drawing and at me.
I turned and started to run when I heard the door slam. I whirled around and faced the nogitsune as it stalked in my direction. I shakily walked backwards up the steps, the nogitsune following me slowly, and the knife was still in its hands.
All I could do was hurry up the steps, not daring to turn away from it. My hand gripped the rail like a lifeline. I flinched away as the demon let out a roar that pierced my ears and shook the floor beneath me.
"ZARINA!"
A loud voice overlapped the nogitsune's roar and I snapped out of my fear-induced trance, throwing my arms over my head as I whirled around, sprinting up the stairs two steps at a time. I whimpered as I ran, stumbling multiple times, but not looking behind my shoulder once.
I finally reached the top step and I immediately hurried for my room. I burst through the door and entered a familiar bright white room. I slowed to a walk as my eyes adjusted to the light, looking around. The door was gone and the room seemed to stretch on for miles, white pillars everywhere.
Then, I saw the nemeton ahead of me, two figures sitting ontop of it with a board between them. Scott ran up behind me and I looked at him before turning my head back to the two people.
The two of us wordlessly started to walk up to them, but then it turned into a run as we realized that one of the people was Stiles. However, the more we ran, the further they seemed to get. Eventually, we skidded to a stop.
"Stiles!" Scott yelled out.
"Stiles! Stiles, over here!" I waved my arms in the air wildly, but he didn't acknowledge us.
We started to run again, but we didn't even seem to be halfway there. The two of us stopped once more, hands on our knees as we caught our breaths.
"Stiles is part of the pack, right?" I breathed out.
"What? What do you mean?" Scott looked at me curiously.
"He's human, but he's still part of the pack," I clarified.
Scott and I straightened up, eyes locked on our best friend. "Yeah, yeah, of course."
"So how do wolves communicate to their pack?" I finished smugly, looking up at the werewolf.
He looked back at me and my lips quirked up in a grin. My eyes flicked to the nogitsune, who noticed our presence. I then turned back to Scott, whose face was completely wolfed out. His eyes flowed red and his fangs protruded from his mouth as he responded to my question.
"They howl."
A loud growl emitted from his mouth and I watched with awe as Stiles finally looked at us, eyes bright with recognition. He then moved his gaze back to the nogitsune as he swiped the game pieces off the board forcefully. In response, the demon roared in anger and I felt myself return to my real body.
I opened my eyes and took a large intake of air, holding the back of my neck as I got to my feet shakily.
"It didn't work," Scott hurried to Stiles. "It didn't work!"
"What happened?" I asked, looking at the adults.
"Why didn't it work?" Lydia added worriedly from behind me.
Peter grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. "Because it's not science, Lydia, it's supernatural. I did my part now give me the name."
"What name?" Scott stood, turning them questioningly. "What are you talking about?" But Peter ignored him, pulling Lydia into the other room with him urgently.
The two of us glanced at each other before staring at the two suspiciously. I saw Lydia lean in towards his ear, hesitating before saying a simple word. As soon as the word left her lips, Stiles started to freak out from his place on the couch.
Scott and I backed up as he ripped the tape off his mouth, pulling out a long piece of gauze. Stiles fell to his knees, still pulling out the white tape and we all watched in disgust as he started to throw it all up, a black cloud of powder coming out of his mouth as he did so.
Once it was all out, Stiles gagged over it over a second before shooting himself backwards toward the couch as a hand came out of the gauze. A wrapped head came out soon afterwards and we all took a large step backwards as it pulled its whole body out, standing right in front of us.
It looked at its hand for a second before trying to lunge at us. I let out a small scream as Lydia, Melissa, and I fell onto the chairs behind us, Deaton holding us back. Peter and Scott pushed the thing onto a chair as it struggled.
"Hold him!" Peter gritted out.
"I'm trying!" Scott yelled back, voice strained.
The wrapping started to come of the figure's head as it struggled and Peter was about to do something when Scott stopped him.
"Wait, wait, wait!" he cried out and I stood up, taking a few steps closer to them as Scott fully unwrapped the person's head.
Once he finished, I was standing beside him and Scott froze, moving his hand away from Stiles' disheveled head in shock. Stiles sat up straighter on the chair, eyes watery as he looked up at the two of us.
"Scott? Zarina?" Stiles said between heavy breaths, eyes shifting to the other people in the room.
"Scott," Deaton said and the two of us turned to him as faced the- now open- door. I looked around the room and finally realized the absence of two people.
"Where are they?" Scott choked out and Deaton shook his head. "Where are they?!" He pushed past his mother and the vet and headed out the door.
"Lydia? Lydia! LYDIA!"
AN: Sorry for the long wait! So much laziness and this chapter was hard to write in terms of accuracy and getting the exact image I wanted, yeknow? I hope it wasn't as horrible as I think it is. LOL.
Thanks so much for the support and love, as always. Means too much to me and I can't physically type it because it wouldn't do my feelings any justice. But please try and continue to review/fave/follow if you enjoyed! Helps get these done quicker knowing that you guys like it (:
Tumblr: newtsmccalls (got a new url because the maze runner is making me feel things *sigh*)
xx.