Chapter 12
I made my way through the snow, wondering what would be on the other side of the door. Quietly I walk up the stairs, placing each foot with care I walk up the small stairs. They don't creak under my weight and seem pretty sturdy. I look to my left and see where the fire came from and spot a little bonfire to the left of the house and it is slowly dying down. I snap my fingers so lightly, and the fire and smoke is gone. Deceased. I look around the porch and see footprints of them all over. But Stiles' are not here. They must have decided to carry him. I reach for the doorknob and it opens up. Not a sound is made. It swings open. I step inside.
I look in the room beside me, it is quite open and I doubt that they would have put him in there. Never the less, I look. Nothing but a hole in the ground.
I stop, close my eyes, and listen. I can hear nothing, nothing that will tell me to Stiles. I look around a corner to find nothing there. I know he must be upstairs. I carefully walk over pieces of burnt wood and debris on the ground. It is scattered in such a way that can only make me think no cared to clean up after the fire. I know about the fire here, Lydia told me about it and that Derek's family were burned, just as mine were. Except for one. I wish that was the same for me, I had another piece of family left. But no one could know, she and I are the last and if someone found out about her…it would be bad.
I freeze suddenly, hearing a noise. An intake of breath. It came from the second floor. I rounded to the stairs and stepped on each stair with great ease, frightened they would give way at any weight placed upon them. They didn't. There were markings on the wooden stairs, recent ones. I bent down and examined it. There were claw marks, no doubt from Derek's wolves. I ran my finger over it and saw that they were indeed claw marks, nothing from tonight. I straightened up and walked up the last couple of stairs.
At the top, there were four doors; two on each side of the stairs. I stop, close my eyes and listen. I can hear voices outside, the wind whistles through the cracks of the house, feet crunching snow, and a groan. Barely auditable, but I can hear it. If the wind wanted me too, nothing would stop it. It came from the right side of the stairs. I stop in front of the first one, listening for any sound. I didn't dare open it. I couldn't risk being found out this early in the game. I doubt though, that they don't know I'm in here. But maybe they don't. The others are supposed to make a distraction so I can get Stiles out alive. Before I move on, I wait and listen.
A howl breaks the silence and I can hear feet running through the snow. I make my move toward the next door. I lean my ear against it and know it is it. I hear a moan and open the door slowly and quietly. I step inside and close the door. I lock it and turn. I don't know what to think or say when I see Stiles.
"Stiles." Is all that escapes. He stirs at my voice and I rush over to him. His face is all bruised and cut. Cuts from Gerard though? Why would he torture Stiles? My blood suddenly runs cold because I know Alison would never allow this to happen. No matter how much Gerard has tainted her, she would never let anyone harm Stiles.
I swear and lift him. I don't dare walk out with him like this, so I sit him against the nearby wall, one that is still sturdy and intact. It is the one facing the door, no matter how much of an easy target from here I am, it's the best I have. I hear yelling from outside, but my attention is on Stiles. He is barely conscious. I lift his head up to the light to look at him, he doesn't look too bad, but I just need him to be conscious. I don't want to use a spell because I am not strong enough for it right now. I am not ay my full power because of the Court's verdict.
He has a black eye from what I can see, or will have one soon. Slowly I touch it, he flinches. His eyes pop open and his eyes flutter around in a panic.
"Shh, shh." I whisper to him. "Gerard is gone." I say. He shakes his head.
"Aiden," his voice doesn't have his usual spunk to it, "you." He says. I nod.
"I know, Stiles." I wipe away some blood from his chin. "But do you?" I ask. He nods.
"A Witch of some sort."
"Yes, a Healer." I wipe away some more of the blood on his face, but he grabs my hand.
"You, they're after." He says sternly. I don't try to break his grip.
"Yes, Gerard wants me and only me." I say with a smile. "But won't get me." I hear her, before she even speaks.
"You sure about that, Hun?" She mimics me and I hear her let an arrow go.
"Aiden!" Stiles tried to move me, but I stay put.
I snap my fingers and the arrow turns into a daisy. I hear silence, so decide to talk.
"Did Gerard tell you anything Alison?" I ask and look at her. Alison squints her eyes at me.
"He told me you are a witch." I shake my finger.
"Wrongo missy moo, a Healer." I emphasis on. She frowns.
"What's the difference?" She points her arrow at me. I don't move.
"Not a lot actually. So," I say, "I'm assuming you don't know a lot about witches? Well, who does really? I mean, there are only a handful of us left but we remember what we are, what we stand for. We remember our Oath." She looks at me and lowers her bow slightly, interested.
"What Oath?" She asks. I can feel Stiles' eyes on me as well wanting to know more.
"The Oath I took, that all witches have to take when they come of age, is very old and wise. Written by my grandmother and her sister when they were young. We witches live by it every day and it defines what we are. We are not those who eat children and cast hexes for fun. It is in old Scottish Gaelic. The most important part of this oath, can you guess what it read?" I ask either of them. The both shake their heads. "With my power, given to me by my mother and hers before her, I will heal the innocent. Aid the hungry. I shall create, never destroy whether it be plant, animal, demon, or human. I shall not kill, or let Airmid strike me down where I stand." I repeat to them.
Alison stares at me and lowers her bow completely and puts her arrow back in her sheath.
"You're," she stares at me still, "telling the truth. I can see it in you." With slight smile I nod at her.
"Alison, Gerard has deceived you." She shakes her head.
"But he's my grandfather. He wouldn't."
"He would Alison. He killed my family." I stand up, seeing Alison fighting with herself. "Hun, your father." She looks at me frightened now. "He is a good man. He doesn't kill the innocent. He didn't kill me when he saw in the woods when it snowed." She goes pale.
"That deer. Gerard told me it was good practise and that she would make the winter. Oh god." She mumbles.
"The past Hun, all in the past. She did make it you know, I healed her. Gave her and her fawn some grass. Now," I say to her, "go outside. Please. I need to get him out Alison." She looks up at me and runs out of the room.
I turn back to Stiles and see him watching. I rush to him as he starts to stand.
"You shouldn't be standing, you know. Barley conscious." I say with a smirk. He chuckles.
"I think I can handle myself." He stops before we are even close to the door. "Did her father really do that?"
"Don't believe me?" I ask. He slightly nods. "But yeah, he did. Hell, he is out there right now." I point out the window. Stile doesn't look though. He looks at me.
"What?" He steps closer. I can see his eye blackening as the seconds drag on. I touch it and he closes his eye, I smirk. "No more tough guy act, huh?" I feel his smile underneath my hand.
"Why'd you come? You could have sent Scott in here and I would have been out in a snap of my fingers." I glare at that, but he is right. Why did I come? Did I feel responsible for him? Was I guilty about it? I knew the answer deep down, but I didn't want to say it. I was scared of his reaction, hell I was scared of it myself. It had to be said though.
"I." I look at the ground, trying to find the right words. "I have feelings for you Stiles. I'm scared though." He holds my hand and kisses it.
"What do you mean, scared?" he asks.
"I know you're in love with Lydia and always will be but-"
"Aiden." he says peacefully. He holds my hands tight in his hands. "I do and always will, my first love. You have a first love, Burt or whoever, and you still love him. But that's the past, and nothing will change it. Never. I do though," he looks in my eyes, "have feelings for this other girl. She's new though, don't know much about her but I know she is a fighter. I wouldn't want to be in a fight with her that's for sure. That girl though, the tough girl who came here months ago, she changed. Now there is this faire girl, truly beautiful in every way. Where is she?" he asks.
The anger that was within me, the numbing of my human self, it drifted away. I felt my soul come back to me. All of it. I smile, as does he. He kisses my fingers and I smile at how he can be so distracted but not at all. He notices everything no matter how small it may be, it sticks in his mind. He looks up at me and pulls me close into our first kiss.