Chapter 8

Thomas and Stiles, carrying Scott basically stumbled in the hospital

- 'WE NEED HELP!' Stiles croaked as loud as he could being without breath. Closest nurse noticed Scott and shouted something about 'Melissa'. Thomas' vision was blurry from exhaustion but he still did his best to keep Scott supported. He looked at Scott and gasped – in the light he looked even worse than in woods. Nurses came with movable cart bed and put Scott on it.

- 'SCOTT?! Scott! Scott, can you hear me?' A woman in nurse's clothes shouted in pleading voice as she rushed to the cart and helped drag it deeper in hospital. Stiles stood up and looked back at Thomas questioning him with a look.

- 'G-Go… he n-needs you…' Thomas gasped without breath and pushed himself up to go sit on a nearby chair. Stiles got up and ran after the cart bed on which Scott was being dragged. Thomas was clearly dazed. Suddenly, it all just had turned upside down.

He felt numb. There were absolutely no thoughts, no feelings no nothing within him. That's what you call shock, to say the least. He looked at his palms, trying to raise them up but as he raised his arms, they were shaking uncontrollably. Then, he finally saw through it.

He finally saw the dark blood on his hands, he finally saw how much of Scott's blood was on him, as he glanced down his shirt was all smeared with the dark blood but he had managed to clean most of the wolfsbane out of the wound. Helpless, he glanced at the doors that separated registration from rest of the hospital and thought of Scott who was probably undergoing surgery or something.

He didn't know how much time had passed as there was no clock visible in registration. Maybe he just didn't try hard enough to find one because he was scared. What if he failed? What if wolfsbane had done the undeniable damage? What if Scott was dying? He left sick.

Thomas pushed himself up and went to WC to try and clean his hands at least. The blood on his hands had dried and he desperately wanted to get it off, yet he knew the shirt he had on him right now was to be thrown out. It was damaged beyond cleaning. He sighed.

Thomas….

Thomas froze as he was washing his hands furiously to get the blood off. Everything was silent, not a person in sight in cubicles but clearly he thought someone had called his name. He returned to wash his hands but somehow was unable to clean the blood off.

Thomas…

He ignored the voice second time and continued to wash the blood but the more he washed it seemed to be going down the drain yet his hands stayed bloody. He gasped, going in panic, trying to wash the blood quicker but it stayed on his arms. Then, instead of water running from the faucet, blood the same dark tone began running from the faucet. Thomas screamed and jumped back.

Suddenly, he felt cold. To be exactly, he felt a cold stream of air at back of his neck, making his hair on neck stand. Then, he heard soft growling and Thomas jumping, turned around. There was no one behind him only thin air. He turned once again around and found himself standing in front of Nemeton back in forest.

Did he even leave the forest? He thought he did. He tried to recite that night's happenings deep within in his mind, how he met Stiles in town, how they together went to look for Scott, how they found Nemeton and bleeding Scott, how they got him in car and drove him off. Had he returned to forest unconsciously? This had to be dream.

- 'Thomas…' same voice called out to him, now clearer than ever. Someone was calling out to him, someone, or something was trying to get his attention badly, for some reason. Then, he saw it.

He saw a shadow suddenly rising up from behind the Nemeton. Same shadow that was chasing him in that dream after Lydia spoke to him. Was this a dream? Could it possibly be a dream?

Thomas wanted to turn around and run but felt he couldn't. He looked down and saw tree roots covering his feet, holding him tight down to the ground, unable to move. Thomas bent down trying to break the roots off his feet but he couldn't. The roots were steely clasped around his feet.

- 'You have something I need, Thomas.' The voice said. Thomas' stare snapped upwards back to Nemeton and there it was – something unnatural standing on top of Nemeton, its face covered in bandages and teeth looking sharp as razors. It was dark but moonlight was somehow focused on the creature, human-like standing on the Nemeton.

- 'Who are you?!' Thomas spoke, clearly. It was so vivid, so real. Thomas could control his actions, except for being able to run. He wanted to break free and run as fast as he could.

- 'I think you know that already.' The voice half-growled, half-sneered at Thomas. He knew? How could Thomas know who or what it was? He saw the being for the first time in his life, yet he still tried to talk himself into natural explanation – this was only just a dream. Horrible, horrible dream.

But then, he remembered something. What had Scott said when he finally came back to consciousness?

It's Nogitsune… Nogitsune's back!

Thomas was about to speak the name when he felt something familiar. Something very, very warm and familiar touched his arm. Thomas looked to his right side and gasped. It clearly was a dream.

There she was standing, in white dress, her long hair to her shoulders. She looked at him and smiled. Thomas couldn't believe his eyes. Pang of guilt, mixed with missing hit him as he watched her face. She was holding his hand.

- 'Don't say His name.' She spoke. Thomas was loss at words. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to ask.

- 'YOU! Stay away from him, he is MINE!' Unmistakable aura of anger and hatred came from the creature on top of the Nemeton. Thomas looked back at the creature who was crouching, prepared to leap at Thomas.

- 'Thomas, you have to wake up!' Allison shouted at him. Thomas was unable to move, was unable to think. He was paralyzed from fear head to toe, scared of what was going on. He wanted to speak, to say something but was unable to.

- 'Say my name Thomas! You know you want to say it. Say it!' The voice sneered. Thomas shut his eyes. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP THOMAS! He particularly screamed in his own mind at himself.

- 'THOMAS, WAKE UP, NOW!' Allison's voice suddenly had somehow changed in Stile's voice. The creature leaped at Thomas and Thomas screamed.

Thomas woke up on boy's WC floor kicking and screaming on top of his longs. Someone was clasping his shoulders, trying to hold Thomas to place but Thomas was terrified. He couldn't calm himself down. He saw his hands were still bloody.

- 'Thomas! Thomas, look at me! Look at me!' A woman's voice spoke. Thomas turned his head in direction from which the voice was coming and saw a woman right beside him, holding him tightly. He saw Stiles standing few feet away, his face still pale. The horror in his face mirrored the horror Thomas felt himself. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. IT WAS JUST A DREAM! Voice at the back of his mind tried to break through but it was pointless. Thomas was still kicking and screaming.

- 'Thomas, how many fingers am I showing?' Stiles asked, in monotone voice as he held up his both palms.

- 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT?!' Thomas screamed unable to control himself.

- 'Count the fingers!' Stiles ordered, bending his fingers down and rising them straight one by one, slowly. Thomas was in panic but he focused on fingers and counted a loud.

- '10 fingers.' He managed to choke out finally. Woman hugged him tightly and it finally hit Thomas. He was awake. This was rational. This was real. Tears streamed down his face and he broke down in sobs