Sam groaned opening her eyes to a darkened setting. Was it night? It felt like it.
She looked around. Despite it being dark, she could see the shine of metal. The shine stretched to corners of other hallways.
Where the hell did she end up...?
She jumped at the sound of a shrill scream and sat up. Where the hell did it come from?
She walked to where the scream was coming from, but it seemed to have echoed everywhere. She covered her ears as more screams erupted.
"You can hear them, can't you?", she hears a familiar voice. She turns around and sees Stiles standing behind her. "The screams. The cries. All of it. You can hear it. Almost deafening, isn't it?"
She backs away. He looked sick. Pale and almost thinner. The red darkened rings under his eyes was a lot more apparent now, but when she looked in his eyes, she could've sworn it really was Stiles. In fact, she was convinced it was him.
"What's– I don't understand.", she flinched at the sound of another scream, covering her ears again.
She's never heard anything like this before. Screams of pain, fear and agony. Of course she's heard the screams of the Hale family through Peter's memory, but she wasn't focused on that. Seeing it and hearing it affected her differently as she couldn't see what was going on.
She stumbled on her feet as she ran away from the apparition.
"You don't think they'll save you, do you? I really hope that that isn't the case.", she hears his humored voice as she turns a corner.
Corner after corner, she's met with Stiles' face, smug yet annoyed.
"Or is it you're waiting for a certain someone to come and save you?" She fell into a dead end and panted heavily, cowering in a corner. She did want to be be saved. She wished Scott was here to stop him, he'd probably listen to him. He'd probably save him a lot more than she could've.
Hell, she could've saved herself, but she was too afraid. If there were people here, she didn't want to hurt them. She didn't know how far her power could stretch on the offense rather than defense.
Plus it was Stiles. She couldn't hurt him even if she wanted to. It was Stiles. So why the hell was he so terrifying...? "What do you want from me...?", she whimpered. The figure stood above her, looking down at her tear beaded eyes. He crouched down, his expression softening as he lifted her head up a bit.
"Everything you're feeling is all that I hunger for. And I'm starving."
After Stiles was settled into Scott's room, Melissa started to check Stiles' pulse, only hovering as she remembered the Nogitsune's actions from before.
She was afraid. And he could see it on her face.
Stiles slowly held his wrist to her, and she gave him a sad smile before checking his pulse.
"Well, medically, you seem okay. You're definitely a real person," Melissa told Stiles, a little relieved.
"Okay, so I'm real, but am I the real me?", Stiles asked. Melissa gave a hesitant shrug. She knew just as much as he did. Not much.
When Scott came into the room, Stiles stood up. "Is she here?"
"Yeah," he replied.
Stiles swallowed and nodded. "Okay, let's do this," He looked at their nervous expressions and shook his head. "Guys, we have to do this."
Stiles left for the living room, meeting Kira's mother who looked at him with frown.
"Do you recognize me?", Noshiko asked him.
Before he could reply, Kira ran into the house. "Stop!"
Stiles shook his head, keeping his eye on her mother. "No, it's okay. I'm the one who asked her to come."
"You're the one who's going to get stabbed with swords.", Kira told him, incredulously before turning to her mother. "Mom, don't do this to him."
"It's already done.", Noshiko said.
Stiles looked at her in confusion before he slowly turned his head to see two Oni had appeared behind him. They marched forward, much to Stiles' fright but he stayed out anyways, expecting whatever may come.
One of the Oni tested him, placing its hand on the left side of his face. Its eyes began to glow a bright yellow, as Stiles stared back into them.
The test quickly was over, the Oni dropped Stiles and disappeared. Scott and Kira rushed to his side, checking him over.
"Look behind his ear.", Noshiko said.
Scott turned Stiles' head, revealing the backward 5 kanji symbol. "It worked.", he said, relieved.
"So, I'm actually me?", Stiles asked, sitting up.
"More you than the Nogitsune," she said.
"Can the Oni find him?", he asked.
"Tomorrow night. It's too close to dawn now," Noshiko said. Stiles frowned, looking down at his shaking hands. How could he tell Sam's mom...? How was he gonna get his best friend back?
He let this happen...
"Can they kill him?" Stiles asked.
"Depends on how strong he is."
"But, what about Lydia?", Scott asked. "Why would he take her?"
"He would only take her for an advantage.", she explained.
"You mean her power?"
"The power of a Banshee.", Noshiko clarified. "He must feel he needs her for something — or at least out of the picture."
"But why Sam?", Kira asked. Stiles looked down at his hands. "He said, Sam's his trump card. If I wasn't enough—" He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration for a moment. "If I pulled through, he'd need her. Since her powers work better at night... That's what he needs to be powerful.", Stiles said.
"He plans in the day and takes action at night.", he says, looking at Scott.
They all jumped at the sound of Scott's phone ringing. Scott pulled out his phone to see Sam's caller id and glanced at Stiles who looked at him with wide eyes before answering. "Hello?"
"Scott?", he hears.
"Hey, are you okay? Do you know where you are? If you do, we can find you.", he rushed and put her on speaker. It was silent for a minute before she spoke up again. "I'm... It's a lot of pipes. It's dark and I feel like I'm going in circles.", she whispers.
"Why are you whispering, Sam?", he asked. "I'm trying to avoid him. It's like he's everywhere.", she responds, hoarsely.
"Who? Who's he? Who's there with you?", Scott asked, trying to keep calm for her. He could hear her shaky breaths as she whispered.
"Stiles."
Scott frowned as he looked at Stiles who looked distraught. The Nogitsune had gotten to her and is causing her to become distressed. He made her think Stiles was plaguing her mind when he was here. He couldn't say anything, afraid of making it worse.
"Sam, Stiles is here. He's here with me. I promise.", Scott reassured. It was silent for a moment.
"Sam?"
Silence.
"Sam, can you hear me?"
Silence.
They didn't hear any thuds or any other sounds that worried them that she had put her phone on mute.
It was silent until they heard shuffling and whimpering. "It's so loud... They're so loud..."
Scott, Stiles and Kira looked confused as they looked at each other. "Who's they? Who else is there with you?", Scott asked.
"They're all screaming and I can't do anything about it!", she cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry–" The line cut off.
The boys looked at each other, mortified.
Stiles sighed nervously as they stood in the doorway of the Sheriff's office watching the sheriff look for his keys.
"Ah, if I could just find my keys.", Noah muttered, looking around his office for them.
"In your coffee cup.", Stiles spoke up. "You always drop them in your empty cup."
Noah turned quickly and saw his son, his shoulders dropping in relief. Stiles' lips quirked as he saw his father's eyes glaze over.
"Hey, Dad.", he spoke softly.
Noah didn't take any time to bring his son into his arms. Noah looked at Stiles to Scott, unsure.
"Is it over?"
"Not yet.", Scott muttered, picking up the keys that were inside the coffee mug.
The boys quickly explained all that had happened after Stiles left. All the way up until Lydia and Sam who were taken by the Nogitsune.
"We got an APB out on Lydia's car. Every unit on the road is looking for her.", Noah said, coming back into his office after briefing his officers. "No one's found Sam yet."
"Did you tell her mom?", Stiles asked. Noah looked at him. "I'm not sure if I should. I wouldn't wanna make her worry." Stiles nodded in agreement.
"Isn't there anything else that we could do?", Scott asked.
"At this hour? No, not really."
"He took them for a reason, Dad. Look, if we can figure out the why, then we'll figure out the where.", Stiles told him.
"Okay, what would a Nogitsune need with a Banshee and a...?" Noah asked.
"A werewitch.", Stiles corrected and told Noah what happened with her. "Can she control people? Either of them?", his father asked.
"No, Lydia definitely can't and Sam, she can only control other people's shadows from what she's told us.", Stiles said, shaking his head. Then he sighed. "This would be so much easier to explain if she were here, but... I don't know, Lydia's pretty good at finding dead bodies. Maybe he needs to find a body?"
Noah looked at Scott. "Scott, you know more about this than all of us—"
Scott looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Me?"
"You said you heard the whole story from Noshiko?", he asked.
"Yeah, but that happened during World War II, like seventy years ago.", Scott told them.
"Wait, what did you say?", Stiles asked, looking at his dad.
"Noshiko told me about the internment camp—"
"No, before that," Stiles said, shaking his head. "You said the whole story."
"Yeah...?" Scott said, confused. Stiles looked off into space as he thought. "What is it?", Scott asked.
"There's a girl at Eichen House," Stiles muttered. "Her name's Meredith. I think she might be able to help."
Noah had Parrish run a quick background check and made calls to get her info.
"Sheriff? Meredith Walker.", Parrish informed.
"She's still there?", he asked.
"Yeah, but they moved her to the closed unit," the deputy explained.
"Why?" Stiles frowned in confusion. He wasn't there for long, but it didn't make any sense.
"They said behavioral issues."
"What issues?" Stiles immediately asked. Parrish's answer made them all frown. Stiles instantly knew.
"She wouldn't stop screaming."
Meredith was a banshee.
Scott, Stiles, Isaac and Kira managed to find Meredith and had her tell them what she knew.
Stiles frowned. It made no sense. Why wouldn't Lydia want them to look for her? If the Nogitsune had Lydia, Sam had to have been nearby.
"Isn't anyone going to get that?", Meredith suddenly asked, snapping Stiles out of his thoughts.
"Get what?", Stiles asked, frowning.
"The phone?", she replied in an expected tone.
"What phone?", Stiles asked confused.
His eyes widened in realization as he looked at his phone and pulled it out. Stiles put it to his ear, pretending to answer the call. "Hello? Yes, she's actually sitting right here — It's for you."
Meredith took the phone from him and "answered" it. She was silent for a moment, nodding along to what she heard. She handed the phone back to Stiles as the "call" ended.
"They say coup de foudre.", Meredith told them.
Stiles and Isaac looked at her in confusion. "Coup de — what? What is that, Spanish?"
"It's French.", she corrected. "It means an unforeseen event."
"Are you sure?", Stiles asked her. "That - that doesn't make any sense."
"She's right." Scott said, standing in the doorway. "And it has more meaning than that. I know where they are. I know where he took Lydia."
"Hey, you okay?", Stiles asked, glancing at Scott. He was worried about Scott as much as he was with his friends. He hadn't said much to him.
"Yeah," he responded, nodding. "Yeah, you don't have to worry about me."
"All right, I'm gonna say it.", Isaac spoke up.from the back of the jeep, looking at Stiles. "You look like you're dying. You're pale, thin, and you look like you're getting worse. And we're all sitting here thinking it. When we find the other you, is he gonna look like he's getting better?"
Stiles didn't say anything. He wasn't sure.
"What happens if he gets hurt?", Scott asked Stiles.
"What do you mean, like if he dies, do I die?", Stiles asked tiredly. "I don't care, just so long as no one else dies because of me. I remember everything I did, Scott. I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it."
"It wasn't you.", Scott told him.
"Yeah, but I remember it," he countered. Stiles shook his head. "I remember all of it."
He frowned at the thought of leaving Sam to practically bleed out at the police station. It hurt.
"You guys gotta promise me," Stiles warned. "You can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."
Once they got to Oak Creek, they gathered outside the gate. The lock was already broken, a hint that Kira's mother and the Oni had already been here.
"We've done this before, guys," Scott said, looking at his friends. "A couple of weeks ago, we were standing around, just like this, and we saved Malia. Remember? That was a total stranger — this is Lydia and Sam."
"I'm here to save my best friend," Allison declared determined.
"And I came to save mine.", Scott and Stiles replied simultaneously and looked at each other with a slight smile.
"I just didn't feel like doing any homework.", Isaac muttered, making them huff with a smile.
With that, the 5 teens entered the camp, splitting up. While Kira, Allison, and Isaac ran after the Oni, Scott and Stiles looked for Lydia and Sam.
Scott led Stiles around, finding Lydia's scent the best he could.
"She's here," Scott said as they ran through the tunnels. "This way."
At the very end of one of them, they found Lydia locked inside of a cell.
"Lydia? Are you all right?", Scott asked as they rushed over.
Lydia's eyes widened as she grasped the bars, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no. Why are you here?" she asked.
"Lydia, we're here for you.", Stiles told her, opening the cell once Scott broke the lock. "Where's—"
"You weren't supposed to be here!", Lydia cut him off, her voice breaking. "You didn't get my message?"
"Lydia, what's happening?", Scott asked.
"Who else is here? Who came with you?", Lydia asked, grabbing Scott. Stiles tensed in realization that Lydia truly didn't want them to find her. "It was a trap. You're not gonna be able to find Sam, it was a trap! You weren't supposed to be here!", Lydia shouted hysterically, making Stiles grab his friend.
"Scott, we've got to go back," Stiles said, pushing them out of the tunnels.
Before they could reach the exit, Stiles felt exhausted and stumbled on his feet.
"Lydia... S-Scott," Stiles muttered weakly. His steps faltered before he slumped against the wall. "Lydia, I can't - I can't..."
As Stiles collapsed on the ground, Scott ran ahead. Lydia cradling Stiles face as she tried to keep him up.
"Samantha. Wake up.", Sam woke up to the sound of a familiar feminine voice.
Her eyes opened to the night sky as she felt the familiar, welcoming feeling of grass under her head. She sat up and looked to her left to see Nyx and Hecate.
They looked at her with grave expressions.
"Someone's gonna die tonight." , Sam says, questioning. They nodded. She looked down frustrated.
It could be anyone. She hoped it would be the Nogitsune. Hopeful, that it should be the Nogitsune. But in the pit of her stomach, she feared that someone would be amongst her friends.
"There is a way to save a life. Taking away a life can serve purpose to a new death. However, you must decide. Who will you save?", Hecate asks.
She frowned at the goddesses. "I don't have much of a choice if I have to save one life.", she says. If she had to decide amongst ten dying people to save one person... It was too much pressure to bear.
She had already killed one person. Technically. Did it even count? She'd have to try.
Her eyes closed once more and she fell back into darkness.
Sam's sore eyes opened at the sight of large connected pipes above her. Groaning softly, she sat up and turned to see a gate in front of her. The endless hallway of pipes set her heart in despair. She almost wanted to give up.
She tensed as she looked around to the sound something like someone dragging a fork across a plate. Looking behind her, she saw the wrapped face from before.
This was the actual Nogitsune.
He rushed up to her in a flash, his sharp pointy teeth flashing. "I hope you don't think they can save you."
Sam glared at him, with a tilt of her head. "No. Actually, it's the last thing I want. If they aren't here, you can't get them."
The Nogitsune lowered his head as he unwrapped his face to show Stiles' dark expression. "But, I already have them." His eyes pointed upward. "Don't you hear them?"
She looked up, hearing the sounds of metal clanging together.
He seemed to smirk at her. "You don't even understand the severity of your situation. Do you?"
She glared at him and he grabbed her face tightly, huffing through his nose. "Whether or not you like it, this is your future now. You belong to me. Every painful feeling you have, every dark thought you can think of, that belongs to me."
He let her go and grasped her upper arm. "Let me show you what you need to understand." He led her through hallways that looked like an underground chamber, all the way up to the surface. He hid them in the shadows as she saw Allison, Isaac and Kira fighting the Oni.
She wanted to help. She wanted to help so badly. However, she was afraid of what he would do to her or the others if she did step in. It'd ruin their plans.
She didn't want Stiles to get a bite if it meant he didn't want it to begin with. But if he needed to be saved, it had to be done.
The clanking of metal against metal from Kira's sword and the Oni swords brought her out of her worries as Sam watched the Oni fight Kira.
Isaac's growl made frown watch as he barely dodged from getting hurt. Allison's arrows barely did any damage as the arrows just bounced off one of the Oni' chest and fell onto the ground.
The Nogitsune seemed pleased, entertained as he watched them fight for their lives.
"How do we stop them?", Isaac demanded at Kira's mom as he and the other two girls looked around, watching the Oni.
"You can't!", Noshiko shouted. Three Oni teamed up on Isaac and started slicing at him with their swords.
She rushed to help, but the Nogitsune instantly pulled her back, holding her in his tight grasp.
"You have to watch. Watch him die.", he growled in her ear.
This wasn't how this was supposed to happen…
Sam watched as Allison hurried and shot an arrow into the Oni standing over Issac. A golden yellow green light gleamed out of the warrior's chest and disappeared into black smoke. She felt hopeful again as Allison seemed proud of herself.
But that soon disappeared as an Oni pierced his sword into her side. The Nogitsune covered her mouth as Sam shouted for Allison.
The Oni pulled out his sword and backed up as he and his fellow warriors disappeared. The Nogitsune pulled Sam away just as Scott ran over to Allison.