BTSI #7

Back from my trip and back with a new chapter! Enjoy, my friends!

Stiles' heart felt like a running racehorse in his chest, as his eyes scanned over the face of the man with the auburn hair. A tightness clutched his chest and he found himself struggling to draw breath into his lungs.

No, not now. This isn't the time for a panic attack!

Stiles pinched his eyes tightly shut. He wouldn't be doing himself favors if he passed out now.

Come on, Stiles. Breathe, he instructed himself. There's gotta be a reasonable explanation for all of this.

It took every ounce of focus he had in him, but he finally managed to suck in a deep breath, then another, and another. Before long, Stiles was feeling the tension in his muscles ease up a little, and his heartrate came down from a full-on panic to high anxiety. He could work with this. All he had to do was not pass out.

"You really should learn to calm down, Stiles," the man said. "I haven't even done anything to you… yet."

Stiles' jaw grew firm, and he slowly opened his eyes to look at the man, forcing all traces of fear out of his expression. "What do you want with Scott?"

The man chuckled. "You just assume anyone who kidnaps you is after Scott?"

The teen gave a shrug of his shoulders – or at least he tried to. The action was far from easy in his position. "That's typically the way it works. This isn't my first rodeo. Besides, what would anyone want with a pale, scrawny, freckled teenager if he wasn't the best friend of a True Alpha?"

"You seem to forget you're also the son of the Sheriff," Auburn countered.

Stiles frowned at the mention of his father. "Maybe, but…" His brown eyes drifted over the frame of his captor, studying him. "Whatever you are, you're supernatural. I mean, you're wearing the face of a dead guy. It doesn't get much more unnatural than that. My dad deals with criminals, Scott deals with monsters. So yeah, you're after Scott."

The man's lips twisted in a bemused smirk. "Good on you, Stiles. I guess you are the smart one after all. Yes, I'm afraid you're just a means to an end in this game." With a slow step, Auburn drew closer to Stiles, and the teen found his muscles again growing tense. "Fortunately for you, though, I need you alive."

Stiles sucked in a shaky breath, but kept his expression stony and undaunted. "Why do you need me?"

Auburn took yet another step closer, then another. In mere moments, he was standing just inches from the front of Stiles' chair. "I'm surprised you even need to ask. Can't you feel your weakness? Your vulnerability? All it took was a few wiry ropes and you are totally at my mercy." He chuckled in a way that left shivers running down Stiles' spine. "You're human, Stiles. And humans are fragile. I see it. Your friends can see it. Even Scott sees it more plainly than you do."

"I've heard it all before," Stiles grumbled in retort. "Let me guess. You want something from Scott. If he doesn't do what you ask, you'll hurt me until he does. Can't you at least try being a little more original?"

"You think you're clever." There was that smirk again that Stiles was growing to really hate. "I don't want anything from Scott that he isn't already doing. He's fiercely protective of his pack, and he can stay that way. He doesn't even have to know that anything is wrong."

Doesn't have to know? The confusion was evident on Stiles' face. This guy – creature; whatever he was – wasn't making sense at all now. "Sorry, man. It won't take Scott long to realize I'm missing. When he does, he'll be looking for me. Trust me, you don't want to be on his bad side."

"Oh, Stiles, you still have so much to learn about this unnatural world you've only just discovered." The man's hair swayed gently as he slowly shook his head. At the same time, he reached one hand behind him, and when it returned, a flash of shining metal caught Stiles' eye.

The teen felt his blood run cold at the sight. A knife. What was that for? Didn't he say he needed Stiles alive?

"Ha-hang on there. Take it easy." Stiles squirmed in his seat uncomfortably, but his bindings prevented him from escaping should the man try anything. It was then that the full weight of his vulnerability really set in. He truly was at Auburn's mercy.

"Don't worry, Stiles. I'm not going to kill you." The man smirked, tapping the blade thoughtfully against his own chin. "Well, maybe you could worry a little bit. If you're very afraid, I can taste it on you."

The predatory gleam in Auburn's eyes as he said those words was enough to send Stiles' stomach into somersaults. "T-taste it?"

Visions of the two attack scenes flooded Stiles' mind. That girl and her dead eyes, her body torn to shreds. The man with his expression twisted in pure terror. Was this the creature they'd encountered? Was Stiles about to become his next victim!

The teen's eyes grew wide with fright at the idea, but before he could react, he felt a set of fingers entangle themselves in his hair just a moment before they grabbed hold and yanked his head upwards to look at the man. He felt the cold touch of metal against his cheekbone and gasped as it was drawn across his skin, leaving a warm wet trail of blood in its wake. To his surprise, though, a small cut was all that was left behind before the blade was removed and the grip on Stiles' hair was released.

Any feeling of relief, however, was quickly replaced by revulsion as Stiles watched what Auburn's next moves were. The man raised an eyebrow and studied the red liquid on the edge of the knife before closing his eyes and… smelling it?

If Stiles found that disturbing, the next step was far worse. Auburn's lips parted as his tongue slipped out between them, and… Stiles thought he was going to be sick. He licked the blade! The teen nearly gagged as he watched every trace of red slowly disappear from the edge of the knife.

When Auburn finally finished, the blade dropped from his fingers and clattered to the floor. He closed his eyes, breathing out a long, slow sigh almost like the one someone would let out after finishing a satisfying meal. Stiles didn't bother to hide the look of absolute disgust that made its way onto his face. This man – monster – truly was sick.

A moment later, Auburn's eyes opened, and he looked directly at Stiles. It was then that the teen noticed something – something that made the blood drain right out of his face. Auburn's hazel-green irises were changing. The green slowly began to fade, and the hazel grew darker until Stiles was looking into a pair of familiar looking dark eyes.

Not only were the eyes changing, Stiles soon realized. Auburn's hair wasn't quite so auburn anymore. It was brown! And the man's skin turned a shade lighter and gained some extra freckles that hadn't been there before.

When the transformation was complete, Stiles was astonished, to say the least. The man with the auburn hair was gone, and now Stiles was left looking into the same pair of eyes he saw in the mirror every morning. He was looking at himself.

Thank you guys for all of the new follows! I appreciate you!