CONTROL ➳ D. HALE [2]

26 ; fear and pain

26 ➳ FEAR AND PAIN

March 27, 1993

Do I tell them? No, they'll think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. Maybe I've gone insane. No. I know it's real. It has to be. Maybe I can ask Harper. She spends nearly every second with her nose buried in a book, she must know something about whats going on.

No. Nobody can know. Not yet.

They'll take her away.

My little Rose.

➳

Elise sighed, burying her face in her hands. She'd been up all night researching ways to expel a nogitsune from its host and so far she'd come up with nothing. She'd almost thought about using a tracking spell but ultimately decided that finding Stiles would be pointless if he wasn't himself.

Soft footsteps approached the table and the sound of a cup being placed in front of Elise alerted her to someone's presence. She lifted her head to find Derek standing next to her, his own tired eyes skimming over the countless paged that were scattered in front of Elise. The brunette offered grateful nod as she reached forward and grabbed the mug of coffee he'd set before her.

Derek placed a hand on her shoulder and took a sip from his own cup of espresso. "I haven't seen you like this since-"

"-Since Jennifer kidnapped my mom and threatened to use her as a human sacrifice?" Elise offered half-heartedly. Derek offered a hesitant nod and took a seat on the couch next to the brunette. Elise sighed, her eyes scanning the pages before her before speaking again. "The only difference is that now, the thing hurting people is inside of Stiles. We can't just punch it until it goes away- and you know that's my preferred way of dealing with things."

Derek offered the brunette a sympathetic smile as he ran a hand down her back soothingly. "We'll find him, Elise," he reassured her.

Elise sighed, placing the piping hot cup of coffee back on the table and turned to face him. "What if he's too far gone when it happens?" Elise asked quietly.

"Elise-"

"He's been getting worse," Elise frowned. "He told me when I woke up after Jennifer was killed that he'd started having night terrors. He'd wake up screaming, Derek. Then, just the other night, we found him freezing in the middle of the woods, still-asleep and screaming for him to be left alone. This thing, it's been burrowing deeper into Stiles... what if by the time we get to him, there's nothing left?"

"That's not going to happen, Elise," Derek said, his voice was even but Elise could tell he didn't fully believe what he was telling her.

"Derek, I've known him his whole life. He's just as much my brother as Scott is. If anything were to happen to him..." Elise trailed off, feeling a painful ball forming in her throat. Elise wasn't one to panic, but in times like these, she couldn't think of anything else to do.

"Nothing is going to happen to him," Derek insisted, moving his hand to grip Elise's gently. "We're all going to make it out of this."

"How can you know that?"

Derek shifted, a determined look in his eyes as he placed a hand on Elise's cheek, gently turning her face so she was looking at him. "Because I know you, Elise. I know that you won't stop until Stiles is safe and sound. None of us will."

Elise let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. Derek was right. He had to be. After all, if anyone could survive a nogitsune, it was Stiles. Elise nodded slightly, shifting her weight so she was leaning her head against Derek's shoulder. He moved his arm, wrapping it around her as he took another sip of his coffee.

"It's kind of funny," Elise said slowly, the sudden lull in stress allowing her tiredness from the night spent researching to weigh in on her. "I used to never read. Now it seems like I've got my own personal library on all things supernatural." Then, as her eyelids began to feel heavy and her thoughts began to drift, she sleepily added, "I'm a librarian."

➳

Searing pain raced through all of her limbs. It was like hot embers burned under her skin, lighting up her bones in a hailstorm of pain. Everything was bright. Too bright.

It was wrong, but also right. Like it had been long coming. It was time, but she was scared. So scared. She had to hold on, to fight it. She could do it. She needed to. She couldn't go yet.

She felt her knees give out beneath her and the ground flickered in and out of focus.

Then the brightness took over.

Elise jumped awake, her heart pounding in her chest and a faint trace of pain still lingering in her bones. She took a moment to steady her rapid breathing, trying to focus on the solidity of her surroundings.

She was in Derek's loft. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath before bracing her arms against the cushions of the couch and pushing herself to a sitting position. Elise found that her limbs were trembling slightly as she stood, leaning forward to shift the scattered papers on the table before her into more organized piles.

Elise found that the dream had already begun to fade. It had been happening more quickly with each one she'd had. Every vision would feel so real in the instant it was happening, but the second Elise snapped back into reality, it became fuzzy and blurred. Then, it was only a matter of seconds before the memory would fade entirely.

All Elise could remember was that whatever had happened, it had hurt. An unbelievable pain. She'd been scared, too. But scared of what?

Elise was pulled from her thoughts as a series of sirens wailed loudly from the street below. The brunette moved toward the large window, peering through the panes of glass to find that night had fallen. How long had she been asleep? Then, her eyes caught sight of a pillar of smoke rising from a spot a few blocks away.

The station.

➳

Elise's feet pounded against the tiled floor as she sprinted into the station. Her eyes were wide as they landed on the chaos within. Several officers lay wounded on the floor as paramedics tended to the worst of them. Then, her eyes landed on a pair of familiar figures leaning against a nearby bench.

"Derek?" Elise gasped, the knot in her stomach worsening as she moved toward him. The back of his shirt was tattered and bloodstained, but he appeared fine otherwise.

He looked up upon hearing his name, his eyes widening slightly when they landed on the brunette. "Elise? What are you doing here?" He asked as she finally reached him. Instead of responding, she reached forward and wrapped her arms around the man. Relief flooded her veins upon seeing that he was alright.

"I saw the smoke from the loft," Elise answered as she pulled away, her eyes still wide. "What happened?"

"There was a bomb," The other figure, Chris Argent, answered.

Elise's voice caught in her throat at the news. She flicked her eyes around the station, catching sight of the injured officers she'd known all of her life. She found herself asking a question she already knew the answer to. "Was it him? Was it Stiles?"

➳

So, I figure that a lot of you guys haven't read my "meet my ocs" book, so I'll mention here that Elise was born in early November in 1993. All of Everett's entries will be from before Elise is born. The entries are going to get really confusing/delirious soon so I felt like it was better to mention it now haha. Also, this was another short chapter and I'm sorry about that. I get really particular with my writing style and just have to cut it off at certain points to preserve the quality of a chapter yk?? I promise I'll try to get a chapter up on wednesday to make up for how incredibly short this one was.
Words: 1368

Feedback is most appreciated <3