REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

xv.

The room around her was blurring. She could see only his eyes, and they were making her feel more and more sleepy. She allowed her own eyes to half close, her head to fall back. She sighed.

She could feel his gaze now, on her lips, on her throat. She smiled to herself and let her eyes close completely.

He was supporting her weight now, keeping her from falling down. She felt his lips on the skin of her neck, burning hot as if he had a fever. Then she felt the tips of his canines graze over her skin. It was a simple action, and she relaxed to the pleasure of his hold.

She remembered this feeling, the feeling of floating on a bed of golden light. A delicious sensation shuddering through her limbs. She didn't want too move; she felt too good.

Her fingers were resting on his hair, clasping his head to her. Idly, she threaded them through the soft dark strands. His hair was like silk, warm and alive under her fingers. When she opened her eyes a slit, she saw that it reflected rainbows in the candlelight. Red and blue and...red...red, just like—just like the blood flowing...

And then everything shattered. There was pain at her throat suddenly, as if her soul was being torn out of her. That was when she realized that he had bit her, just like the night she turned into a werewolf. She was pushing at Scott, clawing at him, trying to force him away. Screams rang in her ears. Scott was fighting her, but it wasn't Scott; it was a bird made of flames. Huge wings beat against her, thrashing in the air...

The stars were distant and clouds bright in the night sky. Carter felt like them. Part of her was shouting over the roar of the rain, but part of her was watching from far away. Scott pulled up to the animal clinic, the engine roaring through the downpour until it stopped and the only sound was the fluttering beat of her heart up between her ears.

"Hey," Scott's voice broke through the untimely weather, making the brunette glance over at him. The long and curly chocolate hair, which reeked of gasoline, stuck to her wet cheeks as she turned. And she couldn't tell if her eyes burned from the smearing mascara or the strong smell of the gasoline. "You don't have to go in there if you don't feel up to it."

Carter stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes becoming hard as she realized that he was actually being serious. "What I have to do is make sure that you don't get yourself killed, not matter what I feel up to. Scott, there is only one reason why I'm standing out here in the pouring rain with you and not sitting at home warm and dry. Me—I know it sounds selfish, but damn, don't you think I deserve to be a little selfish now and again? So, yes, I do have to do this. Not for you, not for Stiles, not for Kira or Brett or the deadpool. I'm doing all of this for me...to make sure that I don't disappear into the darkness that I've created."

Scott watched her for a long moment; eyes surveying her every feature as he watched all of her hard exterior shell began to crack apart right before his eyes. And that was when he realized that he had fallen in love with a girl who had already welcomed the fate of Death into her life. And the only thing she cared about was proving to everyone that she was made from more than just blood, fire, and pain. She just didn't want to get sucked into an oblivion where she wasn't anything more than that.

Scott, for the umpteenth time, felt his heart break at the sight of the crumbling girl in front of him. "Disappear? Carter, you could never disappear—you're too strong for that. And you're strong enough to know that nothing bad is going to happen to you."