Lifted ▸ Scott McCall

08 ; breaking

"Lena!"

"You're not real. You're dead..." Lena mumbled, pressing her back up against the wall. "He killed you. . .it killed you. I killed you. " Lena clamped her eyes shut, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Lena sat there, writhing on the floor as she tried desperately to rid the noise from her head. Unbeknownst to her, Isaac lay across the room beneath the old bed, trying to rid his own demons. Only, Isaac's demon was rotting in hell. As for Lena? Lena's demons were a bit harder to lose.

"No!" Lena's eyes opened instantly as the blood-chilling scream echoed from somewhere in front of her. She lay in the grass, facing the darkened sky; she was drenched in blood and as of that moment, she was also orphaned. Her parents lay across the square beside one-another, their hearts no longer beating as the swords that sat embedded into their chests allowed more blood to flow from their already lifeless corpses. Lena's nails dug into the grass beneath her in pain; she slowly pulled herself upwards. "Please, don't. Don't hurt them."

The voice could only belong to her brother. Hudson was too young, then, to realize that their parents were far too gone to be saved. At least, seventeen year-old Lena thought, at least he still had hope. Lena was far too familiar with the feeling of loss.

Lena turned her head to the side, glancing over at her still-breathing brother. Both siblings were now orphans, and Lena would de dammed before she allowed her brother to face the cruel world on his own.

"Hudson," Lena shouted; almost instantaneously, she gained her younger brother's attention. Of course, Lena didn't notice the demon towering over her brother until it was too late for her brain to form a better plan than she did. Because, having been seventeen for hundreds upon hundreds of years, you learn a few things about life. Lena, though, learned that acting brainlessly was better than not acting at all. Which is why she did what she did next.

In the seconds following her calling for her brother, the demon has his blade outstretched, and was taking one large step towards her brother. It was her family that was particularly targeted; apparently, having heard through the screams, Noshiko had summouned the Nogitsune to wreak havoc on those who wronged the lot of them. Only, it came back in the form of Rhys, and wasn't targeting the right people. No, he was slaughtering any living being that crossed its path.

With a speed that could have been classed as that of a supernatural's, Lena pumped her legs until she was diving in front of her brother. She shoved Hudson backwards with as much strength as she could muster, sending him stumbling backwards. "Run, Hudson. Run as fast as you can, and don't turn around for anything. Not for me, not for anyone. You hear me? I'm right behind you. Go!"

Hudson took off as she had planned; the only thing left for her to do was to hold off the demon until her brother got out of Oak Creek. Except, Lena was overestimating her abilities far too much.

Within seconds, an identical blade that killed her parents was embedded into her abdomen. Only, instead of letting her fall to her knees, and instead of letting death take her by the shoulders and drag her towards the darkness, the demon held her up.

Lena was fighting too many screams to be confused. The demon had her face in its palm, and aside from the stabbing pain in her torso, she felt a stinging behind her ear. Unbeknownst to her, the demon was ending her human life, and giving her the life of an Oni. She would soon after move to a new country, adopting the name Avery whilst starting a new life. But for now, she had something else to worry about, at that something wasn't involving her.

It was involving the fact that Hudson had turned around - he had looked back. And, in his moments of obliviousness, Hudson Roth ran unknowingly into the blade of an Oni. Hudson, like the others, were dead before they hit the ground.

The demon's mask prevented any facial expressions, but Lena thought that it might be smiling maliciously at her reaction. Lena didn't know that a person could scream so loudly. Her heartbeat was slowing - she knew it - her vocal cords shattering as her throat was ripped raw at the sheer volume of her voice. Lena could have been beaten, stabbed, choked, even ripped in half right there, and nothing could ever compare to the hurt she felt right then.

Lena was too numb to feel the blade slide out from her torso, and all too distracted to notice her blood darken on her hands to the color that her heart would soon resemble. A pure, absolute, utter blackness that only fed into her newfound expectance to a dark heart.

Because heaven knows she would soon house a heart that only the kindest person could only ever impact skin deep.

This was the moment in which Lena Roth broke.

□ □ □ □ □

"What just happened?" Stiles chased after Ethan, who was buttoning his shirt while running down the stairs in attempt of escaping the pale boy.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I don't know how I got there or what I was doing." Ethan glared at Stiles as he restrained himself from growling. Both boys referred to what just went down in the empty room just up the stairs. Lydia had caught Ethan with an electric handsaw, attempting to end his own life.

"Okay, you could be a little bit more helpful, you know. We did just save your life." Stiles scoffed; Lydia and Allison caught up to the two, standing behind Stiles in fear of another outburst.

"Yeah, well you probably shouldn't have." Ethan turned his back on the three, a silence falling over the trio as Ethan stormed off. This time, though, Stiles didn't follow him.

"What now?" Stiles' words died on his lips as a spine-chilling scream echoed through the motel, making even the chilled air seem weak against the cold tone to the screamer's voice. And, Stiles hoped his assumption was false as he noted that the scream sounded exactly like something that might pass Lena Roth's lips.

"I'll find Scott," Allison was the first of the three to snap put from their thoughts. "You guys grab Isaac, Boyd, and Lena. The best thing we can do is get them out of this place." Stiles nodded in agreement, and Lydia's hand was in his own before Allison had even remotely began to run up the stairs once more.

Stiles slid through the door to Isaac, Boyd, and Lena's room, Lydia trailed behind him as his neck nearly snapped as he searched for the source of the scream. He was almost positive that his heart stopped beating when he took in the sight of Lena Roth.

Lena stood, quaking in fear, in the center of the room. Her body swayed dangerously close back and forth, as the blood that seeped from her shirt dripped onto the floor. Her eyes were stained with tears, her makeup having traveled from her eyes to her cheeks. Stiles' hazel eyes met an irritated black as Lena's legs gave way from underneath her.

Ignoring Lydia's screams, Stiles dove for the brunette, sliding his arms beneath her before her paling body could hit the carpet. Blood seeped from her torso and onto Stiles' flannel, but no wound was to be found by Stiles or Lydia. Only Lena knew what was happening, but she wasn't exactly awake - or even alive - to tell them that she was still breathing, and that this had happened before.

That every time she relived that night, her heart got a little bit darker.

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not edited.