"She's awake."
"And as annoying as ever."
The pack glanced back at Liam and Malia as they entered the kitchen to update them. They all walked back out to the living room where Maia was chained to a chair in the middle of the room.
Derek looked up from his spot across from her. He stood up to stand side by side with Scott and Stiles. They inspected her with critical eyes.
She met them with a taunting smirk and mischievous eyes. Her expression made two out of the three nervous.
"Uh...Scott, Derek, side bar," Stiles whispered.
He pulled the two back into the kitchen. He gestured for the rest of the pack to listen in as well.
"Any idea what we're doing here?" he asked simply, clapping his hands together.
Scott shrugged, "Peter said there was a barrier around her mind. Maybe if we break it, we can get through to her."
"How do we do that?" Liam asked.
Lydia's eyes lit up. She pointedly looked at Stiles, "Certain objects and places hold special memories. That's why we brought her here in the first place."
"Because it's her home," he elaborated.
She nodded, "So maybe we can find something that's special to her. Is there something in her room?"
Derek stepped up, "She doesn't have a lot of personal items but maybe she hid something. I'll help you look."
The pair nodded in agreement before rushing up the stairs to her room. Maia briefly glanced at them as they passed.
"Is anyone else concerned that she's just sitting there?" Malia asked.
They looked back into the other room to see Maia intently listening. She winked and waved her hand as much as she could.
"Will those hold her?" Liam asked, gesturing towards the chains.
"It should. But just in case, Argent went over to Deaton's to get more mountain ash," Scott reassured, "Meanwhile, we have to take shifts on watching her while we figure things out."
He turned to look at his best friend. Stiles caught his suggestion and shook his head vigorously. He stuttered for an excuse.
"Besides Derek, you're the closest one to her," Scott argued, "Plus you know what she's going through."
"It's not like I'd be talking to Maia. I'd be talking to the manipulative, tricky bastard inside of her!"
"But Maia could hear you."
Stiles sighed in defeat and slumped. He lightly glared at Scott before turning to his girlfriend for reassurance. Malia sent him a soft smile as he snatched up his bat.
When he reentered the living room, he sat across from her on the chair Derek had pulled up. He laid his bat in his lap and sat straight.
Their eyes met an challenge each other. Stiles was inwardly afraid but he had the strangest feeling of confidence. He knew that Maia was within reach now.
"Maia, I know you can hear me."
She rolled her eyes.
"And I know you're trying to fight. I'm here to help you."
"She doesn't need help," she snapped, "Don't you get it, Stiles? The power that I offer her makes sure that she never gets hurt again. She's finally free of all the pain of her past."
"I don't believe that."
He scooted closer and sat on the edge of the chair.
"I know what you're going through," he sympathized, "I know what it feels like to be trapped by your own mind. To be afraid of the dark thoughts."
A flicker of remembrance flashed through her eyes. He recognized it and boldly placed a hand on her knee.
"You are not alone in this. You have us by your side," he stated, "You have your pack."
Her face fell. Her bottom lip began to tremble and water began to brim her eyes. Genuine emotion was starting to creep back into her face.
Stiles noticed and straightened up anxiously.
"Stiles?" she whispered.
A tear slipped down her cheek. By then, her breath was coming out in trembles. She looked hopeless and guilty.
He felt the smallest bit of relief flood into him. He sighed and smiled lightly, "Maia?"
She glanced up at him with teary eyes.
But her saddened face disappeared as quickly as it had come. The tears seemed to evaporate and her breathing returned to normal.
Her face lost all emotion again. A teasing smirk grew on her lips. As her confidence grew, Stiles leaned back in his chair defeatedly.
He knew it wasn't Maia. It was only a trick.
When she saw his hopeless face, she began to laugh.
"Oh Stiles...I thought you'd know better."
She leaned forward as much as she could, lowering her voice to a whisper.
"You should know that getting a dark spirit out of someone isn't as easy as giving a pathetic pep talk," she sneered, "Because you know the truth, don't you?"
He crossed his arms, "That you're a soul sucking murderer taking over my friend's body?"
She narrowed her eyes, "That no one would ever give up this power."
His eyes fluttered warily as he took in her face. He secretly knew she was right.
"It's such a rush, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically, "To be able to defend yourself? The bring pain to those who want to hurt you? To kill them?"
"I don't kill people," he snapped.
"Oh but you did. Because you played games and you controlled the Oni. And after all...Allison didn't kill herself, now did she?"
His face twitched in anger. He grit his teeth and he was tempted to hurt her, proving her point even more.
Upon seeing his reaction, she smiled and leaned back into her seat. He angrily stood up and marched over to a drawer in the corner.
"You know what's almost as good as a bat?" he asked rhetorically. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and help it up to her view, "This."
He marched back over and stretched the tape out. He pressed her firmly over her mouth. As he sealed off the end, Derek and Lydia came jogging back down the stairs.
They saw the pair and silently questioned Stiles. As they walked back to the kitchen where the rest of the pack was, Stiles pulled Derek to the side and whispered quietly.
"I hate this version of Maia the least."
Derek sighed, "That's because it's not really her."
Once they were all back in the kitchen, they huddled around the table. Lydia placed a small box in the center and opened it.
They all pulled out miscellaneous objects and examined them.
"What is this?" Malia asked.
"We found it hidden behind a stack of books under her bed," Lydia informed, "We think it's some sort of keepsake box."
Scott pulled out a few old photos and flipped through them, "Is this Colin?"
They shrugged, assuming that it was.
Kira peered inside and took out a small container that held jewelry inside. She sorted through it, finding the antiques interesting.
"These look almost identical to Maia's necklace."
She gestured to the girl and they turned to see the jewelry that rested on her neck.
"It's the Arceneaux crest," Derek explained, "Her family must've worn them."
They looked at all the other small items but sighed when they didn't find anything useful.
"I don't think any of these would help us get through to Maia," Stiles sighed.
Scott held up the picture of Colin for all of them to see, "We should take a shot. He's the only reason we ever met her in the first place."
"And he's the only person she looked up to," Kira added.
Derek nodded in agreement, "It's worth a shot."
Liam timidly stepped in between Scott and Stiles.
"I still don't understand the plan," he admitted, "Why do we need the picture?"
"To get into her head."
Peter abruptly came back into the house through the back door. They jumped in surprise but relaxed when they saw it was just him.
"Without it, we'd just bounce back out."
Liam furrowed his brows. He was clearly still confused. Peter rolled his eyes at the boy and dumbed it down for him.
"Think of it like being a goalie in whatever sport you play."
"Lacrosse," he filled in.
"Whatever. The net is her mind and the goalie is her defense," he explained, "We can't score a goal unless we get around the goalie. So we need to distract her enough to get in a shot."
"So using Colin's picture will distract her long enough to score a goal?"
Peter sarcastically smiled, "You're a pure genius, aren't you?"
Liam rolled his eyes.
"Did you really just compare lacrosse to invading our friend's mind to save her from an evil spirit?" Stiles asked.
Peter purses his lips in thought. He contemplated his words and shrugged.
"Huh...I guess I did," he replied simply.
Before any retorts could be said, Scott took over and tried to gently add onto Peter's point.
"I'll slip into Maia's mind before she can realize what we're doing. Once I'm in, hopefully I can pull her back out."
The pack collectively sighed. They warily glanced at each other before looking back to their alpha.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Kira asked.
He nodded firmly, creating resolve in his mind,
"I have to...for Maia."
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