chapter twenty three
coup de foudre
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"GUYS, WE have to do this."
Odessa Stone chewed her thumbnail anxiously at what was about to occur. It had been a couple hours since Stiles had been separated from the nogitsune and a few hours since Lydia was taken. She knew this was something that had to be done, but that didn't mean she liked it.
While Stiles had been resting in Scott's room, everyone else was scrambling around trying to find a way to find Lydia, which brought them to where they were now, at Sundown. The hazel eyed boy brought up the subject of his need to be checked by the oni in between rests, and everyone was hesitant to do it. One reason being, they didn't know how he would react to the oni, seeing as he was just basically exercised from an evil fox spirit. And second, they were wary of the chance that when the oni did check him, he wouldn't pass the test, that the nogitsune was still inside him.
After giving Stiles slow and hesitant nods, Odessa and Scott helped him downstairs to the living room with Melissa behind them, where Mrs. Yukimura was waiting for them.
"Do you recognize me?"
Odessa swallowed thickly while Stiles stepped forward, out of their embrace. Before anyone could do anything else, the door slammed shut as Kira ran in the room.
"Stop," she exclaimed to her Mother, gasping when she saw a fully functioning Stiles.
"It's okay," the boy reassured the best he could, "I'm the one who asked her to come."
Kira scoffed, "you're the one who's going to be stabbed with swords," she rushed before looking back to her Mother, "Mom, don't do this to him."
"It's already done."
Black smoke arose from in front of the windows as four oni made their presence in the room. Two by the windows and two surrounding Stiles. Odessa felt her stomach drop as Scott pulled her behind him, knowing the effect they had on her. While she appreciated the gesture, the Stone had figured out for herself why her reaction to the oni was different during different situations. The first time she encountered them, Odessa was scared out of her mind and didn't know who or what they were, prompting her reaction the night she was tested. But she noticed as time went by, and the more she fought against them, her reactions had gotten smaller and smaller. She was becoming less afraid.
From her place behind Scott, Odessa tried to move forward when the oni grasped Stiles' face, glowing their pungent yellow eyes at the boy, who was now gasping at the feeling. After a few seconds, the oni let him go, prompting him to fall to the floor with a grunt. Odessa pushed past Scott to kneel down in front of him, grasping his face in her hands.
"Look behind his ear."
The Ember did what she was instructed by Mrs. Yukimura and tilted Stiles' head. She heaved a huge sigh of relief when she saw the number 5 backwards behind his ear, "it worked," she announced to everyone as she tried to get him to stop trembling.
"So," Stiles tried to sit up from the floor, "I'm actually me?"
"More you than the nogitsune," Mrs. Yukimura deadpanned, unfazed as she watched him struggle to sit up.
"Can the oni find him?"
"Tomorrow night. It's too close to dawn now."
Stiles clenched his jaw in frustration, "can they kill him?"
"It depends on how strong he is."
"What about Lydia," Scott spoke up to ask from his place next to Odessa, "why would he take her?"
"He would only take her for an advantage," Mrs. Yukimura shared, sparing a small glance to the blonde in the room.
"You mean her power?"
"The power of a Banshee," Kira's Mother stepped forward, her eyes now prominent on Odessa, who still had her hold on Stiles to try and warm him up, and furrowed her brow at the newfound attention the woman had given her, "though, I am surprised he didn't take you," her statement alerted everyone in the room.
"What do you mean," Odessa asked, her heart dropping to her stomach. Her grip tightened on Stiles when she heard his breath falter at Mrs. Yukimura's words.
"With his attraction toward you and your powers, it amazes me he chose the Banshee over the Ember," the woman vaguely answered, her words not processing in Odessa's mind, "I guess we'll never know."
Her alarming words rang through the air as she took her leave, her daughter right behind her. Though everyone else in the room was lost at the sudden information, Odessa couldn't help but go back to the theory she had in her head from the night at the Animal Clinic. She and the nogitsune were two completely different beings with completely different powers. Whether he would take her for her power or simply her as a whole would be uncommon knowledge—but it would stay in the back of Odessa's mind for a while.
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The Sun had started to come out by the time Odessa, Stiles and Scott arrived at the station. The three not only had to reunite Stiles with his Dad, but fill the man in on what had happened hours before with Lydia's abduction.
The two boys didn't bring attention to Mrs. Yukimura's words directed toward Odessa in their time together. Just the topic of Void and what he had caused was already a sore subject. Bringing another element, like his infatuation with Odessa, would spark new questions no one had the strength to try and answer.
Odessa on the other hand, decided she wasn't going to think much of it. She knew of Void's particular interest of hers, and it wasn't a main priority back then and it still wasn't now. Her main focus that's been the same for the past weeks has been to help her friends and to now save Stiles.
The Stone walked behind the two boys through the station as she heard Stilinski mutter to himself, "ah, if I could just find my keys."
"In your coffee cup," Stiles spoke from the doorway. He nervously shoved his hands in his coat pocket as his Dad looked to him in shock, "you always drop them in your empty cup."
Stilinski looked to Scott and Odessa, who nodded in confirmation. Seeing that, the man didn't hesitate to saunter over to his son and take him in his arms. The two shared a chuckle together in relief of being in one another's embrace as Stiles' two friends watched with small smiles.
Coming out of the hug, Stilinski looked to Scott, who traveled further inside the office, "is it over?"
"Not yet."
The three teens then proceeded to fill the Sheriff in on the last 12 hours of their lives and immediately informed him of Lydia's disappearance. They waited in Stilinski's office while the man went out to inform his deputies and other staff members of what was going on. After a few minutes, he came back to the room.
"We got an APB out on Lydia's car," Stilinski shared, "every unit on the road is looking for her."
"Isn't there anything else we could do?"
The Alpha's question was met with a shake of a head, "at this hour? No, not really."
"He took her for a reason, Dad," Stiles stressed, leaning against the desk behind him, "look, if we can figure out the why, then we'll figure out the where."
"Okay," the Sheriff looked behind him before lowering his voice, "what would a nogitsune want with a Banshee?"
"I don't know, Lydia's pretty good at finding dead bodies. Maybe he needs to find a body?"
Odessa broke her silence and sighed at the hazel eyed boy's theory, "I think it goes deeper than that," her words bringing their full attention to her, "Lydia can literally feel death. Maybe he took her somewhere where death is everywhere."
"What, like a cemetery?"
"Maybe," she spoke directly to Stiles for the first time since he returned back to normal, "or a place of a massacre..."
While Odessa's theory was possible, the Sheriff turned to another idea, or rather another person in the room, "Scott, you know more about this than all of us."
"Me?"
"You said you got the story from Noshiko?"
"Yeah, but that happened during World War II," Scott didn't think any of that would help, "like 70 years ago."
"Wait. What did you say?"
Scott turned to his best fiend, "Noshiko told me about the internment camp..."
"No, before that," Stiles looked to his Dad, "you said, the whole story."
"Yeah. What is it?"
When Stiles didn't answer the McCall, Odessa watched him concernedly, "Stiles?"
"There's a girl at Eichen House," Stiles shared after a few moments, "her name's Meredith. I think she might be able to help."
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After making a few calls, they found out Meredith was moved to the closed unit at Eichen because she wouldn't stop screaming. That confirmed to the three teens she was a Banshee and they needed to find her—seeing as she escaped her room at Eichen and no one had found her yet. While everyone else was out trying to find Lydia, or clues on where to find her, Scott, Odessa and Stiles went back to the former's home. It was clear all the movement and such had taken a toll on Stiles, and the Ember and the Alpha wanted him to get some rest.
Odessa sat comfortably on the loveseat next to the couch where the Stilinski was currently sleeping on. She had volunteered to watch over him, even though the boy in question insisted it wasn't necessary. To him maybe it wasn't, but Odessa thought it was, and there was no convincing her otherwise. She had brought a book from her room so she had something to do, but every time her brown eyes glanced down at the word covered pages, she would find herself lifting them back up to the sleeping figure in front of her.
She hadn't had a chance to talk to him about anything. Not about how he was or what he remembered. As much as she wanted to ask, she didn't want to push him or trigger him—she just wanted to be there for him. And she would be there whenever he was ready.
It was only when Odessa actually started to pay attention to the novel in her lap did Stiles gasp awake, shooting up off the coach, looking completely out of it. The Stone instantly sprung into action, catching him from falling on the ground in his weak state.
"Hey, hey, hey," she cooed, bringing her hands on his shirt-covered chest to steady him, "you're okay, you're okay."
Stiles drew a trembling breath, "what happened? How long was I out?"
"Only a couple of hours," she answered, making sure his feet were firmly planted on the ground, "you should sit down, come on. Do you need me to get Scott?"
"No, no, no, where's my Dad?"
Odessa kept her voice relaxed and steady, seeing if that would help him do the same, "he's at Eichen House, questioning everyone. Looking for Meredith. Scott and I promised we wouldn't leave you."
Stiles swallowed thickly, starting to calm down, "okay, what about the others?"
"Allison, Isaac, the twins, they're all looking for Lydia. Scott's in the other room."
The Ember observed his heavy breathing as he spoke, "it's starting to feel like we're waiting for a ransom call."
"We'll find her," Odessa assured. She then watched him fidget with his sleeve before reaching for his jacket, putting it on himself, "you okay?"
The Stilinski avoided her eyes as he tightened his jacket around himself, "yeah. I don't know why, I just can't seem to get w-warm."
"Maybe you should sit down. Come on," she reached for him, only to have black veins appear when their skin touched. She pulled back with pursed lips, "you're in pain..."
"It's not that bad," he tried to dismiss, "just more like a dull ache."
"Where?"
"Sort of everywhere."
Giving him a nod, she took more control over his stubbornness in sitting down, "come here," she took his hand and brought him next to her on the couch. Odessa took his trembling and freezing cold hands in hers and first focused on taking his pain. When his shoulders deflated, she stopped. She knew she couldn't take all of it away, seeing as it was his whole body. The Stone then focused on one thing she was dreading, calming him down. She hadn't used her Ember abilities in a while, and the last time she used them, they barely worked. Swallowing thickly, she shut her eyes tightly to concentrate on calming him. After a few moments, it looked to be working. His hands were less shaky and his breathing was somewhat back to normal. She did what she could do for now.
Looking up, Odessa noticed a small tear glide down his cheek. She couldn't help herself, bringing her hand up and wiping the tear away gently, "look at me," she whispered, palm still resting on his cheek. The girl didn't speak until she had his full attention. She smiled softly at the hazel eyes that met hers—the eyes she knew, "you're gonna be just fine. I'll make sure of it."
Before Stiles could even think of a response, footsteps could be heard at a rapid pace coming toward the living room. The pair looked to Scott, who panted in front of them, holding his phone.
"We're going to the school."
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Meredith was in the McCall residence. After running around the school and eventually finding her, tasing an Eichen worker along the way, the three teens with the help of Kira for Meredith into the Jeep and to the McCall residence. There was only one problem: Meredith had no idea who Lydia was.
When coming back to the house, the last person they thought they would see was in front of them. Scott's Dad. Odessa glanced at the two boys, then to Isaac, who was sitting next to Agent McCall, nervously. Bumping into him was not a part of the plan.
"What are you doing here," Scott asked his Dad, coming to a stop.
Agent McCall stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I could ask you the same thing."
"Free period," Stiles improvised, "we're doing group study."
Not looking very convinced, Agent McCall then motioned to Meredith, who stuck out of the group of teens like a sore thumb, "who's she?"
Making a split decision, Stiles wrapped an arm around Meredith, "she's my girlfriend."
"Oh. I thought you and Odessa..."
The two teens responded with two different reactions. While Stiles choked on his own spit and had to turn away to cough into his sleeve, Odessa burst out a nervous laugh, feeling the teasing eyes of her other friends on her.
The Ember cleared her throat, she really didn't know how to respond to the man, "uh... no. I, uh... no."
"He's not my type," Meredith spoke up, looking from the Stilinski to Isaac, "he's my type."
Wanting to leave the room as soon as possible, Odessa rushed, "okay, seeing as we have a lot to discuss, we should take this upstairs."
Stiles, Isaac and Meredith didn't hesitate to follow the blonde up the stairs and into Scott's room as the boy stayed back to talk to his Father. Filing into Scott's room, Meredith sat herself on the bed as the three friends gathered in front of her.
"Meredith," Odessa started softly, "there's a girl we're trying to find. She's also a Banshee. Her name is Lydia."
The curly haired girl's eyes widened in realization, "Lydia? You mean the red-haired girl."
"Yes," Stiles exclaimed, finally getting somewhere, "yes! Good. Progress. Now, all you gotta do is tell us where she is."
"Okay. Okay. If she tells me."
All three teens raised their brows at her statement before the Beta in the room repeated, "if she tells you? Can you ask her?"
"I already did," Meredith gave the three a smile, proud of herself for helping.
"Perfect. Perfect. What did she say?"
"She said," the girl paused, leaving the three waiting in anticipating silence, before finishing her answer, "she doesn't want to be found."
"That's good too. Okay."
Seeing that it was going nowhere, Odessa and the two boys went into the bathroom across the hall to discuss what else they could try to get Meredith to contact Lydia in some way. And as the two boys started shooting out ideas, Odessa's irritation level had only grown.
"I'm just saying," Isaac whispered in defense, "I think—"
Stiles cut him off, "Isaac we're not going to torture her," he looked to the blonde in front of him, who had her arms crossed and looked as though she could hit both of them in the next few minutes... maybe even seconds.
"I meant scare her."
"We're not going to psychologically torture her either."
"Fine."
As the two went back and forth, Odessa blocked them out, trying to come up with an idea of her own. When thinking of her time being in Beacon Hills, more specifically her time with Lydia, it occurred to her that Lydia's powers at a Banshee stems from her hearing. Every time something would happen, Lydia would hear something relating to it or hinting at the bad thing or a dead body. Odessa was thinking that was the whole reason Void took her in the first place.
"Stiles," Odessa intercepted into the conversation, "how could you tell Meredith was the one that could help?"
Looking surprised by the question, the Stilinski blinked excessively before answering, "uh... at Eichen she was talking on the phone, telling someone she needed to tell the whole story."
"Who was she talking to?"
"That's the thing... the phone was broken."
With that in mind, the Stone took out her phone, and without filling the boys in on what she thought, walked back over to Meredith and crouched down in front of her.
"Hey," Odessa greeted quietly, feeling the boy's eyes on her before they walked back into the room, "I think someone's calling you."
Meredith slowly reached for the phone, bringing it up to her ear and held it there. With pursed lips, Odessa watched the girl, hoping her idea was going to work, and if it didn't, she didn't know what they would do to find Lydia. Luckily, Meredith put down the phone and gave it back to the blonde.
"They say Coup de foudre."
"Coup de what," Stiles muttered, "what is that Spanish?"
"French," the four turned to the doorway to see Scott, "it's French."
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Odessa stared out the window of Stiles' Jeep as she and the three boys drove to Oak Creek, the location where Lydia was being held. They had already contacted the rest of the pack and everyone was on their way.
There was a certain tenseness in the air, and everyone could feel it whether they wanted to or not.
"Hey," Stiles called to his best friend next to him from the driver's seat, "you okay?"
Scott perked up in his seat, "yeah. Yeah. You don't have to worry about me."
"All right, I'll say it," Isaac spoke from the back seat unapologetically, "you look like you're dying," he ignored the warning looked he got from the Alpha in front of him and the girl next to him, "you're pale, thin and you look like you're getting worse. And we're all sitting here thinking it. When we find the other you, is he gonna look like he's getting better?"
"What happens if he gets hurt?"
"You mean if he dies, do I die," Stiles clarified the McCall's question, "I don't care. Just so long as no one else dies because of me. I remember everything I did, Scott," he glanced at the boy in question, "I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it," he paused, glancing into the front mirror to look at Odessa, who was silently watching him, "I remember grabbing Odie... standing over her as she slept."
The Alpha shook his head, "it wasn't you."
No one seemed to pause at Stiles' last remark, however. What did he mean he stood over her while she slept? Was he the one who gave her that nightmare of her beating? Did Void go into her mind and conjure it just to torture her?
"Yeah, but I remember it," the silence that followed in the car indicated that no one knew what to say at the new information they were given. They didn't know that Stiles saw everything—or that he felt as if he was doing everything and not Void, "you guys gotta promise me. You can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."
While Isaac and Scott nodded to each other, Odessa couldn't help but scoff from her seat. She couldn't fathom how Stiles was being so careless with his life. It was like he didn't know how important he was to so many people just because he was forced to do things.
"Odie..."
Her brown eyes snapped to Stiles' in the front mirror, "what?"
At the sharpness of her tone, he knew better than to get into it with her. As much as he wanted to talk to her about everything, it wasn't the time nor the place. Keeping that in mind, he only conjured up one word to say.
"Nothing."
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The four pulled up to the gates of Oak Creek to already see Allison and Kira out of their cars and walking toward the entrance. The teens grouped together, looking around the dark and gated area. They all glanced around at each other with something one would call uncertainty. It seemed they all felt uneasy about being there. They didn't know why.
Scott took a deep breath, looking at each and every member of his pack, "we've done this before, guys," they nodded along with him, "a couple of weeks ago we were standing around just like this and we saved Malia, remember? That was a total stranger. This is Lydia."
"I'm here to save my best friend," Allison didn't hesitate to state in the open.
"I came to save mine."
"I just didn't feel like doing my homework."
The tension in the air fizzled away as they all looked to Isaac in a deadpan. The Lahey was unfazed, walking through the gate and separated. Odessa followed Scott and Stiles into the abandoned building while Isaac, Kira and Allison kept their place outside, ready for an attack from the oni if it happened—which was likely, seeing as it was dark out.
Running through the building, Odessa came to a stop in the hallway they were in, prompting the two boys to stop along with her. Using her Ember abilities, she concentrated on Lydia and her connection to her. Lifting her head, she spoke, "she's here. I can feel her. This way," she started to run again, the two boys hot on her trail.
Reaching a tunnel, the three ran faster, seeing a gated room at the end of the tunnel. Odessa and Lydia seemed to reach at the bars at the same time.
"Lydia," the blonde breathed, as Scott started to pry the door open, "are you okay?"
As the door creaked open, Lydia exclaimed, "no. No, no, no. Why are you here?"
"Lydia, we're here for you."
"You weren't supposed to be here," the Banshee rushed, before turning to Odessa, "you didn't get my message?"
Before the blonde could respond, Scott leaned forward in concern, "Lydia, what's happening?"
"Who else is here," Lydia whispered with tears now running down her face, "who came with you? Who else is here?"
Frightened by her expression and her questions, the four didn't hesitate to run back to the rest of the pack, who were currently fighting the oni. Odessa ran behind Lydia and Scott with Stiles behind her. They were close to the end of the tunnel until a call of her name got her to stop in her tracks.
"Odie," Stiles weakly spoke, stumbling on his feet and slamming into the wall, "Odie, I can't... I can't..."
"Okay, okay," she grabbed him and let him slide them down the wall. She wrapped her arms around him for support, the boy looking as though he could pass out any minute, "I got you. I got you," she whispered, before noticing another figure frozen in her spot, "Lydia..."
"ALLISON!"
Odessa watched with tears in her eyes as her friend dropped to her knees and wept. The scream could only mean one thing... and Odessa felt sick even thinking about it. Setting an unconscious Stiles against the wall fully, the Stone made her way to Lydia, who hadn't left the ground, shoulders shaking from sobbing.
Odessa, vision blurred with tears, took her place on the ground and took Lydia in her arms, both girls crying into each other. The tunnel was silent except for the weeping of two girls mourning the loss of their friend.
Allison Argent was dead.
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