I FOUGHT DEMONS IN MY HEAD.
THAT'S WHEN I WAS TRULY SCARED
BUT FACED WITH DEATH,
I FEEL POWERFUL.
SEASON 3, EPISODE 4
unleashed
WILLOW WAS RELEASED from the hospital a couple of days after being resurrected. The hospital and Willow's parents decided to table the incident of mistaking Willow for being presumed dead. The strangeness around the incident was enough to make anyone take a second look. Still, the hospital didn't question anything versus figuring out what happened and a lawsuit. It was enough to publicly explain Jackson Whittemore's strange case. They didn't need two teenagers showing up in their morgue and not having been dead.
⠀⠀⠀Willow was invited back to school whenever she felt ready to return.
⠀⠀⠀For the school and the public, their only understanding of the incident was that Willow had gone missing. Her parents thought she should stay home and rest, but Willow would rather die a second time than be bound to a room she couldn't escape from again. Not to mention that walking through the halls of the hotel brought back memories she'd rather have forgotten. Even if they were moved to a different floor.
⠀⠀⠀Every day she walked past the ice machine room, taunting her. Her body would tense, and she worried that whatever grabbed her that night would catch up with her again.
⠀⠀⠀Then, there were the ghosts that had been haunting her every night she was in the hospital. Every night a different person approached her bedside and said they needed to show her what happened. Willow didn't want to know. So, she ignored them. It didn't do much but force her to listen to them rant incessantly on why she should come with them.
⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't understand why they didn't just tell her what was happening. She also wondered when she started believing that they were real beings and not just a figment of her damaged head. Maybe it was that first night when they swarmed her, or perhaps it was the night before when they warned her that she might die again if she left the hospital, but she believed they were real.
⠀⠀⠀That didn't mean she was going to listen to them, though.
⠀⠀⠀The voices still followed her anyway. They had been such a constant noise that their words became a background hum she barely registered after a while.
⠀⠀⠀Sometimes, the voices got too loud to handle. Like when Willow was in the hospital and the overwhelming amount of people that lingered there. But when she was at the hotel, there were only a few trying to get her to follow them.
⠀⠀⠀The morning Willow was returning to school, however, her head felt empty of noise for once, and it put her on edge. So the voices had become a constant for her that having them no longer there felt strange.
⠀⠀⠀Stiles was driving her and Bridgette to school. His way of keeping his distance while also keeping an eye on his friends. He turned to Willow, a momentary smile that looked strained before he interrupted the silence.
⠀⠀⠀"By the way, Scott and I talked to Coach," Stiles explained.
⠀⠀⠀"About what?" Willow asked, frowning. She didn't like the strained tone of voice he was using, making her nervous.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, we just thought it might be better to keep you in our line of sight since whoever, um, did that thing...."
⠀⠀⠀"Killed me," Willow supplied for him.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, that," Stiles muttered, frowning. His grip tightened on the wheel. "We just thought it'd be better if we were around."
⠀⠀⠀"Okay, I'm not following," Willow told him simply, annoyed.
⠀⠀⠀"You're the new student manager for the lacrosse team," Stiles explained, smiling as best as he could, but the look in his eye looked more fearful than anything else.
⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow sighed, lifting her hand. "I can take care of myself," she explained.
⠀⠀⠀Stiles turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.
⠀⠀⠀"Ignis," she whispered to her fingers. There was always a second before the spell worked, but this one didn't even light. Willow's eyebrows furrowed together, frowning. She shook her hand out like it had run out of fuel, then tried again. "Ignis!"
⠀⠀⠀"Willow," Bridgette whispered in worry, leaning forward.
⠀⠀⠀"Ignis!" Willow yelled at her hand, but still, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, she screamed in aggravation, slamming her hand against the console before trying again. "Caelus! Aqua! Terra! Anything!" she continued, her voice breaking.
⠀⠀⠀Nothing. Willow was left with an empty feeling in her stomach as she stared at her hand.
⠀⠀⠀"It's not going to work," a voice Willow didn't recognize said to her, suddenly appearing in the middle seat between her and Stiles. Willow jumped, turning to look at the ghost staring back at her.
⠀⠀⠀Willow frowned, noticing the Jeep was now parked and flung the door open, and left Stiles and Bridgette behind.
⠀⠀⠀"Rude!" the ghost exclaimed, appearing beside her. "Y'know, just because I can phase through things doesn't mean I enjoy it."
⠀⠀⠀"Shut up!" Willow shouted. A few people chatting with their friends before heading to class turned to look at her. "Sorry," Willow called, thankful her hair was down so she could play off having a Bluetooth in her ear.
⠀⠀⠀"Can we just talk—"
⠀⠀⠀"Shut up," Willow snapped at the ghost, but they only raised an eyebrow. "How do I get rid of you?"
⠀⠀⠀"Well, first, you could just ask," Stiles said simply, walking over to her with furrowed brows. "Is everything okay?"
⠀⠀⠀"I, um," Willow looked around, noticing the ghost had vanished, and the voices were still gone. It was only her with Stiles and Bridgette staring back at her in concern. "Sorry, yeah, I just have another headache."
⠀⠀⠀"Okay, do you need—?"
⠀⠀⠀"I'm fine," Willow told Bridgette quickly, holding her hand up at her sister. She turned to Stiles and asked, "So, am I supposed to be at practice today?"
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, uh, yeah, come on," Stiles said, trying to act like he hadn't noticed how strange Willow was acting. "We should talk to Coach."
⠀⠀⠀Willow caught the look Bridgette and Stiles shared but decided to ignore it, heading inside.
"HEY," SCOTT GREETED Stiles as he walked into the locker room and tried to give him a knowing smile to reassure his best friend. "How's Willow?"
⠀⠀⠀"I don't know," Stiles sighed, opening his locker. "She seems a little out of it, and her powers...."
⠀⠀⠀"What about them?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow.
⠀⠀⠀"They don't work," Stiles explained, his voice rising with the disbelief in his tone. "She tried lighting her hands on fire and her other basic spells in the Jeep and nothing."
⠀⠀⠀"What?" Scott said, his eyes widening. "I can try talking to Deaton. Maybe she just needs a kick start or something since she...."
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, maybe," Stiles picked up when his friend trailed off. He glanced over at Scott and frowned a little. "Are you okay?"
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, yeah, just... this guy came into work last night. He got his dog, left and when I went outside his car was still there and his dog but he was gone. I looked everywhere. It's like he just walked away. Left his car, his dog."
⠀⠀⠀A chill ran up Stiles' spine at Scott's admission, and he felt his blood pumping through his veins from the anxiety wracking within him. It wasn't just Willow that had gone missing. While that was devastating and had put them all in a lot of pain, the added knowledge that other people, other virgins, were going missing and being murdered weighed a lot on Stiles. Willow was able to come back, but Stiles wouldn't be so lucky.
⠀⠀⠀"Okay. Was he, like... could he have been a virgin, maybe?" Stiles asked, his words beginning to shake as he stared in all seriousness at Scott. "Did he look like a virgin? Was he, you know, virginal?"
⠀⠀⠀"No, definitely not," Scott answered, shaking his head. "Deaton makes me have sex with all his clients. It's a new policy."
⠀⠀⠀Stiles' head was going faster than he could process Scott's words. He was too freaked out and worried and every other negative emotion to realize Scott was messing with him.
⠀⠀⠀Scott started laughing, and it finally hit Stiles in the face, his annoyance clear as day on his face as he stared back at Scott. He wasn't ready to start thinking lightly about the situation. Instead, he wondered how Scott could so casually do so because now it was personal. Now, it was all Stiles could think about. Any one of them could die and not come back from it. Not twice.
⠀⠀⠀"No, I don't know if he was a virgin," Scott sighed when he realized Stiles didn't find his joke funny. "And why are you talking like he's already dead? He's just missing."
⠀⠀⠀"Missing, like Willow. Presumed dead because he's probably a virgin, Scott. And you know who else is a virgin. Me. I'm a virgin, okay? And you know what that means? It means my lack of sexual experience is now literally a threat to my life. I don't think Rowan would risk an arm to bring me back, okay? So, I need to have sex like right now. Someone needs to have sex with me, like, today. Like, someone needs to sex me right now!"
⠀⠀⠀The door behind Stiles slammed shut.
⠀⠀⠀"All right, I'll do it."
⠀⠀⠀Stiles screamed, turning to look at Danny. He had a smug smile on his face and a low-cut V-neck as he leaned against the lockers staring at Stiles.
⠀⠀⠀"What?" Stiles asked, confused.
⠀⠀⠀"Come to my place at nine. Plan to stay the night," Danny told him, leaning in to whisper, "I like to cuddle."
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, that was so sweet," Stiles replied, honestly touched by Danny's offer. "Are you kidding?"
⠀⠀⠀"Yes, I'm kidding," Danny said, pulling away with a laugh and walked off.
⠀⠀⠀"Okay, you know, you don't toy with a guy's emotions like that, Danny!" Stiles called after him. "It's not attractive, all right?"
"I THINK YOUR boyfriend wants to have sex," the ghost stalking Willow said, appearing out of thin air. They leaned against the wall beside Willow and smiled widely at the information.
⠀⠀⠀"I don't have a boyfriend," Willow told them, frowning.
⠀⠀⠀"No?" the ghost asked her, looking unconvinced. "Then who's the guy who stayed at the hospital with you for the past three days?"
⠀⠀⠀Willow eyed the ghost. She hadn't seen them at the hospital but didn't question it.
⠀⠀⠀"That's Stiles," Willow told them. "My ex."
⠀⠀⠀The ghost nodded their head, tapping their chin, and narrowed their eyes at Willow. They shook their head in disagreement, not buying a word that came out of Willow's mouth.
⠀⠀⠀"No, there's something there," the ghost stated like they were old friends musing about life and knowing Willow well enough to know what she said wasn't entirely true. "Something happened. Oh, my gosh, did you guys have sex?! Oh, wait, no... did you guys kiss?!"
⠀⠀⠀"Sabrina!" Isaac called from down the hall with a wide grin, creasing the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. "Hey, you're not dead."
⠀⠀⠀From anyone else, Willow would have been hurt by the blunt statement, but for some reason, Isaac was able to pull it off without offending her. Maybe it was the honesty his words held were something she seemed to be lacking in her life or the fact that he didn't give a rat's ass if you were offended or not. Somehow, it was comforting nonetheless despite the rocky beginning of their relationship.
⠀⠀⠀"So are you," Willow replied, smiling back.
⠀⠀⠀Isaac had been helping Derek during the summer as they searched for Erica and Boyd, who had gone missing. Stiles had given her the rundown of everything she had missed while she had been dead. Boyd was alive, and so was Cora, Derek's sister he had thought he lost to the fire. Unfortunately, however, Erica had died at the hands of the Alpha pack before they could find the three.
⠀⠀⠀"Sabrina?" the ghost repeated, swirling around her, and Isaac then perched on his shoulder with their elbow. A chill ran down his spine that was obvious to Willow, but he didn't say anything. "Is this your boyfriend?"
⠀⠀⠀Willow felt like she was getting deja vu from the ghost. The question was similar to Stiles' relentless question of 'Is this why we broke up?'.
⠀⠀⠀Willow continued to ignore the ghost like she had with the rest and returned her gaze to Isaac.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, it's good to see you. I'm glad you're doing okay," Isaac stated with a smile and headed toward the locker room she was standing outside of.
⠀⠀⠀"You too," Willow called to him.
⠀⠀⠀Isaac gave her a wave then disappeared behind the door.
⠀⠀⠀"I like the name Sabrina for you. It's funny," the ghost commented, standing in front of her now. "I'm gonna start calling you that, Sabrina."
⠀⠀⠀"Right back at you, Casper," Willow retorted, folding her arms over her chest and kept her eyes trained on the blue locker room door.
⠀⠀⠀"My name's Kit," they told her, pouting.
⠀⠀⠀Willow wanted to retort but stopped herself as she realized what she was doing. She had been talking to a ghost for the past few days. Now, she didn't even think about it. Speaking to the ghost like it was normal.
⠀⠀⠀Willow looked over at Kit then turned away, running her hands over her face, as she groaned, "Oh, my God. What am I doing?"
⠀⠀⠀"You're... waiting for the hot lacrosse team to run around the track," Kit responded like Willow was stupid.
⠀⠀⠀"No, no, why am I... what are you?" Willow breathed out, looking wildly at Kit. "Why can I see you? Why can I talk to you?"
⠀⠀⠀"Duh, what do you think I keep trying to tell you," Kit stated, rolling their eyes like Willow was the idiot here. "I'm a little newer at this ghost thing, but you know nothing and—"
⠀⠀⠀"I can talk to the dead," Willow muttered, her hands back in her hand and tugging the strands taut.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, yeah," Kit commented, but her tone said that was only the beginning. "Since you died, something in your head opened up for us to be able to communicate with you."
⠀⠀⠀"But I can't use my powers," Willow commented.
⠀⠀⠀"To talk to us, something had to be taken," Kit explained with a shrug. "Like your life for your brother's arm."
⠀⠀⠀Willow frowned at Kit's explanation and said, "But I didn't ask for this."
⠀⠀⠀"No one asks for things like this," Kit said with a slight frown. "They're put on you by the universe. You think your friend Scott asked to be a werewolf."
⠀⠀⠀Willow stared at Kit with wide eyes but couldn't respond as the team started to flood out of the locker room. Scott and Stiles were the last to leave with Coach behind them.
⠀⠀⠀"Gallagher," Coach greeted her with a wary smile. "You'll be running, too."
⠀⠀⠀"Uh, I'm not really good at running," Willow told him.
⠀⠀⠀"That's alright. I just have nothing else for you to do. Walk it for all I care," Coach told her, patting her shoulder and following after the rest of the team.
⠀⠀⠀Willow turned to look at Stiles and Scott in annoyance for making her join the team as student manager. The two shrugged in response, making their way a few feet ahead of her before she could hit them, and rushed outside with her trailing behind.
WILLOW HAD CHANGED into her gym clothes and met the rest of the lacrosse and cross-country team out by the trails. She stood with Stiles and Scott, waiting for the whistle. Coach blew it a few minutes later, and the teenagers began their jog down the trail.
⠀⠀⠀"Isaac!" Scott exclaimed.
⠀⠀⠀Willow and Stiles turned to Isaac, thinking he had done something, while Isaac turned to look at Scott, a burst of anger crossing his features.
⠀⠀⠀"It's them!" Isaac exclaimed and started sprinting down the trail.
⠀⠀⠀"Isaac, wait!" Scott yelled, sprinting after him. "Isaac!"
⠀⠀⠀"Do I want to know?" Willow asked with a sigh as she and Stiles stayed behind at a steady pace.
⠀⠀⠀"Probably not," Stiles told her.
⠀⠀⠀"He's cute," Kit told Willow, acting like they were running on the other side of Stiles. "Why did you two break up?"
⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't respond, setting her jaw as they continued to move down the path.
⠀⠀⠀"Sabrina, don't ignore me," Kit groaned, lifting off of their feet and twirling around her and Stiles quickly. "Why? Why? Why? Why? Sabrina, I could do this all day... and night! Literally. So, just tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell—"
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, my God!" Willow shouted, stopping in her track and putting her hands up to her sides. "Shut up!"
⠀⠀⠀"Will?" Stiles asked, slowing down his jog and turned so he could meet back up with her. They were the last ones on the trail, so at least it was only Stiles seeing her have what looked like a mental breakdown. "Is everything alright?"
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, my God! He calls you Will! That's so cute," Kit cooed. "Ugh, your name is perfect for nicknames. Mine is lame. I used to get called Kitten when I was alive by the creepy guy who ran the church," Kit explained, using their index finger to go into their mouth to mimic throwing up.
⠀⠀⠀"I'm fine," Willow assured Stiles over Kit's ranting. "Sorry, my head had just been a mess these past couple of days."
⠀⠀⠀"Rude."
⠀⠀⠀"I get it," Stiles assured her, trying to smile, but it didn't land. "Can I do anything?"
⠀⠀⠀"No, I just need time," Willow explained.
⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, and the two started to jog again, a little faster to try and return with the crowd. Kit wouldn't stop talking while they did, but Willow tried her best to ignore them, that was until they stood right in front of Willow with a deep-set frown and determined gaze.
⠀⠀⠀Willow continued walking forward to phase through Kit, but they closed their eyes tight and flickered for a moment into a solid. Willow fell back from the sudden blockage and rested in the grass, staring up at Kit.
⠀⠀⠀"You don't want to go over there," Kit told her sternly. "Trust me."
⠀⠀⠀Willow glared at Kit, not sure what the ghost was trying to do. Manipulate her, possess her, take over her life but she didn't trust them. But, then, there was a sudden scream from the direction Stiles had continued towards, and Willow whipped her head to look over, the hill covering her view.
⠀⠀⠀"Is he in trouble?" Willow asked Kit quickly, standing to her feet.
⠀⠀⠀Kit shook their head.
⠀⠀⠀"No, it's another like you."
⠀⠀⠀Willow let out a shaky breath and nodded. She moved closer to whatever was transpiring so that Stiles and Scott could keep her in line of sight but didn't get closer than that.
⠀⠀⠀Stiles' dad arrived on the scene not long after, and a girl began screaming for the boy who had been murdered. Kit hadn't talked, but they were still there, which comforted Willow somewhat even if she didn't trust them.
⠀⠀⠀Stiles, Isaac, and Scott walked over the hill and back to Willow. Stiles looked a little relieved to see she had stayed behind, but there was also the underlying curiosity as to why she did.
⠀⠀⠀"You see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac asked Stiles and Scott as they approached.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, you mean like they had no idea what happened?" Stiles retorted.
⠀⠀⠀"No, no, they knew," Isaac argued, shaking his head with a frown.
⠀⠀⠀"The kid was strangled with a garrote, all right?" Stiles shot back at Isaac, annoyed.
⠀⠀⠀Willow hissed involuntarily at his words, her hand raising to her neck to trail her finger over the scar hidden beneath the turtle neck she wore. Stiles looked at her apologetically, not meaning to bring back unwanted memories but the severity of the situation was also something they all needed to consider for the moment. Stiles needed Isaac to understand that it wasn't the twins but something else and something much worse.
⠀⠀⠀"Am I the only one recognizing the lack of werewolf-itude in these murders?" Stiles asked Isaac.
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, you think it's a coincidence they turn up, and then people start dying?" Isaac asked, throwing his hand toward the hill where the twins stood on the other side.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, no," Stiles stated, looking to the ground. "But I still don't think it's them."
⠀⠀⠀"Oh, man, this is so entertaining," Kit told Willow, chuckling as they watched the events unfold between the two. "Is it always like this? I need to start bringing popcorn with me."
⠀⠀⠀"Scott?" Stiles asked, looking to his best friend.
⠀⠀⠀"I don't know yet," Scott sighed, unable to look at either of them.
⠀⠀⠀"You don't know yet?" Stiles asked him, offended.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, he's got a point," Scott stated, pointing toward Isaac. "Seriously, dude, human sacrifices?"
⠀⠀⠀"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glow sticks, okay?" Stiles bit back, irritated no one was listening to him. "Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear, and if I were to stab you right now, it would magically heal. But, you're telling me that you're having trouble grasping human sacrifices?"
⠀⠀⠀"Your boyfriend has a point," Kit told Willow with a small laugh.
⠀⠀⠀"He's not my boyfriend," Willow replied under her breath, and all three turned to look at her. "Sorry, um, continue...."
⠀⠀⠀Scott sighed while the other two didn't let the words pass quickly, staring at her in confusion. Her cheeks burned red, and she hoped that they hadn't heard what she said, although two of the three had super hearing.
⠀⠀⠀"That's a good point, too," Scott stated, ignoring Willow and turned to Isaac. "I don't care," Isaac hissed at them. "They killed that kid, they killed Willow, and they killed the girl that saved me. I'm gonna kill them, too," he spat, then stormed off in a blaze of anger.
"HELLO, LITTLE SISTER," Rowan greeted Willow with a small, dazed smile as she walked into his room. His eyes were half-lidded from the morphine drip he was on, and his head lolled back onto his pillow, but he was still sober enough to talk to her.
⠀⠀⠀Since she was released from the hospital, her parents had been taking turns sitting with Rowan. Her mom had been in there today but left the two to talk while she went to get something to eat that she'd end up not eating anyway. She had looked more haggard by the situation than she had with Laurel's death, but Willow chalked it up to having two children that had died and the third with only one arm.
⠀⠀⠀Kit was in the room as well and hadn't left her alone since they appeared. Her mind had been quiet outside of the hospital with Kit, but it seemed that even there, the ghosts could poke through, their transparent figures walking through the halls, but they didn't stop to chat like they had before.
⠀⠀⠀Kit explained that they just wanted to talk to her before, but now that Kit was with her, she wouldn't be bothered anymore.
⠀⠀⠀Willow turned to her brother. A glare settled on her features.
⠀⠀⠀"Rowan," she responded.
⠀⠀⠀"You're upset," Rowan noted, nodding his head like he understood, then stopped as he looked back at her. "Why are you upset?"
⠀⠀⠀"You brought me back," Willow stated."
⠀⠀⠀"Yes," Rowan agreed, adjusting himself so he could force himself to sit up to look at her better. "That I did."
⠀⠀⠀"Why did you bring me back?" Willow continued, her anger beginning to bubble inside her the longer Rowan seemed to drag this out.
⠀⠀⠀"Why wouldn't I?" Rowan asked her with a small, upset frown.
⠀⠀⠀"No, Rowan," Willow hissed at him, knowing he was trying to avoid her question. She walked over to the edge of his bed so she could tower over him. "Answer my question! Why did you bring me back?!"
⠀⠀⠀"Because!" Rowan shouted, breaking. "I couldn't lose another sister!"
⠀⠀⠀"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING BACK LAUREL?"
⠀⠀⠀Rowan sighed, turning to look away, but he didn't respond. Willow started crying from her own words, and Rowan evaded her question. She rubbed her hands aggressively over her face to get rid of the tears.
⠀⠀⠀"I didn't," Rowan muttered, turning to look at the window on the opposite side of the room. "I didn't know how to then. I looked into it the next day because I had heard the rumors. Alchemy's defining feature, turning one thing into something else. How hard could turning a corpse into a human again be?"
⠀⠀⠀"We can do it," Willow told him quickly, her hand gripping tightly onto his forearm. "Tell me how. Let me bring her back," Willow begged him.
⠀⠀⠀"No, Willow," Rowan told her sharply. "You get seventy-two hours to bring someone back. After that, there's no soul left. She's gone. She's dead."
AUTHOR'S NOTE —
KIT! MY BABEY!!!! I love them so much <33 my little shit ass child ugh. I hope you guys love them too.
I have not written a gender neutral character before so know that if I accidentally misgender Kit it is not on purpose. I am just not as used to writing with they/them pronouns. So, if you do see that in this chapter or anytime going forward feel free to let me know. I edit all my chapters and try to catch myself if I do but if you see and feel the need to correct me, I won't take it offensively at all <33
Kit and Willow are gonna be so much fun ughhhh I can't wait for you guys to see them down the road.
SONG: Ghoster by Wolf Alice
Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.