"IT'S THE COYOTE DEN. THAT'S WHERE he is" mariana got up, her parents following her. kai and elaina sat in the front while mariana sat in the back. kai drove to the preserve. "what's happening with stiles? how did he go missing?" elaina asked her daughter.
"i don't know. something as been going on with him and it has gotten worse over these few weeks. he called me and he said he was hurt and he didn't know where he was. everyone's out looking for him but nothing was working. i was barely able to think of the locator spell. it all happened so fast" she explained. the girl's phone rang and she looked at it, reading melissa's name on her screen. she answered the call, "melissa?"
"he's at the coyote den you found. he's been sleeping this whole time" she told the girl. "okay, i'm on my way" she told the woman. the girl hung up. "melissa said he's there" she told her parents. as he pulled up into the lot, mariana don't even wait for the car to come at a full stop before jumping out the vehicle. the girl ran into the preserve.
the mccall parents barely parked as they saw mariana sprint into the woods. the girl memorized the path, her heart rate rising as she got closer to her destination. the girl saw the den, picking up her pace. "stiles?" she heard mumbling and walked into the den. "stiles" she saw the boy asleep, moving and talking as he dreamnt. the girl began to pull the boy out, making him yell and scream.
"NO! NO! NO. WAIT. WAIT!" he yelled. "STILES" the girl screamed. melissa made it to the scene, helping mariana pulled the boy out of the den. "NO" he yelled in terror. "STILES YOU'RE OKAY" the boy woke up, still yelling. "STILES IT'S ME. STILES" the boy cried and cried. the girl had her arms wrapped around the boy as he sort of laid on her. he held onto her arms tightly, sobbing.
"you're okay stiles. i got you. i got you"
〖➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵〗
"he's sleeping now" the sheriff told the group. lydia, scott, melissa, agent mccall, and mariana waited in the halls ever since they had brought the boy to the hospital. "and he's just fine. he doesn't remember much. it's a bit like a dream to him" the man turned to agent mccall. "thank you"
"it was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep other animals out. i couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. it's just a good thing he mentioned it over the phone"
"no. it was more than that. thank you" he gratefully spoke. "it was a lucky connection"
"mccall, can you shut up please and accept my sincerest gratitude" the man held out his hand. mccall firmly shook it. "accepted"
"alright, you guys have school in less than six hours. go home, go to sleep"
"okay" — "i'm staying"
all eyes fell on mariana. "mari-"
"no. i'm staying." the sheriff sighed, but nodded. he knew there was no convincing the girl to leave. melissa escorted the girl into the room. "if you need me i'll be here all night" she told the parker child. the girl nodded, entering the room silently. she picked up the chair a few feet away from the bed, gently setting it on the floor so she could sit right next to him.
she rested her elbows on her legs, laying her chin on her intertwined hands. she let out a sigh. she wouldn't know what she would do without stiles. her eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of the fact they could've lost him tonight. that they could've found him frozen to death. she quietly sobbed. stiles was such a precious soul. he had a heart of gold and she hated herself for there ever being a time she wanted to be away from him.
she watched the boy sleep for a while. he looked so peaceful. the girl never left his side unless she needed to use the restroom or needed to rinse her face with cold water to stay awake. she was too scared to sleep. scared that she would close her eyes and open them to find a missing stiles. she had been awake the whole night and was still awake. the girl almost fell asleep, that was until melissa entered the room. "hi sweetheart" she greeted, entering the room in regular clothes.
"your parents dropped some clothes and food off for you" she told the girl, placing the clothes and food on the counter. "thank you melissa. i'll call them after i change" the woman nodded, smiling as she left the room. the girl changed into her new clothes, feeling refreshed after she fixed her hair and washed her face. she walked out the bathroom, stopping as she heard voices outside of the room.
"it was the other day" melissa began as she spoke to the sheriff. "i was asking some questions. just symptoms and um...yeah"
"it's okay....i think i know what you mean" he told the woman, pulling out a notepad. he opened the small book, writing written on the first page. "i've been writing these down for the past two weeks" he looked down at the notepad.
- impulsive
- hallucinations
- insomnia
- night terrors
- dissociation
- confusion
melissa looked up at the man. "i think we need to do some tests" he said. the door to stiles' room opened, making the adults look at mariana. "tests for what?"
〖➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵〗
"i'm not sure how to pronounce this. or if it's not actually a misspelling" the doctor spoke, looking at noah. "just call him stiles" the man told the doctor. "okay. stiles" he turned around. "just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. it's due to pulses of electricity going through the metal coils inside the machine. if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones"
"oh. no, no. i don't need anything" he said. "hey" his father spoke, looking at his son. "we're just on the other side of that window. okay?"
"okay" he answered his father. his son patted his shoulder, watching the doctor leave the room with his father and melissa. "you know what they're looking for, right?" he asked looking between the two. they both nodded. "it's called frontotemporal dementia. areas of your brain start to shrink. it's what my mother had. it's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. and there's no cure."
his last words made mariana turn around, making her let out a deep breath. scott looked at his best friend, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "stiles, if you have it. we'll do something. i'll do something." he promised. the two looked at each other. they indulged in a hug, holding each other tightly. the two stayed that way for a minute, just holding each other.
scott pulled away, walking out into the hallway. mariana turned around. the second she made eye contact, she broke. "stiles" she whispered, running into his arms. she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as if it was the last thing she'd ever do. the boy wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. "we're gonna save you, stiles. i swear to god, i won't rest until you're safe. we'll do something, i promised we will" she spoke, her voice cracking the whole time.
the boy softly grinned. "we're gonna be okay, okay? you wanna know why?" he asked, pulling out of the hug to face her. he kept a hand on her waist while the other cupped her cheek. "because we're stiles and mariana. soulmates." the girl smiled at his words, sniffling. "we're stiles and mariana" she repeated. the boy smiled, softly rubbing her cheek with his thumb.
"we can't keep them long" the girl said. before pulling away, she rested a hand on his cheek, other other on his neck. she planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "we're on the other side of the room, okay?" the boy nodded. the girl walked out the room, closing the door.
the girl sat in the halls with scott and derek. mariana stared into the void as scott and derek talked. mentally, she wasn't there. all her emotions were gone. she felt nothing. she couldn't lose stiles. she couldn't. it wasn't until scott stood up that she snapped back to reality. "he was trying to protect us" scott said in realization. "stiles was protecting us"
"from himself" the werewolf stood up. scott looked at mariana. "mari, you stay here. if anything happens, call me. we gotta go back to the roof" the girl nodded and watched as the wolves took off. she quietly entered the room where melissa, the sheriff, and the doctor were in. the doctor looked through images. the adults looked back at the girl.
the looks on their faces told the girl more than she needed to know. "he...he has it...doesn't he?" melissa looked down and the man looked at the girl with glossy eyes. the tears came back, she ran to the sheriff who held her tight. all of sudden, the lights began to flicker off then back on. "what was that?"
"it sounded like a power surge"
"where's my son?!" the girl snapped her head back to the MRI. her heart dropped. stiles was gone.
__
the boy sat on his hospital bed, tying the laces of his shoes. he walked out into the hallway, smiling at the commotion taking place. the elevator doors opened, revealing kira's mother. the lights flickered off and on, on every floor. "you know me" she spoke, making the boy stop. "then you remember that i won't be deterred by your choice of host. even if it's an innocent boy"
"are you threatening us?"
two figures emerged from behind the women, the oni standing on either side of her. "now i'm threatening you."
"we're not really afraid of your fireflies" he then turned around to walk away. "if the oni can't defeat you, i know someone who will"