de-void
Stilinski walked into the loft alone, golden hour striking through the large windows, illuminating the room and the boy who stood central of it, his back turned to his father, taking in the last few moments of sunlight before darkness set upon them. Before their hooded enemies returned for another round of the fight. Upon hearing the loft door swing open, the footsteps of the man that slowly approached him, Stiles turned to face the man, dad, he greeted him, though Stilinski was unsure it was his son talking to him. It looked like him, sounded like him even, but it didn't feel like his son was in the room with him.
Noah slowly reached for his belt, pulling out a set of handcuffs. Stiles seemed surprised that his father would want to handcuff him, looking between the rings of metal and the man holding it. Sheriff Stilinski stepped closer. If his son was still here, if there was a part of him still standing in front of him then he would willingly put on the handcuffs and come with him because he would know his father was there to protect him, from himself and others. By the time Noah had gotten out his words, he was standing inches from his son who looked back at him with tearful eyes, he continued looking between the metal handcuffs and his father, contemplating his words until he chose to hold up his wrists, agreeing to let the man restrain him.
The man moved carefully as he placed the cuffs around Stiles's wrists, he looked at Stiles's face, he still couldn't see his son, only the thing that had possessed him, even behind tearful eyes he knew something seemed different about him, he didn't feel the comfort that he felt while in the presence of his son, he felt cold.
As his father took a step back Stiles looked up at him through his eyelashes, a tilt of his head, an evil look that Noah knew his son wasn't capable of, he knew it wasn't his son. The Nogitsune had shaken its head slightly with a disapproving look, breaking free of his handcuffs as if it was easy, as he did four more people walked through the loft door, the backup. Chris and Allison were first to enter the loft, Derek and Malia stood behind them, all with the same scowl across their faces. Even Malia, a girl who hardly knew Stiles, even after Eichen, knew that whoever was standing in front of them wasn't him.
Each of them surrounded the Nogistune, taking turns at an attack. Allison held up her taser to him, hitting him with it, but he managed to catch it, untouched by the electric wires as Allison's eyes grew wide. Void threw her taser across the room with a small scoff. Derek was next to throw an attack at the Nogistune, but Stiles easily grabbed him, throwing him to and forth, slamming his head on the table before tossing him aside as if the wolf weighed nothing. Malia tried to do the same, hoping that in some miracle she might be stronger than Derek, but she met the same fate, thrown to the floor within seconds until she was left with a groan. She much preferred the Stiles she had met in Eichen House, the one who couldn't hurt a fly, let alone two supernaturals.
A gun clicked, a smirk growing across Void's face as he turned to look at the end of the barrel, the hunter standing behind the gun had a straight face, maybe he had promised his daughter and niece to use non-lethal weapons against Stiles, but he wanted to be prepared for the worst, and well, he couldn't see how it could get any worse than this.
Sheriff Stilinski slowly raised his hand. "Argent, listen to me. Don't do this."
"Why not?" Argent asked with a cock of his head, anger filling his tone as Derek and Malia slowly pulled themselves off of the floor, unsure what the hunter would do, whether they could trust a hunter to follow the plan that they had all discussed and agreed to follow. He had seemed more than willing to listen to his daughter and niece's pleads before approaching the loft. "I've done it before. Werewolves, berserkers. I can easily add a Nogistune to the list."
Sheriff Stilinski raised his own gun to Argent. "You're not going to shoot my son."
Void's smirk grew wider as he looked between the two men. Chaos. The two men began arguing against one another, turning against each other about the state of Stiles, whether or not that was the man's son in front of them. Sheriff Stilinski instead the hunter drop his weapon, but Argent remained with it held up at the Nogitsune.
The Nogistune turned to Noah, looking at him with tearful eyes, feining his distress as he begged the man to help him, scared that Argent was going to shoot him. Argent warned the man not to listen, but the tone in the voice was one that Noah believed to be his son, the quiver in his voice as he begged for his life was the tone of his son. Sheriff Stilinski began yelling at Argent to lower his gun, his voice echoing through the loft. Void turned to Argent as his father kept yelling, telling him to pull the trigger on him, egging him on to kill him, taking the hunter by surprise. Noah had failed to stop yelling over the Nogitsune, Allison joining in too as she warned her father not to do it. The three voices of Noah, Allison, and Stiles shouted continuously, all looking at Argent. Stiles begging to be shot. Sheriff Stilinski warning him to put the gun down, Allison begging her father to do the right thing and to follow the plan.
"Stop it!" A voice echoed through the loft, piercing their ears as the entire room fell to silence, a ringing in their ears as they all turned towards the loft door where the young brunette girl stood towering over them, her face like thunder as she looked across the group. Chris looked from his niece to the gun in his hand, he had forgotten about his niece for a moment, what shooting Void would have done to her, shooting Stiles, as she would have seen it.
"I was wondering how long that would take." Void mumbled raspily, his evil eyes piercing Kinsey as she stepped further into the loft, closer to the Nogistune wreaking terror and chaos on them. "Come to join the party, Kinsey? Come to save Stiles?"
"Shut up." She spat out.
"Come to be the hero when this is all your fault in the first place?" He asked as he looked straight into her eyes, seeing as the confusion washed over her face, as did the rest of the group who had turned to look at her, wondering if she knew what he meant. "Stiles shut the door to his mind, he shut me out when you all saved Malia." Void told them as heads turned to the werecoyote for a second, then back to Kinsey. "And then you opened it again, didn't you?"
"No." Kinsey muttered, a croak in her voice. Denying it. She couldn't have done that.
"At the hospital. You pushed into his mind, didn't you? Opening the door again with your little love confession." Void continued, taking pleasure in watching Kinsey's face drop in horror, Void knew exactly what she had done. "And I just slid right in." He grinned. "Does Isaac know about that yet? That you told Stiles that you loved him? Or about that kiss in the locker room?"
While Kinsey's lip curled with disgust, the rest of the faces in the room had dropped, only Malia had known about the events between Kinsey and Stiles, the rest had no idea, they knew nothing of what she had told Stiles in the hospital, or that the two of them shared a kiss, not even Allison who had believed that she knew everything about her cousin until now. He knew everything, he knew every little thing about her and Stiles, and it made her cold, knowing that he could tell all of Stiles's weaknesses, and in turn, it seemed like he knew hers too.
The sun quickly set, leaving the loft in darkness, they all knew what was coming. It was only a matter of time before the Oni arrived, prepared to end Stiles and the Nogitsune who possessed him for them. Void didn't take his eyes off of Kinsey, smirking at her, he was winning the game, one that Kinsey knew he would win at some point or another when he took her life. But this was not the image she had seen of her death, she didn't die in this loft, she didn't die tonight. Where she died was unrecognizable to her, she had never been there before, the loft didn't fit that tale.
"Kinsey," Allison mumbled the girl's name as the girl turned towards her. "Don't say anything." She warned the brunette who looked at her, puzzled. "This is what he wants. This is exactly what he wants."
"Not exactly." He shrugged. "I was kind of hoping Scott would be here. But I'm glad you all have your guns out. Because you're not here to kill me." Void turned to the large windows of the loft, five figures appearing from the darkness, the sound of snarling that had become all too familiar sounding in their ears. "You're here to protect me."
The Nogistune stepped back, standing closest to Kinsey in the middle of the room, she'd quickly moved to stand in front of him, an arm stretched out, protecting him just like he knew she would do. As the Oni unsheathed their swords, she unsheathed her dagger from her boot. Argent and Noah stepped forward, each holding up their guns, both shooting at the hooded figures, only to find it had no effect on them, their bullets ricocheted off of the demons. As two of the Oni moved so did the rest of the pack. A circle of protection surrounded Stiles. Malia and Kinsey took either side of him, Derek and Allison standing behind him, Argent and his father in front of him, all with a weapon to protect themselves and Stiles.
By the time Scott and Kira had arrived at the loft, the fight had ended, abruptly, according to the six who remained in the empty loft. Derek and Malia both carried bloody wounds on their bodies from the Oni's swords, empty bullet casings scattered across the loft, everyone was panting, the six of them had put up a good fight, yet still, they remained unsuccessful. The Oni had vanished suddenly, as did Stiles, leaving them all at a loss, back to square one.
For the night, the pack disbanded, admitting defeat for the night, ready to put up another fight tomorrow when the sun rose again when they could focus on fighting one enemy. Derek opted to stay in his home alone where he would spend the remainder of the night figuring out how to outfox a fox, if that could even be done. It seemed Noah had the same plans for himself. Kira and Scott had spent the entire day listening to a story from Kira's mother on her past in Beacon Hills, how the Nogitsune came to be, and the truth about who she was. After hearing all of that, Kira couldn't face staying at her own house tonight, she felt as though she didn't know her parents, they had spent her entire life lying to her. Allison and Kinsey knew just how that felt, they had both felt the same, it was their suggestion that she took a night away from the house to breathe and gather all of her thoughts before facing her parents again. Kira agreed, for tonight, Scott had taken her in before the Argent girls had offered their home to another guest for the night.
Argent had insisted that Malia stay with them tonight, after being wounded by one of the Oni he suggested it would be better for her not to go home where her father could ask questions, she still hadn't told him of the supernatural, and she didn't plan to according to a conversation they had at Eichen House. Of course, neither Kinsey nor Allison objected to the idea, they were more than happy to have the coyote under their roof and provide her with some clothing for the night.
Both the car and elevator ride were quiet ones, their only conversation had been Argent asking if Malia had told her father her plans to stay with them for the night, to which she replied with a simple nod before the silence returned. Argent stood at the foot of the elevator doors, his back turned to the three brunette girls, he was eager to get back inside of the apartment where he felt much safer than roaming the town. With his back turned the three girls shared many concerned looks with one another, Malia seemed to have the same question on her mind as the huntresses, all curious to know what the man would have done if Kinsey didn't stray from the plan like Chris had by walking into the loft, not staying outside of it, quietly, well away from Void. But if she had listened, things could have ended very differently.
Usually, it was the kind of question Malia would blurt out without another thought, but she had learned in the few hours of being with the Argent man that she had to be wary, he owned more than enough weapons at his disposal to kill her in the blink of an eye.
As they stepped out of the elevator Kinsey couldn't hold the question in any longer, she needed to know before it was too late and she was left staring at the ceiling all night wondering what if, sleeping already seemed like it was going to be hard to do tonight with all the information she'd obtained in the space of a day, at least getting an answer would lift some weight off of her. The four of them paused outside of the apartment door, he kept his back to the girls as he answered the question honestly, he had no idea what he would have done, whether he would have shot a bullet at the boy if she hadn't intervened. That was the best answer he could provide to the girls who nodded, accepting the answer. But before they entered the apartment Allison reassured her father she would check the firing pin, the one she had removed before leaving this afternoon, a detail only Kinsey had known about until now.
Chris looked at his daughter with surprise, asking if she had removed it, when she nodded, Chris wasn't mad at her for it, if anything, he was proud, telling both his daughter and niece that this was the exact reason women were the leaders of their family. A smile grew across the three faces as Chris opened his arm for the girls, pulling them into a hug, for a moment, Malia stood aside as she looked at the family, but as soon as Allison had noticed the girl she pulled her in too, sharing a slight chuckle with the family of hunters as they embraced the moment.
As the four walked into the apartment Allison took Malia to her room to find her some clothes to sleep in, Chris to his office to put his weapons away while Kinsey retreated to her own bedroom for a change of clothes before she lay in bed thinking all night about how she was going to break the news to Isaac that his brother was alive with no recollection of being his brother. With that in mind Kinsey ran her hands through her hair with frustration, walking into her dark bedroom, she hadn't even managed to flick on the light switch before she saw someone sitting on the edge of her bed, her heart dropping when she realized it was Isaac himself.
Kinsey quickly dropped her bag to the floor, perching herself in the space beside him, he seemed healed, not a hint of what had happened to him on his skin. But that didn't ease her worrying as she softly asked "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd come see you," Isaac spoke quietly, maybe he had been gone for a while, but he still knew where he was, under the roof of Argent.
"You didn't just walk out of the hospital did you?" She asked again, he could hear the concern in her voice as she continued analyzing his face, how different it looked from when she had seen all of the burns on him that night as the doctors and nurses rushed him away.
"It's okay." He reassured her with an admiring smile. "I feel a lot better."
Kinsey placed a hand on the boy's cheek, her heart seemed to melt knowing that he was in front of her, for real, not because she had pushed herself into his mind or while he lay with no idea she was there at all. He was back. Better. All healed as he told her. Kinsey smiled, admitting it was a bad idea to give him the alarm code, for this very reason, him appearing here without a word of warning while Chris still warmed up to the idea of the two of them, he was getting there though.
The two quickly worked their way back into old habits, leaning into one another, sharing a long-awaited kiss, their problems melting away, forgetting everything about the outside world and all that had happened, whether it was today or in the past week or so that the Nogitsune had taken Beacon Hills as its victim for chaos. They were just themselves, even if that could only be for one night, it was what both of them needed, craved.
Before they knew it, their long-awaited kiss led to the same place all things lead to with the two of them, tangled up in one another as Isaac pulled the brunette onto his lap, pulling her jacket off of her body, tossing it to the floor across the room as he planned to do with every article of clothing she had. A gasp escaped Kinsey's mouth with every kiss he planted on her body, re-introducing himself to every part of her that he had missed out on for longer than he would've liked to admit. While her hands brushed through his hair while his traveled up her legs, working their way beneath the hem of her black floral dress, reaching her waist before he pulled the dress over his girlfriend's head, pulling their lips apart for a split second, even that was too long. Not wasting another second before they resumed the passionate kiss between them.
His fingers caught in her long brown curls as he reached for the nape of her neck, her teeth caught on the bottom of his lips. The two split again as Kinsey tugged at the bottom of his shirt, prepared to pull it over his head but the wolf had other ideas. He flipped the girl onto the bed, towering over her as he removed his shirt, she felt as though she was having deja vu, yet the vision never grew old. As he returned to planting kisses along her entire body she let out a low moan, after not being able to enjoy the sensation of the other's touch it felt like the first time all over again, reliving every passionate moment the two of them had shared that lead to this one. How they had always taken every chance they'd got to end up in this predicament, whether it had been during their hook-ups, drunk or not, tangled up with one another just seemed natural.
"Isaac-" she breathed out in a moan as Isaac left a trail of open-mouthed kisses down her neck, sliding the strap of her black laced bra over her shoulder. "I- I need to tell you something."
The wolf hummed, encouraging her to talk, but he continued to relish in her addictive touch. He stopped when the girl struggled to spit out her words, pulling himself off of her for a moment as he looked at her with a furrowed brow, his hands on either side of her head as she tried to figure out the words, which part she wanted to tell him. About his brother. Or about Stiles. Or to take a chance at saying her last words, unsure whether she would live through another day. She chose to take the latter of those options. Scared of what the future held for her.
"I love you." She mumbled weakly. A smile grew across the wolf's face, though he didn't quite get why she was acting as though it was the first time she had ever said those words to him, he still loved to hear them from her, another thing he didn't think could ever grow old. Isaac was about to return to business before she stopped him again, sitting up slightly, perching herself up with her elbows. "I mean it. I love you, and I- I always will. I just- I need to know you know that."
"Is something wrong?" Isaac asked sincerely, the same concern that had been in her tone now in his as he cupped her face, looking into her eyes that seemed to have pain burning behind them, her words were more than just a simple I love you, there was a reason she was so insistent that he knew she meant what she said.
"No, no, no." The brunette shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat, holding back her tears, this time, successfully. "I just need you to know that I love you, no matter what happens."
"I love you too," Isaac reassured her with a smile, a kiss on her forehead. "We're going to be fine, all of us. You don't have to worry, Kins. We're all going to get through this as we've got through everything else." She could tell he believed his words, that he was confident in them, she knew it was probably something to do with him managing to survive what had happened at the hospital but this was different, from what she could see, there was no survival in her future, maybe for all of them there would be, but for her, there was no hope anymore.
In the hours earlier in the morning than she typically liked to wake up, the brunette was awoken by the sound of fidgeting across the room, drawers opening and closing, though it was softly, it was enough to wake up a girl who had become quite the light sleeper over the last few months. A thing that used to act as a place of sanctuary to her had become something that she couldn't enjoy without it being interrupted, whether it was a nightmare or someone going missing in the middle of the night, including herself.
With bleary eyes the brunette looked across the room, Isaac stood with his back to her at her dresser, she could see his reflection through her mirror, he was staring right at her, he must have known he had woken her up, no matter how careful he had tried to be with his movements. She assumed that he was looking for one of his t-shirts or jumpers that she had borrowed to wear for himself, but still, she asked what he was doing, wondering who would be so eager to jump out of bed so early in the morning, it had to be at least 10 a.m.
Isaac averted the brunette's gaze, and in turn, avoiding the question that she asked. He looked at the weapons in his hand, some of the ones he had gotten out of the bag she had quickly put on the floor yesterday when she had seen him perched on the end of her bed, too distracted for the rest of the night to put them back in their rightful place, her weapon nook in her closet.
"There's still a lot of weapons here." Isaac mumbled, talking to her through her reflection in the mirror. "I thought your new code was about protecting."
"Most of them are non-lethal." Kinsey retorted, finding nothing peculiar about his words, Isaac often asked hunter-related questions, it had always been a subject that interested him, and his girlfriend too, which made him only want to know more. He had been on more than enough of their little hunter missions with them now that he could train as one himself, so even at this time of the morning, she didn't find it strange that he would question her weapons or the code.
Isaac hummed, pulling out her dagger, the one that had remained in the boots she'd kicked off upon entering her room last night, another thing she was too distracted to put back in its place, it was only as Isaac held up her dagger that she found herself slightly more concerned. He never touched her dagger, because he had openly admitted he was too scared too, that him holding it was more dangerous than the dagger itself, not to mention that Allison had used one to stab him multiple times, he often avoided getting too close to it. Yet now, he held it up to her as if he often handled her weapons or any for that matter.
The brunette slowly sat up in bed as he suggested that she keep them, that there were still a few of them out there who weren't quite so non-lethal, it seemed he was talking on behalf of himself and others, suggesting that he was a danger to her. Not only him. But the twins, two people who they had agreed to give a second chance after what they had done for them lately, how they had done everything possible to prove themselves worthy of a place in the pack. Now, he'd changed his mind, the twins didn't deserve a second chance.
Kinsey tried to reason with him on behalf of the twins, something she never thought she would do, she reminded him that things were different, that they didn't have to be like that anymore, frankly, if it wasn't for the twins they might have lost their lives to Kincaid, Ethan and Aiden were far from their enemies, five hooded figures and an ancient fox had taken their place.
Isaac didn't care for her reasoning, as he had told her, he suspected she would say something like that. He zipped up her bag, throwing it over his shoulder as he began heading towards the bedroom door, but before he left, he said one more thing to her, something that scared her more than him leaving with a bag full of weapons did.
"For someone who hates lying so much, you sure do it a lot." Isaac deadpanned.
She sat with a slacked jaw, trying to figure out something to say but all of her words were gone, a lump in her throat replacing her ability to speak. Isaac didn't give her a complete explanation of what he meant by those words, all he had done was throw his phone on her bed, a thread of text messages opened on it as she quickly grabbed the phone, scanning over them before she'd even read who they were from. Each text entailing what had happened between her and Stiles, the moment at the hospital, what she had done for him, and then, the moment they'd shared in the locker room. She wasn't surprised to see that the texts were from Stiles, or more so the other Stiles who had become the bane of her existence.
Even more lost for words, Kinsey looked back up at the wolf, trying to explain herself and her lies as he carried on walking out the door, prepared to leave their conversation at that. Kinsey threw the covers off of her, prepared to chase after him until she'd found both of her ankles handcuffed to her bedposts. It appeared that she wasn't as light of a sleeper as she thought she was.
For a moment, the brunette sat in her bed, flabbergasted as she stared at the door Isaac walked out of, wondering how the hell she was supposed to handle this, what reasonable explanation she could possibly come up with to justify the fact she had lied to him for months on end before he had even been sick in the hospital, the truth was, there was no reasonable explanation. She had been selfish, and now, she was paying the price. Still, the brunette remained livid, she could feel her blood boiling inside of her, her lip curling in anger with one mission on her mind.
"Malia! Allison!" Kinsey's voice screamed through the entire apartment, if the other girls weren't already up before, they were sure to be after hearing that voice echo through the apartment, her death predicting screams were bad, but her normal screams were no better. Within a matter of seconds, two brunettes barged through the bedroom door, breathless after jumping out of bed at her screaming, both surprised to see her with her ankles handcuffed to her bedposts, neither wanted to know the details. "Get me the hell out of this bed." Kinsey spat out. "I have a freaking thousand-year-old Nogitsune to get rid of."
·❥·
At the sound of frantic knocking on his back door Scott ran across the house after he had spent the past half an hour anxiously pacing it while his mother called Kinsey to the house, insisting it was urgent that she get here, she remained vague on the details, unsure how to tell the girl that Lydia had accidentally stumbled upon an unconscious Stiles in a parking lot. Lydia had left her house with the intention of visiting Malia, unaware that she was at the Argent apartment, but it seemed her banshee mind had had different plans for her. When she and Aiden had found Stiles they did the same thing every teenager in Beacon Hills with supernatural problems in this town did; call Deaton and Scott. Both of them had suggested for them to bring him to Scott's, and in a much more serious tone; to not let Stiles out of their sight for even a second, that they had both been adamant on.
As Scott swung open the door he was met with the sight of Lydia whose skin was white as if she had seen a ghost, Stiles was floppy in Aiden's arms as the wolf struggled to carry his dead weight alone, the Alpha quickly rushed to help carry him into the house, placing him on the sofa as the veterinarian had suggested. While they were quick to listen to Deaton's instructions, Melissa was unsure that they were the right ones. With Stiles's condition and the scenario in which they had found him she was a strong believer that they should be taking him to the hospital, not keeping him here, she hoped that Kinsey would agree once she arrived, they all seemed to take her word just as much as they took Deaton's, sometimes she was the only one able to make them see the sense of things. Frankly, that was quite terrifying.
Scott reminded his mother of what happened last time Stiles had been taken to the hospital, all hell had broken loose, Isaac and Kira had almost been killed, some people had been killed. The hospital seemed like the last possible resort of where to take Stiles. That Melissa couldn't argue with as much. Deaton checked over the unconscious boy, a large slash across his stomach had bled through his blue t-shirt, a self-inflicted wound if he had to guess. But it didn't seem as if it was still bleeding, if anything it looked as if it was healing, the way that werewolves healed. To Scott, that seemed like a good thing, it meant that Stiles would be okay, that maybe a trip to the hospital remained off of the cards. Deaton on the other hand wasn't so sure, it was good for him, but for them, he wasn't sure that they could consider his healing a good thing.
Aiden suggested what he always believed was a good idea; killing Stiles and ending this whole debacle right now, saving any of them any further trouble, of course, as always, nobody was yet willing to follow him on that suggestion. So he provided another one, to tie down Stiles with big chains that would stop another escape of the Nogitsune, especially after he had been filled in on last night's events by Scott, they couldn't afford to lose him again. While that wasn't a bad idea, Deaton believed he had something even more effective, he pulled a small bottle of brown liquid out of his bag, nodding at the two wolves to give him some assistance.
As Scott and Aiden held Stiles's mouth open the veterinarian placed a few drops of the liquid on his tongue, with that feeling on his tongue, Stiles quickly awoke, grabbing Aiden by the throat as Aiden struggled against it, urging Scott to get him off. Before Scott could intervene, Stiles's grip began to loosen, barely able to move his hand as Lydia quickly pulled Aiden away from him. The Nogitsune looked at his weak hand before looking at Deaton who stood with folded arms, quite the smug face too. Then, the Nogitsune knew exactly what he had used. Kanima venom.
Aiden roared at the Stiles, prepared to go back to his first plan of action until Void veiled a threat of how twins share a connection, that one gets the feeling when the other is in pain, he hoped that Aiden hadn't lost that power along with his Alpha power, as he gladly told the former-Alpha he was going to need it. Confusion had spread across the room as they looked between Aiden and the Nogistune, who then provided a hint- Ethan was at the school. The concerned wolf had looked at Scott who had quickly warned him to go, Aiden needed no further warning before he was running out of the door.
Void turned back to the remainder of the group. "I hope he gets there in time. I like the twins." He smiled. "Homicidal compulsions. Short tempers-" Before he could continue listing the more favorable traits of Ethan and Aiden, the front door swung open again, they had all expected it to be Aiden, maybe he had forgotten something. Instead, they were met with a furious brunette girl who stormed into the house with a face like thunder. Void grew a malevolent grin across his face as he turned back to those he had been talking to before her large entrance. "Speaking of short tempers. Welcome to the party princess. Did Isaac get my message?"
Kinsey didn't say a word, narrowing her eyes at him. Melissa had a few words of her own to say. "Doc, you brought something to paralyze his mouth, you got anything for his mouth?" And that he did. Deaton ripped off a piece of black gaffer tape, placing it over the Nogitsune's mouth. Void shouted through the tape, a vein almost popping out of his forehead before he began giggling at them all, thriving in all of the furious faces staring back at him.
"Where is Isaac?" Scott questioned the brunette girl.
"I don't know," Kinsey admitted with a shrug, refusing to take her eyes off of Stiles, allowing her blood to continue boiling inside of her until she began taking up more of the twins' traits than a short temper because homicidal tendencies didn't sound too out of character for her right now. "Allison and Malia are out looking for him. He's armed too. He took my weapons from my room."
"What message did he give him?" Lydia asked curiously.
The brunette girl sighed. "One that might have just ruined my relationship."
Scott could smell the anger from the girl, he had known her angry before, many times, but how she felt now was stronger than any scent he'd ever smelt in his werewolf life. Because of that, he guided the brunette to the kitchen, deciding it was wise to gain some distance between her and the Nogitsune who was only basking in the strife he had caused her, Lydia and Deaton following their lead while Melissa kept watch on Stiles, it seemed as though they would be working shifts, at the moment, nobody could bear to be around the Nogitsune for too long.
As they gathered around the breakfast bar Scott asked how long they had, something that the man was also unsure of, he wished he could tell them, but he couldn't. But if they didn't figure out something soon they were going to need a better place to keep him. He believed that they were all grossly underestimating the danger here, Void might be paralyzed, but he had them all right in the palm of his hand, something Kinsey nodded in agreement with. She felt as though her entire life hung in the balance of the Nogitsune, he had a hold over her, all of them.
"The scroll said to change his body." Lydia reminded them, suggesting that they followed that plan again, changing Stiles into a werewolf, changing the host.
"That's if I translated it correctly," Deaton admitted, he didn't seem too confident in himself or his Japanese. "We're looking for a cure in something that might actually be nothing more than a proverb or a metaphor."
"And what if he doesn't want it?" Kinsey asked them. "He never asked to be a werewolf."
"What if it saves his life?" Lydia questioned her best friend, surprised that she would be the one to be against that suggestion if it meant saving Stiles, forgetting who she was talking to, the girl who might just be the biggest advocate for having a choice in this.
"All I know is that if it was me, I'd rather you kill me."
They all looked at her with surprise, speechless for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to laugh, crack a joke to try and lighten the mood, but her face couldn't have been more serious, her words couldn't have been any more cement. She meant every word of it. If it came to life as a werewolf or death, she would always choose the latter, to her, the latter was only one option, and that was becoming her father. Scott and Deaton looked at one another, both of them knew something that she didn't, something that Lydia didn't know either, Scott had told Deaton what Derek had told him, the fate of the brunette girl amongst them. This was the exact reason they were yet to tell her. She didn't want it. She would never want it.
Scott shook off that thought, turning back to Stiles, what Stiles might want, or need, while Void was the main host of his body, it seemed his life was in their hands. Scott was just as concerned about the idea as Deaton and Kinsey, he had never bitten someone before, scared he would do it wrong, that he might accidentally hit an artery or something.
"The venom isn't going to last long. Something needs to be done sooner rather than later." The veterinarian urged, the three teenagers looking between one another.
"I can try calling Derek again?" Scott suggested.
"Maybe we should call someone else." Kinsey proposed, Lydia seemed to know exactly who she was talking about, and after the same look and tilt of the head from the two of them, Scott knew too. Someone who would come, simply because of who would be asking him. For once, he may have just been the one person they could depend on to get her as soon as possible, by now they all knew that Peter would do anything for his daughter, at the drop of a hat too.
Still, none of them were entirely happy about the suggestion. Not Scott. Not Kinsey. Not Lydia. Not a single soul in the entire McCall house were happy that this had come down to relying on Peter Hale of all people. But as they anticipated, Peter had gotten here quicker than anyone else could have, he was at the front door in a short fifteen minutes with that devilish smirk across his face that made them all dread their decision further. His daughter was the one to bring him into the house, giving him a warning to behave before he had even stepped over the threshold of the front door. Though he ensured his daughter that there were no promises.
With folded arms, the five watched as Peter walked around the sofa, analyzing the fox who sat as still as a statue, he continued wearing his devious smirk, one that was visible even behind the tape. They'd all noticed that as Void sat still, his stare remained on the same person, just as she'd refused to take her eyes off of him, he refused to take them off of her. He took terrorizing her the most enjoyable out of them all, she reacted more than them, it hurt her more than it did the rest.
"He doesn't look like he would survive a slap across the face, much less the bite of a werewolf."
"You don't think it would work?" Scott asked the man.
"This is more a war of the mind than the body," Peter spoke as he looked into the dead eyes of the Nogitsune, even he could tell that Stiles wasn't Stiles, there was nothing behind them, not the usual annoying human that he had grown to tolerate, not the boy who was head over heels for his daughter to the point it couldn't even be disguised. He stood up with folded arms beside Scott. "There are better methods for winning this battle."
Deaton stepped forward, curious to know what methods Peter referred to, he expected a similar method to what Aiden suggested, it seemed to be the go-to for most werewolves, but the former Alpha didn't dignify his question with a verbal answer. Instead, he grabbed Scott's wrist from his side, holding it up as the wolf's claws naturally extended, taking even him by surprise. But Void seemed excited for what was in store. For him. For Scott. For all of them. They were going to get inside of his head. He hadn't told them all of the details on how, the fact it involved another, he had the perfect person in mind, usually, he wouldn't like to put his daughter in harm's way but this was the occasion she was most suited to. She lived in people's heads whether she meant to or not and since this involved Stiles, well, who could deny the irony of that.
Before Peter told Scott how exactly how he would get inside of Void's head, he pulled aside the redhead girl, if he was going to do this there was one condition. This time winning over Kinsey's acceptance wasn't enough on its own. He wanted to know what Lydia knew about his child, the other child he had. He was determined to end today with the knowledge of that child, a name at least, maybe even an address depending on just how good she was. Lydia had agreed that she'd tell him his child's name, but she had a few conditions of her own. Neither Scott nor Kinsey were to know about it. Scott wouldn't like her making a deal with the devil, as for his daughter, Kinsey was simply dealing with too much to have this bomb dropped on her now.
With their agreement sealed, the two returned to the living room where they all waited for the next step in Peter's plan. He brought Scott behind Void, placing his extended claws on his neck. His plan was simple. Scott would dig through pale and sickly Evil Stiles's mind to unearth pale and sickly Real Stiles. Then they'd guide him back from the depths of his own subconscious. It seemed like something they could all accept, but he wasn't finished.
"But he's not going to do it alone." Everyone's brows furrowed as they looked at the man, but he looked straight at the brunette girl across his room, his daughter, who even Void suspected as the one who'd be delving into the inner workings of Stiles's mind. "Kinsey, it's your time to shine sweetheart." The man smiled at his terrified daughter.
Despite the nerves inside of her, Kinsey nodded as she followed her father's lead, sitting beside the Nogistune on the couch, much closer than she planned on being beside him today, trying to not look at him, even in the corner of her eye. Instead, she kept her eyes on Lydia who made her best attempt at silently reassuring her best friend that she would be fine.
"What do we do when we find him?" Scott asked as he stood with his claws on the back of both Stiles and Kinsey's necks, prepared to delve in.
"You're going to have to guide him out somehow." Peter shrugged. "Try to give him back control of his mind, his body."
Kinsey asked for more emphasis on the somehow, right now, her father's instructions didn't feel too specific, and well, if she knew anything about being inside the minds of others it was that it required some guidance, otherwise, she got lost, or she went further than she was willing to go. She had a few examples in mind, one had happened just yesterday. Frankly, Kinsey planned on waiting a little longer before going into another mind, but it seemed that plan wasn't an option any longer. Much to her dismay, Peter only had one word of guidance. To improvise it. Deaton reminded them of their ticking clock, suggesting that it wouldn't be long before the fox would regain his movement and became a problem once again, or at least more of a problem, he was already a big pain in the ass. Scott nodded, taking a deep breath as he pressed his claws on the napes of their necks again, Kinsey took a breath of her own, closing her eyes as she prepared to experience the worst. Before she knew it, the claws were dug into her neck.
When Kinsey opened her eyes again she found herself in a dark, cold room staring at the ceiling that looked as though it had never seen a coat of paint or a duster for that matter. She could feel a restraint against her, barely able to move her body, before looking at the cause, Kinsey felt an instant dread inside of her, that maybe because Void was paralyzed by the Kanima's venom, the two of them might be too. And then, with the sound of heavy breathing beside her, she turned to see Scott, and well, it might have just been worst than the venom. Both of them were strapped to a bed as if they were mental patients. And then it clicked. In Stiles's mind, they probably were, his last place before being taken over by Void had been Eichen, it had caused him so much stress it had been the first place in his subconscious mind.
Kinsey and Scott both fought against the restraints, desperate to free themselves as the brunette girl whimpered, wondering once again why everyone was so instant in restraining her, maybe it was because she was a hunter everyone believed that it was necessary, but it had grown old too quickly, in fact, from the time that her uncle had tied her up in the Hale house it had gotten old. After what felt like fighting forever, Kinsey turned to the wolf beside her who had failed to break out of his own restraints, she looked at him with square eyes, questioning if she really needed to remind him that he was a werewolf, an Alpha if she was going to emphasize her point.
"We're in Stiles's head." Scott deadpanned.
"You're a freaking werewolf!" Kinsey lectured him. "Grow a pair!"
Though her words could have been more encouraging, she had made her point. Scott took a deep breath, focusing his strength as he began fighting against his restraints again, watching as the belt around his wrist began to wear thin, struggling from the weight he put against them. He fought harder and harder until the belts around him snapped effortlessly, a relieved sigh and a slight cheer coming from the brunette girl who urged him to hurry up and do the same for her, it had only been a few minutes inside of Stiles's mind, but she was already over it.
"What now?" Scott asked.
"I don't know." The girl admitted as he stared at her, questioning her further. "What? I dive into a few minds and all of a sudden I'm some kind of expert?"
Scott shrugged, he thought so. He digressed, warning the girl to stay behind him as they slowly approached the door. Kinsey did as she was told, keeping behind the wolf as he opened it, Scott looked behind him, making sure she was there as he stepped into the corridor, but it appeared she hadn't been close enough. As soon as Scott had gotten through it, it slammed shut, leaving the two of them alone, separated. Kinsey screamed the wolf's name frantically as she slammed her hand against the door, desperately trying to open it, her own voice echoing in her ears. The brunette turned around, suddenly, the room where two beds had just sat, was empty, nothing but a small light shining down on her from the skylight. She was alone. In every way possible.
As the brunette stepped further into the empty room, staring up at that light, a single balloon dropped down, her eyes following it as it hit the floor. Followed by another. And another. She closed her eyes as tears began to fall down them, she was at a loss, unsure what she had to do at a time like this, her fear was getting too much for her to cope with. She couldn't handle things being out of her control, and right now, she had never been so out of it.
Music began playing in the girl's ears, a slow dancing song, one that she remembered dancing to with Allison at the formal when Jackson had been too much of a jackass to dance with her. She opened her eyes, finding herself in the school hallways, filled with balloons and the other formal decorations that she remembered. Kinsey looked down at herself, she was back in her royal blue gown, just like she had worn that night. Her hair in the same curls, those same sapphires in each small curl as two pieces of her framed her face. Kinsey looked down at her hands, both stained in a scarlet red, just like they had been after her father attacked Lydia on the field. A night she'd been with Stiles, when he'd come searching for her, that night, she hadn't known why, not until Stiles had shown her what really happened that night. He'd known since then how he felt about her, that he loved her, that he wanted her, and she hadn't had a clue.
Kinsey stepped further through the corridor as that night began to flash before her eyes.
Melissa's words repeated in her head, reminding her that if she carried on waiting, one day she would be happy like those around her, she would find love of her own, it would consume her as it had for the likes of Scott and Allison. All she had to do was wait, and it would find her. And she was willing to wait as long as it took. The brunette stepped outside, getting some much-needed fresh air, staring out at the parking lot filled with cars, not a person in sight. Everyone else was having fun with their date, or was too drunk to find their way outside, usually, she would be one of those people. But with the strange feeling she had about tonight, she knew it wasn't time to get blackout drunk as she would on every other occasion, that gut-wrenching feelings remained lingering in her stomach, a reminder that anything could happen hug over her head like a dark cloud. Those feelings were the joy of being a teenager in Beacon Hills who knew the secrets that it entailed. Her hands had managed to work their way to the necklace that hung around her neck, clutching it as though it brought her comfort.
Kinsey stopped in the hallway. Her hand reached to her neck, the necklace that hadn't left that space, though she tried not to think of it anymore, until now when she realized why she always seemed to reach for it for that comfort. Not because she yearned for her dead mother, it had to be more than that. Her gut-wrenching feelings had been more than that, her paranoia. If she'd learned anything, it was that it was always more than what she thought. The necklace was far from a gift or a connection to Kate. It was her anchor.
A shadow flashed before the girl's eyes, quickly turning her head.
Lydia rushed past her, almost jogging in her pearl-colored formal dress, she'd been so fast that the brunette had to take a second look to make sure it was her best friend that she had seen go by. The redhead was in too much of a hurry herself to notice the brunette leaning against the wall with her head bowed, necklace in hand, she was on the hunt for Jackson, and well, after the speech she'd given Stiles she thought Kinsey would have been dancing with him by now. Not on her own in the cold.
"Lyds? What's going on?" Kinsey asked as she grabbed her long blue dress, rushing to follow the girl, wondering what had her running off in such a hurry, especially towards the field.
"I'm trying to find Jackson, I can't find him anywhere."
"Want some help? I have nothing better to do than search for the Jackass." Kinsey asked, though Lydia accepted her offer she still gave Kinsey the same piercing stare she did every other time that she threw an insult towards her now ex-boyfriend. That just proved she still loved Jackson even after he had treated her the way that he had. Maybe that was what love was.
Eventually, the two girls found themselves heading toward the field with the presumption that Jackson wanted to let loose and throw a few balls at the lacrosse nets in order to do so. After a while, the two girls had loosened their grip on each other and opted for wrapping their arms around themselves for warmth while searching through the cold night. Neither had opted for wearing a jacket tonight after expecting the night to go in a way that would leave them hot and sweaty on the dance floor, probably intoxicated rather than how they currently found themselves. Freezing, nauseous, and in a desperate search to find a boy that wouldn't be doing the same for them if the roles were reversed. But that was Jackson.
"Jackson!" The two girls shouted as they walked onto the field consumed by darkness.
As they reached the middle of the field the floodlights began turning on one by one causing both of them to stop and look around them, it was clear that Jackson wasn't there. And that feeling of nausea that had lingered in Mia's stomach was stronger than ever. As though her body was telling her the bad thing she had felt all day was about to happen, that now she and Lydia were out here alone where nobody would hear their screams- they were in danger.
"Lydia. Lydia, we need to go. Right now." Kinsey warned as she began trying to pull her away.
"Jackson!" The redhead shouted as she saw a silhouette coming from the shadows, Kinsey quickly turned her head curious as to whether this was Jackson playing some fucked up prank to scare them, even as for payback for Kinsey. But when she noticed that black awful trench coat she knew that it really wasn't Jackson. And she'd underestimated the danger they were in.
"Lydia. We need to go. Now! Let's go!" Kinsey screamed at the girl as she began pushing her out of the way, with every step that Peter took to get closer Kinsey's nauseous feeling worsened until she found herself as a human barricade to her best friend who was frozen still in the middle of the field. "Lydia, please go. Get out of here and go and get help. Please Go." Kinsey whimpered quietly as she slowly walked backward, pushing Lydia with every step that she took but Peter still seemed to be getting too close for comfort. The redhead still froze behind her, though she could hear her best friend plead she couldn't find it within herself to move a muscle let alone run for her life like she knew that she should be doing. She was frozen with gut-wrenching fear.
"Run! Kinsey! Lydia! Run!" Stiles screamed as he came running across the field turning both of the girl's heads towards him.
Kinsey's head whipped around again, prepared to see the horrific sight she had seen that night, instead, she found herself back in the balloon-filled corridor, covered in blood as if she already relived that part of the tale. Though the falling balloons managed to block most of the girl's sight the music hadn't stopped what she heard next. A familiar sound of chalk scratching against one of the blackboards, piercing her ears, with that gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach again, she turned her head to look in one of the classrooms. That same bandaged figure she had once seen in Stiles's head drawing the kanji symbol for self, looking straight at her as he did it. Now Kinsey knew him as more than just some bandaged figure, it was the Nogitsune.
A locker slammed behind the brunette, startling her as she turned towards the sound, the figure was now behind her, slamming them shut one by one as he got closer to her, no matter how far she stepped back the Nogitsune became closer and closer to her, the sound of slamming lockers practically inside of her head they had become so close. The Nogistune began to roar in her ears as she whimpered, closing her eyes tightly hoping that her nightmare would end.
Lydia and the three adults had spent their time with folded arms, watching the other three closely, nervously watching them, wondering if they would be able to know what was going on from the outside, whether there would be some sign of defeat if Kinsey and Scott had found out what they were doing when they found out what they were doing. They were going to figure it out. It was Scott and Kinsey, they always figured it out.
"Look at that. Do you see that?" Melissa's voice broke the silence they had sustained. "Kinsey's bleeding. She's bleeding." The woman began to panic, watching the blood trickle from the girl's nose, landing on the white dress she wore.
The woman went to step forward, but Deaton's arm stretched out in front of her, he wasn't sure it was a good idea for her to intervene, but he hadn't been able to stop Peter who'd knelt down in front of his daughter, Lydia stepping forward to, scared for her best friend. Peter cupped her face in his hands, talking to his daughter, asking if she could hear him as he called her name, he told her that she was stronger than this. That she needed to fight.
"Hey, Stiles."
Kinsey beamed like a ray of sunshine as she skipped to her seat beside the boy, a smile across her face, she was in an unusually good mood considering the latest events of her life. She had sprung out of bed with newfound energy, even Allison had been surprised to see the brunette skip past her open bedroom door this morning while she sat at her vanity, she'd had to do a double-take to make sure she wasn't hallucinating now, even checking the alarm clock that sat on her bedside table, an entire half an hour before the younger girl usually got up, well, until she usually found herself dragging the girl out of bed. She hadn't seen her in such a good mood at this time of the morning since, well, ever. Despite what was going on in their lives, the Oni as the latest foe's in town, Kinsey chose not to dwell on the darkness in her life, she chose to think of the positives, one of them being that after a short stay at the hospital under Melissa's care, Stiles was back in school, prepared to not dwell on his life either.
The boy stared straight ahead, his eyes on the front of the class as the girl stared at him with her brows knitted, waiting for him to answer her, but he didn't. Kinsey shrugged, she could see how he had a slight redness beneath his eyes, she assumed that even after being in the hospital for a few hours to catch up on some much-needed rest, he still wasn't quite himself, those kinds of things took time, she understood that. She didn't pester him as she too turned to the front of the class. She wasn't used to being so early, the class was still empty, just the two of them so far, not even Scott had gotten here yet, it was a strange sensation for her, everything she felt was strange to her, but she didn't want to question the feeling of happiness inside of her, it had been so long since she had felt it, there was no need to ruin a good thing.
Kinsey wasn't sure how long had passed between her sitting down and hearing her name being called from the front of the class, she had been doodling in her notepad in her favorite blue ink with a smile on her face, truly at her happiest. When the girl looked up, she had expected to see Mr. Yukimura at the front of the class, picking on her to answer questions had become a habit of the man's, testing her to see if she had been studying using the notes Kira gave her as he had arranged and she had been, which was why she never seemed to mind answering them, proving herself to him. An undying need to prove one's self was just a side effect of having parents like her own, desperate to prove to everyone that she wasn't going to become a product of them.
But rather than seeing Kira's father at the front of the class, the person who had called her name stood with their back to her, chalking a large number five on the board. From what she could see the figure stood in a leather bomber jacket, heavily bandaged fingers wrapped around the piece of chalk, she had no idea who stood at the front of her history class, or how they had known her name, all that she knew was that a feeling of fear had quickly risen in her stomach, replacing the joyous feeling that had been there since waking up this morning.
"What gets bigger the more you take away?" The figure asked hoarseness to their voice, it was how she had always imagined zombies to sound if they were real and capable of speaking a full sentence, she knew she shouldn't have agreed to watch that movie with Allison last week.
"A hole." The brunette answered in a mumble.
"What gets wetter the more it dries?" It asked again. Another riddle.
"A towel." She replied.
"When is a door not a door?"
The brunette froze, her brows furrowed as she answered the riddle under her breath. When it was ajar. She remembered one of Stiles's hallucinations that he had told her about, how once he had walked into class, he had been sitting like she was now, paying no attention, and in that off chance he looked up, everyone around him had been asking him that same riddle, only then, it was in sign language. That had been the very thing that lead Deaton to tell them to shut the door that lead to their minds, something all three of them had successfully done while saving Malia. It was that memory that made the brunette begin to grow suspicious of her surroundings, for the first time since her name had been called, she took a second to look around the room, expecting it to be filled with fellow students waiting for Mr. Yukimura to teach them. But instead, it was just her and Stiles still, he continued looking forward at the board, almost still. Almost. All apart from how he shivered. Trembled actually, less in a way of fear, but more so in pain.
Her name sounded through her ears again as she turned back to the front of the class, the figure that stood with its back to them repeated his riddle, the one she had missed, too busy looking at her surroundings. Everyone has it but no one can lose it. The girl stammered for words, unable to think of the answer, she tried to think, reaching her mind for the answer but it was hard to do when she felt like something was wrong, very wrong. He asked her again, waiting for her to tell him the answer, but she was left speechless, unable to find it within her mind.
"Kinsey, can you hear me?" Peter repeated as his voice slowly got louder, trying to get through to his daughter, her bleeding nose streaming. "Kinsey, come on sweetheart. Okay, concentrate, you need to concentrate. Kins." The man repeated frantically, surprising the three who watched him, they had only ever heard of his care towards Kinsey, this was the first time they had managed to see it for themselves. He was a different man. Peter took a deep breath before he bellowed her name once again. "Kinsey!"
The brunette covered her ears as her father's yelling pierced her ears, she was back in her blue dress, back in the school hallway, alone. She snapped out of her fears, concentrating on what she needed to do. She looked for a way out until she saw a set of double doors at the end of the hallway, running towards them as though her life depended on it, and maybe it did. Maybe if she bet the Nogitsune today, she would live, she could prevent her own death. Kinsey ran through the balloons, muttering to herself to concentrate, her hand wrapped around her necklace as she ran towards those double doors.
As she threw them open she found herself in a white room purgatory, one that she had been to before, when she committed the surrogate sacrifice. Kinsey looked down at herself, back in her white dress, not the blue one that no longer filled her with the joy it did when she had first seen it on the rack at the mall.
Scott looked around the purgatory, he was alone. He did all he knew he could do, run. And all of a sudden, Kinsey appeared, standing in her white dress, looking at him with weariness before she turned back to the thing she had seen a few seconds ago. Far away on the other side of the white room, Stiles sat cross-legged on the Nemeton, playing a game with the Nogistune, so far in the distance she was surprised her human eyes had been able to see him at all.
Kinsey and Scott looked at one another before walking closer to them, a walk turning into a jog, a jog into a run, but no matter how far or quick they ran, Stiles didn't get any closer to them, he was still far from reach, he couldn't even see them, as if they weren't even there, too consumed in his game with the Nogitsune. Both of them shouted his name, but there wasn't even a flicker of a reaction, from either the boy or the fox, they were too far.
The two tried running against until Kinsey's legs couldn't carry her, and even Scott was trying to find his breaths, it was hopeless, they weren't getting any closer. It felt as if they were getting even further from Stiles. Unsure how they were supposed to reach him. He was in another kind of dimension to them, his own personal afterlife inside of his head. And then it clicked. Afterlife. Another dimension. The kind of thing that only the likes of Angels and Banshee's could reach, but a scream wouldn't be enough here. She couldn't gather that kind of force, she needed it to be louder, more controlling. The roar of an Alpha.
"Stiles is part of your pack."
"What?" Scott mumbled. "What do you mean?"
"He's human. But he's still part of the pack, right?"
"Yeah." Scott nodded, straightening himself up. "Yeah, of course."
"So how do wolves signal their location to the rest of the pack?"
They howled. He was beginning to understand what she meant. But he couldn't howl that loud, not in a purgatory like this. Kinsey grabbed a hold of the wolf's hand, a smile across his face as she reminded him that he was attuned to levels of the universe only her kind could hear, with volume like that, Stiles had to hear them, it was impossible for him not to. As Scott transitioned, prepared to break out the roar that had saved Malia, the Nogitsune looked at the two of them, suddenly all too aware of their presence. As Scott's howl echoed through the purgatory, Kinsey released her Angel-like shriek, together, their voices sounded effortlessly, reaching Stiles as his head shot up, seeing his two best friends across the room.
Stiles looked at the low growling Nogitsune across from him, he was angered already by Kinsey and Scott being here, and he angered him more, upending the board, throwing off every piece of the game onto the floor. The Nogitsune's roar sounded back through the purgatory, snapping all three teenagers back out of Stiles's mind with a gasp.
Kinsey and Scott paid no attention to the fact Kinsey's nose was bleeding or anything else in the room, both frantically asking whether it had worked when Stiles sat with his head down, not in the condition they expected him to be in. It hadn't worked. Just as Lydia had joined in on all of the questioning of why it hadn't worked when Peter pulled her aside, reminding her of the deal they made. His help for the name. Scott had overheard the two of them, asking who they were talking about as Peter pulled Lydia further away, but Kinsey had been too focused on Stiles as she knelt before him, calling his name.
Stiles shot up all of a sudden, reaching for the tape on his mouth as Melissa quickly pulled the girl kneeling in front of him away. He ripped the gaffer tape from his mouth before reaching into it, vomiting up a long strand of gauze bandage until there was a sizable pile of it on the floor of the McCall family room, enough to make the rest of them vomit if they weren't so frozen in utter horror. Kinsey was lost for words as she looked at the boy, unsure how to help him.
Black smoke issued forth from the pile of bandages, a hand reaching out of the gauze; appearing to be the bandaged hand of the Nogitsune that everyone quickly stepped back from including the boy who had vomited up. Their eyes widened as the figure crawled out of the bandage-filled floor until it stepped out, fully formed. The figure lunged forward, grabbing Kinsey and Lydia's wrists as they both let out an involuntary squeal, Scott and Peter rushed to hold him down but he continued to fight against their strength. But something told the Alpha to wait, he pulled the other wolf back, removing the bandages from the creature's head - Stiles, the real Stiles.
"Scott." Deaton's voice trembled from behind the wolf, he didn't say a word as he looked at the front door that had been left wide open. Two people out of the room were gone. Void and Lydia.
All of a sudden there was a thud. A body dropping to the floor.
"Kinsey!"