"What is this?" Gerard demanded, holding his arm as more of the black liquid started escaping it. "What did you do?"
"Everyone said Gerard always had a plan," Scott said. "I had a plan too."
Scott looked at me, a thank you in his eyes. Thank you for trusting me, for helping this plan happen. I smiled at him. Thank you for letting me trust you. Scott gave me a nod before turning back to Gerard, who was holding his small pill case like it was filled with poison. I realised what he'd done just as Gerard did. He'd replaced Gerard's pills with mountain ash.
Gerard crushed the pills in his hand, a dark, glittering dust falling from his fist. "Mountain ash!"
The black liquid started gushing out of his wound quicker, as well as dripping out of his nose, ears, mouth, any place they could find. They were trying to rid the body of the infection, of the lycanthropy, by getting rid of the infected blood.
Isaac's hand went around my waist, holding me tightly to him as Gerard fell to his knees, throwing up the black liquid like a fountain, his body regurgitating as much as it could before he collapsed, body lifeless on the floor. I wasn't sure if he was dead or not and, honestly, I didn't want to know.
It was quiet in the room after Gerard collapsed, everyone unsure what to say before Derek spoke up. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you might be an Alpha, but you're not mine."
At that moment Isaac pressed a quick kiss to my neck, thinking the danger was over. I turned to him, staring into his blue eyes.
"Isaac..." I started.
The werewolf just shook his head. "Later, please. I just want to be with you right now."
And, well- how could I say no to that? I let him put his head into the crook of my neck, holding him close as he stayed there, pressing his warm lips against my neck. I was about to say- I wasn't even sure what- when I noticed movement from the corner of my eye.
Gerard, it turned out, was not dead as he started crawling upright, away from the puddle of black liquid he'd created. He coughed up some more of the liquid as he tried to speak, spitting the gargled words out like more liquid.
"Kill them. Kill them all!"
Allison immediately tried to fight of the Kanima but again, she made more trouble than was worth with the Kanima throwing an aggravated Allison onto the floor. Its eyes found mine, eyeing the biggest threat in the room, but before it could do anything there was a loud crash as a car drove through the warehouse's walls and hit the Kanima full speed, causing the creature to drop and roll onto the floor.
I recognised the car as Stiles' jeep and saw Lydia and Stiles inside through the windscreen.
"Did I get him?" Stiles asked excitedly, nearly making me laugh.
He did get him, though unfortunately not enough to injure it as it jumped onto the front of the car, hissing at Lydia and Stiles. They scrambled out of the car, but while Stiles ran to the safety of Scott, Lydia stopped and turned to the Kanima, looking like lost baby sheep in a lion's den.
"Jackson?"
Stiles turned at the sound of Lydia's voice. He started running back to her but Derek stopped him, wrapping his arms around the boy. Stiles tried to fight him but in the end it was a werewolf against a human, and he was forced to watch as the Kanima raised its scaled arm, about to slash into Lydia's face, when she held something up.
The Kanima paused and I frowned, squinting to see what it was. It looked like a key. Slowly, some of Jackson's scales started to retreat from his body as his eyes flashed to his normal, icy blue colour. Slowly, Jackson lowered his raised hand, his other one coming up to slowly take the key from Lydia's grip, careful not to hurt her with his claws.
Derek finally let Stiles go, only to start running at the Kanima. Before I could figure out what he was doing Peter was there as well, both of them cornering the Kanima as they stabbed him in the stomach with their claws on either side of him.
Lydia, who had been standing right there, let out an ear-piercing shriek. As one Derek and Peter let him go, the teenager falling to the floor with a thud. All the scales started disappearing from his skin until he was just a normal boy again.
Lydia went on her knees, cradling his head as she sobbed quietly. Jackson, eyes half lidded, looked at Lydia.
"Do you- do you still-"
"I do," Lydia answered immediately. "I do still love you."
And, with something nice to think about, Jackson finally closed his eyes and didn't open them again. The key in his hand fell to the floor with a clang. I leaned into Isaac, the boy wrapping his arms tighter around my waist, pressing his chin onto my shoulder.
Lydia slowly let go of Jackson, gently laying him on the ground.
"Where's Gerard?" Allison asked, bringing us out of our grief.
I looked around but he was no-where to be seen, his jacket discarded among the piles of black liquid he'd vomited.
"He can't be far," Chris said.
Lydia slowly stood up, tears staining her face as she turned away from Jackson's lifeless body. She looked at us, a sort of empty look in her eyes, and just stood there. She didn't cry anymore, didn't even ask what happened. She just stood there.
That was until Jackson's claw moved slightly. It was so subtle no one would have seen it, if it wasn't accompanied by the quiet grating of the claw on concrete. Lydia turned around as we watched Jackson slowly get upright, no more scales or tails, yet there was something different about him. He was still... supernatural.
When he roared, I realised why. He was reborn as a werewolf. Jackson was a werewolf. He was alive. No more Kanima.
He looked at Lydia, a scared vulnerability on his face you didn't often see with Jackson. All it took was his whispered, "Lydia," for the red head to run into his arms, an embrace that the rest of us felt almost uncomfortable watching because it was so intimate.
I leaned my head on Isaac's shoulder and gently kissed it. I still wasn't 100% sure where I stood with him, but seeing him hurt, seeing Allison try to kill him, I realised I'd rather have him in my life than out of it.
. . .
It was a few days after the attack. I was in Allison's room, by the doorway, the girl sitting on her bed looking at the ground.
Chris had invited me to live here again, claiming it would be too empty without me. I hadn't accepted yet, but I did come to scope out the situation.
"Listen, Y/n... I'm sorry," Allison said. "I wasn't- I shouldn't have hurt Isaac like that. I knew it would hurt you, which was why I did it, because I was so upset that you left but... I get why you did. I wouldn't have wanted to be around me either."
I frowned at her words, taking a few steps forward. "You know I didn't want to leave you, right Allison? I love you, even after everything. You're like my sister. I only left because I couldn't stand being around Gerard, and honestly I was scared what he might have done if he realised I was no longer on his side."
Allison nodded her head silently, fidgeting with her hands. "Still.... I'm sorry."
I sat down on the bed next to her, grabbing one of her hands. "Me too. I went a little bat shit crazy on you at the warehouse. I just let myself go and if Isaac hadn't stopped me- well, let's just say I still have a lot to learn about control."
Allison let out a small laugh and finally looked up at me. "So are we.... Okay?"
I smiled and nodded. "We're okay."
She moved forward and wrapped me into a hug, one I returned. It was comforting, being able to hold her again.
"Please stay," she murmured into my hair. "I don't want it to be quiet here."
I held her tightly. "Of course I'll stay."
We stayed like that a while longer, just holding one another, before eventually we pulled away. The air was cleared between us however, and I could tell we were both grateful for that fact. We'd need each other in the days to come, recuperating and moving on from what happened.
I eventually left her room, walking into my own.
That's when I found Isaac.
"Isaac?" I asked, the boy turning around from where he'd been staring out my window. "What are you doing here?"
Isaac swallowed thickly before answering. "Listen, Y/n. I know I hurt you, and I know you don't trust me yet but I just came here to-"
I didn't let him finish, moving for him until I had my arms around his neck and my lips pressed against his. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me like I was fragile. One of his hands moved up to brush my cheek, and he pulled away so he could stare into my eyes, adoration present in his gaze.
"You're right. Interrupting you with a kiss is fun," I said.
Isaac laughed at me. "I hope this means I'm forgiven?"
I smiled softly. "You're forgiven."
Isaac grinned, going so far as to fist pump the air. It was my turn to laugh at him. "Seriously though, what are you doing here?"
Isaac turned shy, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, I actually had this whole speech planned to convince you to forgive me but it seems my charm did it for me." I rolled my eyes at him and he smiled. "I did spend hours on that speech though."
"I do forgive you Isaac. I was confused and hurt, and everything was happening all at once I had no time to sort out my thoughts and feelings. Now that everything's over and I can think clearly, I can tell you didn't mean to hurt me, that not everything was fake."
Isaac cupped my face with his hands. "Nothing was fake, Y/n. I loved spending time with you. I loved being near you, and talking to you, and touching you. None of that was fake. I fell for you, and I fell hard, and that was all real."
I kissed him again after that, feeling too much to put into words. Isaac seemed to catch the gist of it though, because he kissed me just as desperately, telling me everything he needed to say that words couldn't explain.
"Now that everything's over, what does that mean for us?" Isaac asked me quietly.
I looked up at him and smiled. "It means we can be us now. No witch, no werewolf, no sides. Just us."
A/N:
this is officially the end of just us. i honestly had SO much fun writing it, and i hoped you had just as much reading it. thank you to everyone who voted and commented on the story, it means the world <3
see you in another story <3