"What are you thinking about?" the Nogitsune asked me as he circled around me in the tunnel.
I'm thinking about everything, to be completely honest. I'm thinking about my mom, and how I didn't have a chance to tell her that I'm sorry for doing this to her. I'm thinking about Scott, and how I hate that I keep hurting him. I'm thinking of Stiles and how I wish I could take away all of these bad things that happened to him because of me. I'm thinking of my dad, and how he happened to show up at the worst possible time in my life to try and rekindle a relationship.
All of these people that I keep hurting keep trying to save me and it makes me feel terrible about myself.
"I guess you'll find out soon enough, right? Since you're going to get in my head eventually." I retorted.
He smirked, "I do appreciate the humor, Kasey. Are you thinking about your family? About how you let them all down?"
"No," I snapped. Even though that had been exactly what I had been thinking. He's able to get into my head already, and he's not even all the way in.
He chuckled, "I wouldn't worry about your parents too much."
"Why?" I asked in a panic. Is he planning on doing something to my mom? She has absolutely nothing to do with any of this, why would he start threatening her? And my dad- why would he involve my damn dad? I don't even like him that much.
His eyebrows raised in amusement, "You see, Kasey, I'm not the only person that has you fooled."
"I swear to God if this is another damn riddle-"
"No riddle," he cut me off with a stern look, "but it is a warning. You're familiar with warning people, correct?"
My hands went up to my hair and I ran them through it nervously, "What are you saying?" I asked hesitantly, not really sure if I wanted to entertain this idea that he was trying to put into my head. He could be lying- that's what he does, he lies.
He lied about Stiles' disease. He used it against him to break his spirit- to break my spirit. Maybe this is the same thing. Maybe he's using my parents against me because he knows that my dad and I have a not-so-great relationship and my mom is my guiding light.
"Do you remember that night... the night before your dad left?" he asked with a smirk.
I swallowed thickly, not letting myself get choked up over this. I do remember that night, Scott doesn't, but I do, and I always will. The resentment that has been burning inside of me for my father stems from that night.
He chuckled again, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Take that as me not believing your lies anymore," I seethed. I'm not letting him get into my head like this again. He's already done it once with saying that Stiles' is dying, he's not going to drag my father into it.
I am not going to let myself feel any remorse for that man.
"Why would I lie when the truth is so much more dangerous?" he snickered.
I closed my eyes and took a calming breath. I can't get worked up with him. I can't let myself slip and fall down that rabbit hole of anxiety and panic again. I refuse to let that happen.
"If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe Stiles... because he knows the truth too. Where do you think I got it from?" he mused, cocking his head to the side.
I pressed the palms of my hands against my ears. I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this again. Keep it together, Kasey. Just keep it together.
My eyes snapped open suddenly, "You're nervous, aren't you?"
The Nogitsune seemed confused for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at me distastefully. That's why he's been trying to make my this the most uncomfortable and heart wrenching experience for me, because he's scared.
He knows that he's running out of time and he's trying to get me to be as unstable as possible, to make it all the easier for him to get into my head.
"You know that they're coming. You know that they're going to kill you." I stated with a twisted smile.
He smirked and placed his arm on the wall beside me, bringing his body flush against mine, "Well, that's exactly why I'm keeping you so close."
"They know where Eichan House is. They'll find me." I snapped at him, trying to squirm away.
The Nogitsune grinned, "We aren't in Eichan House."
What?
I reared my head back in confusion. We are in Eichan House. That's what I saw... that's where I went. I'm in the basement, in the tunnels. I-I am sure of it.
He clicked his tongue and he shook his head from side to side, "No, no, no. We are not in Eichan House. We're at Oak Creek. An interment camp where the Japanese were kept after World War II. All of these screams you're hearing? They're not from mental patients... they're from innocent people, innocent people that I killed."
Suddenly I felt a stabbing pain in the back of my skull. I associated the pain with the Oni, and I knew that it was that block in my mind. Noshiko is here, and so are the Oni.
My eyes widened, "They're here. And I don't need this link with them to know that they're going to kill you."
The Nogitsune tugged on the iron door and grabbed my upper arms as he shoved us both into the room, slamming the door shut. I glanced around in confusion, not really seeing what his end-game was here.
"Good. Because that's exactly why I brought you. Because I needed to know when they were close enough. When my own death was closing in." he stated.
I watched in confusion as he pulled out the same blade that he stole from Noshiko when we were in the basement of Eichan House. When he cut open his stomach and the flies poured out of him.
The Oni then materialized out of thin air, surrounding us. The room was a circle, and now there was a wall of Oni. I backed up in a panic, pressing my spine against the wall.
"'Cause only when they're close, can I do this..." he said and then snapped the blade in half.
As soon as the blade snapped, something in my head snapped too. I collapsed to the floor, my shoulder hitting the cement roughly. I was seeing stars as I felt the door in my mind swing open.
The Nogitsune smirked, "Show time."
☾ ☾ ☽ ☽
(Third Person)
Kasey's body absorbed the black smoke that the Nogitsune had turned into. Moments later, she stood up- brushing the dust off of her clothes. The Nogitsune had gotten in. When he snapped the final tail of Noshiko, it not only gave him ownership of the Oni, but it also broke down the final wall in Kasey's mind.
Now, she had finally let him in, and he had full control.
In the blink of an eye, Kasey was out of the basement and standing in the run down courtyard above the room they had just been in. Kasey could see everything through a sheet of thick glass, watching as the Nogitsune used her as a human puppet.
"Mom?" Kira choked out as she watched the final firefly in her mother's hand evaporate into the black fog that had been plaguing Kasey's mind for weeks.
Isaac swallowed nervously, "What does that mean?"
"It means there's been a change in ownership," Kasey spoke. Kira, Allison, and Isaac spun around in confusion. Kasey was standing a few feet away from them, with several Oni lined up behind her, obedient to whatever she wanted. "Now they belong to me."
Allison readied her bow, Kira drew her sword, and Isaac revealed his claws- all of them ready to defend themselves. Allison and Isaac could both feel the disappointment and horror as they realized that they had failed to save Kasey. The Nogitsune had got to her before they could.
They were too late.
Scott, Lydia and Stiles were oblivious to it all. They were running the halls of the lower level of Oak Creek. Stiles couldn't help but feel the same overwhelming crushing fear that something was wrong, the same way he felt that night of the Winter Formal. When Kasey had been bitten and he vowed that night to never let anything like that ever happen to her again.
The promise that he unintentionally broke.
Even though Stiles felt as if he were about to pass out, his bones and joints screaming at him to stop because they couldn't keep up with him, he didn't stop. He pushed himself with every ounce of strength he had left to keep up with Scott, he needed to find Kasey.
Scott could feel her presence. He knew she had been somewhere down here- he could feel her emotional scent left in the walls. She had been struggling down here. She had been emotionally ill-prepared for all of this.
Lydia finally stopped running, once she caught up to Scott and Stiles. They had found the room that Kasey had been in, but she was gone. Scott wrenched the door open and jumped inside, his eyes darting around in confusion.
The voices were screaming at Lydia, the same voices that had been nagging at Kasey. They were telling her that this was all a trap. That this is what the Nogitsune wanted and that they needed to get everyone out, because someone-someone was going to die.
"We need to get out of here." Lydia stated.
Stiles shot her an incredulous look, "Are you out of your freaking mind? We have to find her!"
"He has her, Stiles!" Lydia screamed, her eyes welling with tears from the pain in her head. The pain that her and Kasey can both feel. "He has her and this is what he wanted! Someone is going to die! We need to go!"
"What do you mean he has her?!" Scott shouted, this was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to find her and save her. He had promised her that she was going to be okay.
Lydia swallowed dryly, "Kasey's gone... at least for right now. We need to go before she kills someone."
The fight above them was raging on. Kira and Isaac were trying their best at hand to hand combat, while Allison was attempting to take the Oni out with her arrows, but every time the tip came close, it's sword would cut the arrow in half.
"How do we stop them?!" Isaac shouted at Noshiko, whom was standing as far away from the altercation as she possibly could.
Noshiko was watching the scene in horror, "You can't."
As she said the words, an Oni sliced at Isaac's chest. Blood spurted everywhere as he temporarily lost his balance. Kasey, the real Kasey, was banging on the glass she was hidden behind. Screaming as she watched Isaac take hit after hit from the swords. The blades slicing at his legs and arms.
Allison watched in shock, not knowing how to release the string of her bow in that moment. All she could do was watch the boy she had fallen for get every last ounce of life drained from him. She drew an arrow and launched it at the Oni as it prepared to give Isaac a death blow.
The arrow whistled through the air before it struck the Oni in the chest. Everyone watched with baited breath as the Oni dropped it's sword to the concrete, the metal clanking loud upon impact. Yellow light shot out of the spot where the arrow had hit, and the Oni exploded into a black cloud of smoke and dust.
Kasey's face went slack as the Nogitsune watched one of the supposed unstoppable Oni, vanish because it had been destroyed.
Allison had been so caught up in the fact that she had killed the Oni, that she wasn't watching her surroundings. The tip of a blade went directly through her as she spun around and gasped.
Lydia, who had been in the tunnels with a collapsed Stiles, started screaming her best friends name. Kasey, behind the glass, felt a part of her shatter as she watched the Oni pull the sword from Allison's chest. She was screaming at the Nogitsune, trying to break the hold that he had on her so she could run to Allison- but she couldn't.
After the blade was pulled from Allison's chest, the Nogitsune had decided it was time for them to leave. Kasey's body slid away from the scene unnoticed as the Oni disappeared into thin air.
Scott, who had finally reached the top of the stairs, bolted towards Allison's body as she fell to the ground. He had managed to catch her one final time before he held her in his arms.
"Allison?" Scott asked in a whimper.
Allison was gasping and choking, "Did you find Kasey? Was that really her?"
Scott didn't want to tell her the truth. He didn't want the last thing on her mind to be that they had failed in their attempt at saving Kasey. He didn't want her to think that she hadn't been able to follow through on her code of protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. So, he lied.
"She's safe, she's okay." he breathed out shakily.
Allison attempted to smile, "Okay, okay." she stammered.
He glanced down at her hand that was pressed against the whole in her torso. Blood was seeping out and he didn't think twice before he pressed his hand on hers, attempting to take away any bit of pain that he could, to help the girl that he loved the most.
"I-I can't. I can't take your pain." he stated, his voice breaking. He needed to help her, but he couldn't. Scott McCall had never felt more useless in his entire life than he did in this moment.
Allison's eyes were fixed on Scott's face, "It's because it doesn't hurt."
Scott knew what that meant. It meant that she was dying. The love of his life was dying. He couldn't save Kasey and he couldn't save Allison. He couldn't save Stiles, either. All of the people that he cares about are dying and he can't save them.
"No." Scott stated in disbelief. He didn't want to accept the fact that this was going to be the last time he ever spoke to her. The last time he ever held her. The last time that he will ever get to hear her voice or feel her against him. The last time that his heart will pound out of his chest at the sight of her. The last time the the ends of his nerves will light a fire because of her.
Allison nodded, "It's okay. It's okay."
"No, Allison." Scott tried to argue. He knew it was futile though. Allison was right, just like she always was.
Her walls started to break as the sobs ripped through her, "It's okay. It's okay."
Scott was trying not to break down as the tears shot out of his eyes, falling down his cheeks. He didn't want to have to say good-bye to her. He doesn't know if he can.
"It's okay. It's perfect. I'm in the arms of my first love. The first person I ever loved. The person I'll always love. I lo-love you, Scott. Scott McCall." she cried as the blood stained her already red lips.
Scott was shaking his head from side to side in disbelief, "Don't, please, don't. Allison don't, please."
"You-you have to tell my dad. And you have to tell my dad. Tell him- you-you-" her sentence broke as she started gasping before he could literally feel her heart stop beating.
That was when Scott McCall felt his heart collapse in on itself. That was when he felt his entire body shut down as he held Allison's dead body in his arms. That was when Lydia Martin screamed, but not a single sound came out. That was when Isaac Lahey fell back onto the ground and realized that he had lost the one girl that he had loved, too. And that was when Chris Argent had finally arrived to the scene. He could see Scott on the ground, holding his daughters immobile body.
That was when Chris Argent nearly collapsed on the ground because not only had he lost his sister and his wife... now he had lost his daughter, too.
_______________________________________________________________
That was the second hardest scene I have written for this series. I was crying the entire time, but I got through it. I hope I was able to do this scene justice. Crystal and Tyler broke my heart and I hope that maybe, just maybe I was able to write about it in a way that made you feel some sort of sadness.
Kasey is posessed. The Nogitsune finally got in. And Allison died.
That was a pretty eventful chapter, I think.
Be sure to fan, vote and comment! -Sasha xx