Stiles stepped behind the six of us as Chris went to fire his pistol. I heard him click the trigger, but nothing happened. Sheriff Stilinski stepped forward alongside him, firing his own gun at the Oni. Chris pulled another out of his jacket pocket, shooting them one-handed.
The bullets hardly seemed to phase them. Two disappeared into a thin cloud of black smoke, and I heard a clicking from behind me that let me know they had reappeared. I stood next to Stiles as Derek, Allison, and my brother all went to face the Oni. Allison held out her dagger while Derek and my brother barred their claws and fangs.
I could feel Stiles looking at me, so I turned my head to face him. I searched his eyes for any sign that my Stiles was still in there somewhere, but they were too dark. I had to anchor myself to keeping from slipping again.
"Emma!"
I had been too distracted looking at Stiles to see the Oni that had gotten past Chris and the Sheriff. My breath hitched in the back of my throat when I felt it's blade cut through my middle. I froze, my body in shock and unable to move.
Stiles walked backwards as I fell to my knees. It wasn't long before he was out of sight. I clutched my hands over the thick slice in my stomach that had cut straight through the dress I was wearing. They were shaking and covered in blood. It didn't hurt, but I knew that was only the adrenaline.
"Emma," said Eric, grabbing my arm and crouching down next to me.
"Watch out!" I warned.
Just in time, Eric ducked his head from the blade of the Oni's sword. He stood back up, swiping his claws at the Oni to force it backwards as it swung it's sword dangerously close to him Then, the Oni froze as Allison pulled her two daggers out of it's sides. A moment later it vanished into a thin black smoke, followed by the other three.
"Thanks," panted Eric. Allison just returned him with a smile.
In front of me, I could see Derek sitting on the ground as well, Chris crouched down next to him. His shirt was ripped on the shoulder and there was a large gash similar to mine through his flesh. We glanced at each other, not saying anything but not really having to.
"Are you okay?" Sheriff Stilinski asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I broke my gaze away from Derek and looked up at him, nodding my head. "Yeah, yeah I'll heal,"
Normally I'd already be healing by now, but maybe since I'm still weak from what happened with the Nogitsune the process is a little slow. Besides, the swords the Oni carry have to have some kind of poison in them. I can feel it.
All of our heads shot up as a pair of footsteps came running into the doorway. Chris and the Sheriff both raised their guns and I craned my neck around to see who it was. A sigh of relief washed over me when I saw Scott and Kira standing before us.
"What happened?" Scott asked, his voice stern.
"They disappeared," said Allison, still slightly out of breath like the rest of us. "They literally just vanished,"
Scott began walking down the steps into the loft, Kira following close behind. His eyes lingered on me for a moment, glancing down to the blood still seeping out onto my hands. It should have stopped bleeding by now.
"And so did Stiles," added the Sheriff.
✞
By the next day my wound had stopped bleeding, but it still wasn't healing the way it should be. I went into the medicine cabinet in the bathroom to find some ointment or something to put on it, but it was entirely empty aside from a tube of toothpaste, my old glasses, and the spare toothbrush Stiles uses when he spends the night.
It really shouldn't surprise me that a werewolf-oriented family like Eric and myself don't even have a simple bottle of painkillers, but it does. Especially now when I'm resorting to using human methods of healing.
"Can you believe we don't have any neosporin?" I called out to Eric from the bathroom.
When he didn't reply, I closed the cabinet and walked out into the kitchen where he was sitting at our breakfast bar. He had his hand wrapped around a glass of water in front of him and a strange look in his eye. He twitched his head like he was flinching away from something.
"Eric? You okay?" I asked him.
"What?" He asked, his head snapping up to look at me.
I knitted my eyebrows together, slowly walking towards him. "I asked if you were okay. You seem a bit...jumpy,"
"I'm fine," he said flatly, and I noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes.
I gave him a concerned look as I crossed the kitchen to our refrigerator. I opened it up and searched for anything that could suffice as an excuse for lunch. All that occupied it was an almost expired gallon of milk, a bottle of ketchup, and some leftover pizza we forgot to throw out. It's not like we have much extra time to go grocery shopping nowadays.
An echo of shattering glass sounded from behind me. I quickly shut the door and spun around to see Eric standing up, his water glass in shards at his feet. His eyes were darting from side to side, and he was mumbling under his breath.
"Eric," I scoffed, walking over to him and bending down to start cleaning up the glass. I cursed to myself and brought my thumb to my mouth when one of the sharp edges sliced it.
"I need to go to talk to Peter," said Eric, heading for the door.
"What? Why?" I asked, standing up.
He completely ignored me, slamming the door shut behind him. I let out an elongated sigh before crouching back down to pick up the glass. I scooped a pile into the palm of my hand and walked it over to the trash. As I dumped it, I noticed the cut on my thumb had completely healed.
I lifted the bottom of my shirt, revealing the slash from the Oni's sword still looking fresh. The cut barely missed the permanent scar on my lower abdomen, the one from Peter's bite. It's the only wound that's never healed, physically anyways. At least before this one.
I thought back to when something similar happened with Scott after the fight with the Alphas. His wound wasn't healing because he wasn't letting it heal. He blamed himself because he thought Derek was dead. Maybe this is the same thing. I'm just too worried about Stiles and everything else to let myself heal.
My phone went off just as I was about to grab a towel to wipe up the rest of the spilled water. Scott's picture popped up on my screen and I picked it up off the counter to answer it. My heart was pounding in anticipation.
"Hello?"
"Emma," started Scott. "Lydia found Stiles. My house, now,"
✞
"The couch, put him on the couch," said Scott as he and Aiden carried Stiles' limp body through the McCall living room.
They propped him up on the sofa, and I noticed the large gash sliced through his middle. I glanced down and felt underneath my own shirt. They were almost identical. Although, his seems to have taken a bigger toll on his body.
"Guys, this is crazy," said Melissa. "He needs to be in the hospital,"
"Mom," started Scott as Deaton crouched down in front of Stiles. "Remember what happened the last time he went to the hospital?"
"It doesn't look like he's bleeding," said Deaton, peering through the large tear in Stiles' shirt. "I think he might even be healing,"
"You mean healing like we heal?" Aiden asked.
I squinted my eyes at his wound, noticing that Deaton was right. I could see the light pink around the core of the wound, were the tissue was already beginning to pull itself together. It doesn't make sense though. Stiles is a human. He shouldn't be able to heal like this.
"That's a good thing, right?" Scott asked.
"For him, yes," said Deaton, looking over his shoulder at him. "For us, I'm not so sure."
I brushed past Aiden, stepping in next to Deaton and facing Stiles. His eyes were closed and I assumed he was still blacked out. Holding my breath, I reached out my hand for his wound, feeling a tingle run up the tips of my fingers.
"What're you doing?" Aiden snapped, grabbing my shoulder.
"Healing him, what does it look like?" I said back, jerking my shoulder out of his grip.
"Do we need to remind you that he literally tried ripping your heart out a few days ago?"
"It may be possessed by the Nogitsune, but this is still Stiles' body." I said, my voice hard as I glared at Aiden.
I don't care what's inside of him, I know that this is still Stiles. This is the body I fell in love with, and I know the man is in there somewhere too. If they think I'm going to give up on that, then they really don't know me as well as I thought they did.
"Emma," said Scott. I turned my head towards him, a glare still etched in my eyes. "Maybe he's right,"
"So what?" I hissed. "You just want me to stand back and watch this thing kill him?"
Scott opened his mouth, but no words came out. I really thought that he of everyone here would understand where I was coming from. This body doesn't belong to the Nogitsune. It belongs to Stiles. Whatever damage it's inflicting is hurting Stiles directly, even though it doesn't seem like it.
"I think you're both right," spoke Deaton. Everyone's eyes snapped to him. "I don't think healing him is the right way to go, but we aren't killing him, either."
"Well, if we aren't gonna kill him why aren't we at least tying him down with really big chains?" Aiden asked. "We've seen what he's capable of,"
"I might have something more effective," said Deaton.
He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a vile of copper liquid. I recognized it immediately as kanima venom. I'm really not surprised that Deaton kept some of it from the Jackson glory days. If only we could go back to when he was our biggest issue.
I stepped back and let Aiden and Scott move to either side of Stiles, holding him down by his shoulders and head. Aiden pulled his mouth open, and Deaton walked forward, placing a large drop of the liquid into it. The moment Deaton squeezed the last of it out of the dropper, Stiles' eyes shot open and his hand went directly to Aiden's throat.
"Get him off me!" Aiden muttered through Stiles' grip around his neck.
There was a kind of sick joy in Stiles' eyes as Aiden tried fighting him back. It was nothing like Stiles at all. His face was full of evil, and even I had to admit that. It terrified me how much he looked like he was enjoying trying to choke Aiden to death.
Scott finally tore Stiles' hand from Aiden's neck, and he stumbled backwards into Lydia. Stiles' eyes went to his hand, which was now shaking as the paralysis began to set in. He made a disgruntled sound, bringing his hand back into his lap before it lost all mobility.
"Kanima venom," he mumbled. "Nice touch,"
Aiden lunged at him, letting out a roar as his claws and fangs appeared. I meant to reach out and hold him back, but it almost felt like I was being paralyzed too. I wiggled my fingers. I could move them, I just couldn't feel them.
"You know they say that twins get a feeling when one of them's in pain," said Stiles--the Nogitsune. His voice was dark and haunting, the tone just meant to drive you insane "You didn't lose that talent too, did you? Oh, I hope not. You're gonna need it,"
Aiden and Scott looked at each other with wide eyes as Stiles spoke. It didn't take much to make the inference that Ethan was in some kind of danger, and the Nogitsune was behind it.
"Okay, I'll give a little hint," said the Nogitsune, clicking his tongue. "Ethan's at the school,"
"Go," said Scott, bobbing his head towards the door.
Aiden glared at the Nogitsune, lingering his heavy eyes on me for a moment before rushing out of the house. He thinks this is my fault. Does everyone else think that this is my fault, too? Just because I still care about what's left of Stiles?
The Nogitsune let out a cold laugh as Aiden left. "Oh, I hope he gets there in time. I like the twins, short tempers, homicidal compulsions. They're a lot more fun than you bakemono trying to save the world everyday."
"Doc, you brought something to paralyze his body," said Melissa. "You got anything for his mouth?"
"Yes I do," said Deaton, ripping off a strip of duct tape. He stepped forward and pressed it against Stiles' mouth.
I turned my head away when Stiles began screaming and yelling, his sounds muffled by the tape. I couldn't bare that dark and cold look in his eyes any longer, not when I'm used to them being filled with so much light.
~
"How much longer do you think we have?" Scott asked Deaton.
Lydia and I stood in the kitchen with the two of them, brainstorming a way to possibly fix this whole mess or at least bandage it while we have Stiles paralyzed. I haven't mentioned to anyone else that my entire body feels numb as well. I think Scott noticed me clinging to the wall as I made my way into the kitchen, but he didn't say anything.
"I wish I knew," said Deaton. "But if we don't figure out something soon, we're going to need to find a better place to keep him. I think we are grossly underestimating the danger here. He might be paralyzed, but it still feels like he's got us right in the palm of his hand,"
I turned my head to Stiles looking at the four of from his spot on the couch. The dark rings underneath his eyes had sunken even deeper, and it was making him become almost unrecognizable. His look shook me so much, I stumbled backwards, forgetting that even though I couldn't feel my limbs I could still use them.
"Woah, Emma," said Scott, catching me by the arm. "Are you okay?"
The three of them all looked at me with wide eyes. "I just - I can't feel my body,"
"What?" Lydia asked.
"What you mean?" Deaton pressed.
"I don't know it's like...everything feels numb, but I can still move it," I explained. Scott and Lydia gave me confused looks, while Deaton seemed to be trying to make sense of it. "And last night one of the Oni cut me with their swords, but it's not healing,"
I pulled up the bottom of my shirt to show them the wound, the one that was eerily similar to Stiles'. Their eyes all flickered from my stomach and back up to my face. They then looked around between each other, and the looks they were wearing were different than what I expected.
"What?" I asked.
Scott and Lydia both turned to Deaton, who let out a sigh before speaking to me. "Emma, there is no wound,"
I looked down just to make sure, and through the middle of my stomach was still a large gash. Lines of purple ran around it, and most of the blood had dried up. "What're you talking about? Yes there is,"
"Emma,"
"Can't you see it?" I questioned.
None of them said anything, looking almost too afraid to tell me no. Could they really not see it? I even went to touch it again, until I remembered I didn't have feeling in my fingers. Still, I know it's there. I see it now and I felt it this morning.
"Come here," said Deaton, ushering me to stand in front of a decorative mirror on the wall. "Look,"
It took me a moment to take in my reflection. Aside from the scar of my bite mark from Peter, the skin on my stomach was entirely smooth. I glanced down again to see it upfront, and still the gash was there. However, I looked back up at the mirror, and it was gone.
"Wh-what the hell is this?" I asked, spinning on my heel to look at Deaton and nearly toppling over in the process.
Deaton narrowed his eyes and I could see the gears spinning in his head. "This cut that you see, it doesn't look like the one Stiles has, does it?"
I clamped my mouth shut, and the expression on my face was enough of an answer for Deaton. He nodded his head. "Do you know what's happening?" I asked him.
"I have a theory," he said. "This is kind of an uncomfortable question to ask but...you haven't connected yourself to Stiles intimately lately, have you?"
I swallowed hard as my eyes immediately landed on Scott. If I could feel anything right now, I'm sure there would be a blush running up my neck. I really should have known better, but I let my love blind me and my teenage hormones guide me.
Lydia's eyes widened and Deaton's eyebrows shot up. "When?"
"The same day as the incident at the Animal Clinic," I said, taking a deep breath. "What does this mean? Am I connected to the Nogitsune now or something?"
"I'm not so sure that connected to is the right way to put it,"
"Then what is?"
There was a pause, and even though I couldn't feel my body, I could sure as hell feel my heart pounding in my chest like a drum. Deaton gave a soft sigh, finally bringing his eyes up from the floor to meet mine.
"Being used by,"
"It's using me?" I questioned. "For what?"
"Your pain," said Deaton, "that darkness inside of you. It's been feeding off of all of it. I think that's why the Nogitsune is getting so strong and Stiles' body is getting so weak. It's gaining the momentum to become it's own host."
"Alright, so how do we get it out of Stiles' body before it does it itself?" Scott asked.
"The scroll said to change it's body," said Lydia.
"That's if I translated it correctly," said Deaton. "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?" I asked. "He's never asked to be a werewolf,"
Just like Scott never asked to be a werewolf, or Lydia asked to be a banshee, or I asked to become a healer. None of us asked for this. None of us wanted it. And, right now, I'm really wishing none of us got it.
"And what if it saves his life?" Lydia offered.
"What if it kills him?" I countered, thinking back to Eric's story about Paige. I don't want the same thing to happen with Stiles. I don't think I'd make it out on the other side okay. I have to draw the line somewhere on just how much I can take.
"I've never done this before," said Scott. "I mean, what if I bite him and I accidentally hit like an artery or something?"
"This venom is not going to last long, and if this is affecting Emma the way I think it is, we could be running out of time," said Deaton. "Something needs to be done. Sooner rather than later,"
"I can try calling Derek again," said Scott, pulling out his phone.
We'd tried calling my brother as well, but he didn't answer. I noticed that when he left to go talk to Peter, he didn't even take the car. It was odd, but I was thankful because it allowed me to get to Scott's sooner than running.
"Maybe we should call someone else," said Lydia. She bobbed her head, and I knew exactly what she was thinking, and I didn't like it. Not one bit.
----------------------------------
Thanks so much for reading!
Well, I was supposed to be done with summer softball on Thursday after my All-Star games, but now a team needs me to go to Nationals with them this weekend. So, my mom I and I driving all night Thursday to Minnesota. The things I do for softball I s2g.
Anyways, what do you guys think about this little twist? A lot of stuff happened in this chapter, so I hope you're putting it all together.
Thanks again and don't forget to comment, vote, and follow!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
-Alyssa