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CHAPTER SIXTEEN; 16
"Oh, my god."
Stiles rushed to grab her waist, hoisting her arm over his shoulder as he struggled to carry her inside the house. With his foot, the teenage boy was able to slam the door closed, bringing Sage into the bathroom knowing they wouldn't get very far attempting to get to his bedroom. She spluttered out a cry when another hot flash came, and her hold on Stiles got tighter when she felt her knees practically give out.
"Stiles, something's wrong with Derek and Scott," she managed to choke out, nearly running into the door frame as the boy tightened his grip on her body.
Stiles breathed out, sitting her down on the closed toilet seat. "Yeah? Well something's wrong with you too."
"No," Sage denied, spitting out the word through another deep exhale of agony. "I mea—"
The blonde's eyes widened as she felt a shock spread through her body, a current filling through her veins and putting her into this state of reality and a nightmare. Just like once before with Stiles, her whole body started to convulse, only this time she recovered much quicker and managed to avoid a seizure. There wasn't a moment of hesitancy when she gripped Stiles' shirt tight in her hands, clinging onto anything that was real. Stiles' shouts were dulled as her hearing started to diminish.
"Sage, come on! You need to stay awake, okay? Your stomach is bleeding and you look like you're having another seizur— Sage. Oh, my god. Sage, keep your eyes open! Sage!" Stiles practically screamed, grabbing her face in his hands as he bent down to look at her. Her eyes were dull, empty. He sucked in a deep breath before looking down at her bloody shirt.
Grabbing her hands, he did his best to open her palms so his shirt could be freed and he could have access to her wounds. She whimpered at the loss of comfort, but didn't take another go at his shirt. He carefully raised her white tee, grimacing when he saw all of the blood smeared around a small bullet hole near her rib cage. The only good thing was that it looked like it was healing, meaning that either Scott or Derek got the bullet out, depending on which one was shot.
Sage's body went rigid again, letting a distressed scream fall out of her lips as she felt every single part of her explode with pain. It felt worse than getting shot, or being clawed by the alpha. This wasn't an attempt to kill, this was just someone having humor in torture. Meeting Stiles' eyes once the fire died down in her, she noticed just how terrified he looked.
"Someone's being tortured, electrocuting him," Sage hissed out, knowing very well why she was struggling for so long to decipher what was happening to her body. "Stiles, it's not going to stop."
"What do I do? How do I— What can I do?" Stiles stuttered. Sage took a deep breath before standing up despite her body feeling more exhausted than ever before. The brunette boy got up from his crouch, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her upright once again. Another flash came and she cried out again, her arm gripping the frame of the door.
"When—" she paused, choking to try and get oxygen in her lungs. "When is your dad coming home?"
"He has the night shift patrolling. He won't be back until late," Stiles answered. She nodded, and went towards the direction of the stairs. His eyes got wide when he saw what she was doing. "Sage, you're not going to make it up those stairs."
Managing a breathy laugh, Sage turned to look at him. "Are you seriously doubting me, Stilinski?"
"If doubting you keeps you from getting hurt? Yeah, I am," Stiles retorted, becoming upset with the blonde. He was tired of her pushing herself beyond her limits, never once thinking about how her actions would affect herself. One day she would end up dead on the ground with an actual knife in her just because she decided to be the hero.
Sage scowled at him before making her way up the flight of stairs, steady feet until she reached the sixth step and another flow of electricity made it's way into her body. Stiles rushed to grab her before she fell, picking her up bridal style and carrying her up the last few steps she missed. When they got to his bedroom, Stiles carefully laid her on the bed. She gripped onto his sheets tightly as the string of torture lasted longer than the others.
"I don't know what else to do, Sage," the boy muttered, helpless as he stared at her with a concerned gaze.
Sage felt her muscles relax and closed her eyes, leaning back on the headboard. "I don't know either. Whatever this is, whatever I am, it's going to kill me, Stiles. I can't..." she paused, feeling a lump form in her throat. "I can't do this. Why did it have to be me? Am I such a bad person that I deserve to die?"
Stiles reacted immediately after hearing her last question. "You're not going to die. I swear to god, I'm not going to let you die; and I wish I could do something, anything. Didn't you say you're acting this way because of the marks on the back of Jackson's neck?" Sage nodded. "Okay, so maybe when they heal, you do too. Maybe they somehow put a virus in you, damaged your system. Or abilities."
"So, I just have to make sure none of you get killed for the next few days?"
"Exactly," Stiles confirmed, nodding once as his fingers went up to his lips in nervousness, biting down on the raw skin to try and take away the terrible feeling of dread that was sitting in the bottom of his stomach.
Sage shook her head, rubbing her eyes before she felt it again. "That's going to be difficult."
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"Call it again," Scott ordered as he flung his body to the floor to try and locate his cell.
Sage watched from the doorway as he scrambled through dirty clothes and chip bags, trying desperately to find it. She'd been having a pretty shit day, and night for that matter. The flow of electricity never stopped, but she had grown familiar to the pain at this point. There were only rare occasions when she would scream or cower over in pain now. Sadly, one of those times happened when she was at Stiles' house around three in the morning. Sheriff had been home by then, running into the room to see her being held in Stiles' arms as she cried from the agony.
She assured Stiles' dad that it was only a nightmare. He, then, asked what exactly she was doing in Stiles' bed with one of his shirts hanging loosely off her body. Sage played the card that she wasn't able to sleep alone in her own house because, "thoughts of her parents and Derek kept waking her up". It was even more awkward when Sheriff bluntly interrogated them about whether or not they were together.
Needless to say, Sheriff thinks she's sleeping with his son.
Again.
"It's not here," Stiles answered, growing annoyed as he watched Scott freak out over his phone. He looked back at Sage, raising his eyebrows to send a silent question her way. She nodded, knowing he was asking if she was okay right now or not.
"So, you lost your phone," Sage deapanned, watching as Scott belly flopped onto the ground to look on the other side of his bed. "Why don't you just get a new one?"
"I can't afford a new one, and I can't do this alone. We have to find Derek," Scott stated, jumping up from the floor to move to his desk. Sage snorted, never having agreed with Scott more than in that situation right now. On the inside, she was freaking out because she was worried out of her mind about Derek, but the aching pushed that deep into her mind every time she bothered to think about it.
"No kidding," Sage muttered.
Stiles raised his fingers up, "A, you're not alone, you have us. B, didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? I mean it's obvious he isn't dead because Sage would be too, but how are we going to get him from the Argents?"
"I can always kill all of them." Sage shrugged. "Especially that bitch, Kate."
Stiles turned, scolding her from where he was sitting. She raised her eyebrows, tempting him. Scott continued to run around like his head was cut off while the two tempted each other to do something. "Argent's plan was to use him to get to the alpha. They're not going to kill him."
"Yeah, they're just going to torture him — and me — until Peter hands himself over. Which will never happen," Sage said, her eyes narrowing at Scott that he wasn't weighing any options besides Allison's connections with her family. He frowned over at her, wishing he could do something but her pain was practically inevitable; or, at least until the marks healed.
"But Peter's going after Allison to find Derek," Scott explained, his voice raising at the simple thought of someone hurting Allison. "I can't protect her on my own. Which means we have to find Derek first. Just— just help me!" A stress ball was thrown backwards, hitting Stiles in the side of his head. Sage snickered, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You probably lost it when you two were fighting. You remember that? When he was trying to kill you? After you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson? Which almost killed Sage? Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?" Stiles exclaimed. He was still upset about last night, mostly considering he could do nothing but watch Sage screech in pain.
"He wasn't going to kill anyone. He knows Jackson's important to me, Stiles. And we're not letting him die. He's my best friend," Sage disagreed. She knew that Derek wouldn't have killed Jackson for two reasons: the first was that he knew what would happen to her and the second is that she's actually somewhat friends with the manslut.
"Sage is right, Stiles," Scott nodded. Stiles rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath. Sage noticed Scott's head shoot up, tilting his ear outward like he was trying to hear something. "My mom just got home."
"I'm pretty sure she's still pissed at me about the whole whiplash thing," Sage mumbled, remembering back to last night when she got a mouth full by Momma McCall. Surprisingly, a good portion of that conversation was also spent getting the sex talk. So Melissa was added onto the growing list of people that think Sage and Stiles are sleeping together.
When Sage saw Scott's facial expression, she leaned off the door and walked over to stand between him and Stiles. She grew even more worried when she saw Scott look down at his shoes, defeated. "Scott? Is she okay?" When Scott shook his head, her stomach dropped.
"What's she doing?" Stiles asked softly, concerned for Melissa as well.
"Crying."
Sage closed her eyes, letting out a large sigh. She couldn't help but feel extremely guilty because she had been there to ruin the date. Although it was with Peter, the thought of her crying completely tore Sage up. Scott walked over to his bed, taking a seat across from Stiles, who knew it was his turn to comfort his best friend. "Scott, you can't protect everyone."
"I have to."
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"You want me to take her to the formal?"
Scott rolled his eyes at Jackson. "I don't want you to. I need you to."
Jackson gave them a blank stare, not even sure how he was supposed to reply to that. Scott came up to him in the locker room after Coach gave the news that Scott wouldn't be able to attend the formal after his failing grades came in. When Scott told Jackson that he needed to take Allison to the dance, he was obviously more confused that he'd ever been before.
"Screw you. And you know what?" he looked over at Stiles. "Screw you too. In fact, screw each other."
"Hey, you know he saved your life, right?" Stiles barged in. It took all Stiles had not to punch Jackson in the face just because of their past. He still had a grudge on Jackson for kissing Sage, and he wasn't sure he would ever live it down.
"He left me for dead."
Scott gaped. "I got shot for you!"
"Oh yeah? Show me the bullet wound," Jackson demanded, already knowing that Scott was already healed. Stiles narrowed his eyes, and Scott realized there was only one other way to get Jackson to cooperate, and sadly his best friend might not enjoy it that much.
"Why don't you go ask Sage if you can see her's?" Scott retorted, raising his eyebrows. Jackson recoiled at Scott's words, effecting him the way Scott knew they would. Stiles clenched his jaw, growing irritated that Jackson seemed to care that much.
"What happened to Sage?" Jackson demanded.
"Not like you care," Stiles snorted, leaning on the lockers. Jackson glared at him but turned back to Scott. His attention was sparked as soon as Sage was brought up. Even though she promised to explain what happened at the game, she never got to it. Now that he was hearing something else happened to her, his worry grew even more.
"Look, if you don't take Allison to the formal, she won't be the only one in danger. Haven't you ever noticed how Sage has the same limp as one of us? Or the same scratch?"
"Scott—" Stiles tried to speak up, not comfortable with Scott outing Sage's secret to Jackson without her consent.
"They will both be in danger, and I'm talking around-the-clock danger. Allison needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance. If anything happens to Allison, Sage will get hurt too. I know you're their friends too. You're her friend. You are. All that time that you spent with her, you can't tell me that you didn't get to know her and like her. All of us did. All of us do. It's Sage— and you can't tell me that you don't care if she gets hurt because your reaction just a few minutes ago said otherwise."
Stiles clenched his fists, looking away from the two as he stared up at the ceiling, doing his best to control the different emotions bubbling up inside of him. He was jealous, and he knew it, but he couldn't do anything about it. She wasn't his girlfriend. Sure, they had kissed twice but neither of them were making a move.
They were still.
"And what if I get hurt?" Jackson asked, narrowing his eyes.
Stiles clacked his tongue on the side of his cheek, choosing to speak up. "Then, it's worth it."
"Not to me," Jackson disagreed, clearly lying through his teeth. He ended the conversation there, moving to walk in between the two and out of the locker room. Stiles went to stand next to Scott, both of them watching his departure.
Turning to his best friend, he glared, "I shouldn't say, "I told you so" because it's not strong enough. How about, "I'm always right and you should listen to whatever I have to say, don't bring her into this, and never disagree- ever, ever, for the sake of your wolvelyhood.""
"I'm not done," Scott denied.
"You're not done," Stiles breathed out, falling into the lockers.
Needless to say, Jackson was soon telling Allison he would pick her up for the formal.
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Sage was ordered to get into Allison's car directly after school. That left no time for Sage to speak to Stiles and Scott about their Derek issue. She hadn't seen them since earlier in the morning. During lunch, she had a familiar current of electricity as well as tiny scratches that started to appear on her arms. She ran to the bathroom to clean herself up before the blood seeped through her clothes, only to freak out a junior in the process.
Now she was just being kidnapped and forced to buy a dress for a dance that she didn't have a date for. She had considered asking Stiles but she hadn't really had a chance to.
"So are you going to the formal with Stiles since you two are together, Sage?" Allison asked as they walked into the store.
Sage knew that Allison was still upset about the whole thing with Scott but it seemed like her anger had died down a bit after she shot the arrow in the forest, no doubt imagining Sage's face was the target. Sage shifted uncomfortably at the question, knowing that it was just Allison being polite but it just sounded like she had a hidden motive.
She found herself deflating the rumors. "Uh, no. We're not going and we're not together."
"Oh, I thought Lydia said you two kissed."
Sage turned to Lydia with a glare, annoyed that the girl opened her mouth and told Allison something the brunette could easily use against her. "We did, but we're just friends."
Allison hummed, and Lydia realized she needed to break the awkward silence. The three of them stepped on the escalator, and Lydia took to asking Allison what was wrong. Allison shrugged, looking down at her feet. "Nothing's wrong, I've just got a lot on my mind."
"You can at least try and smile. Ever heard the saying, 'Never frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile'?" Lydia questioned, grinning as she leaned on the railing.
Sage smirked at Lydia's attempt of positivity, knowing that the girl was just excited to try and get Sage into a dress. That's all she gushed about on the way to Macy's; whether Sage should 'get a black dress or a red dress, or even maybe a pink one'.
"Smile, Allison," Lydia ordered, giving the brunette a grin. "I'm buying you both a dress."
"And, for that, I've decided to get you a date," Allison cheered.
The strawberry-blonde stopped in her place. "Excuse me?"
"You're going to cancel on whatever beefed-up jock you said yes to, and you're going to go with somebody else," Allison explained, stepping off the escalator. Sage couldn't help but grow worried about who Allison was setting Lydia up with, especially since the brunette gave her a look that was anything but sincere.
"Who?"
Sage joined them at the top, and watched as Allison's eyes traveled the store until they landed on someone in particular. Her heart dropped in her chest when she finally understood what Allison was planning. The question about Stiles wasn't just out of curiosity, it was to make sure that she wasn't dating him because Lydia had to ask him to formal.
"Him."
Stiles' hand pressed down on the top of the perfume he was tinkering with only to have the liquid get all over his face and into his mouth. He choked, trying to get the taste away but it was no use. His spastic movements didn't go unnoticed by any one of the girls, and he seemed to sense their stares because he turned around. With wide eyes, he gave a nervous wave, meeting Sage's eyes rather than his date, Lydia's.
"Oh, don't frown, Sage. Someone could be falling in love with your smile."
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Sage stared at the red dress in her hands, having tried it on already. Now she was just waiting for Lydia to get finished with her pile of beige and white. Stiles was sitting next to her, the two completely silent as she picked at her nails. Lydia had already bluntly told Stiles that they were going to the dance together, but not before giving Sage a look that read an apology words could not say. Stiles had no choice but to agree, blubbering out a bunch of incoherent words that somehow ended with a 'yes'.
"So you agreed to this?" Stiles asked, looking over.
She glanced up and gave a shrug. She couldn't tell him not to go with Lydia. He had been obsessing over her existence for the past eight years. She couldn't tell him that she wanted to go with him because she thinks she might like him more than she thought. She couldn't tell him that she just wanted to kiss him until all thoughts of this disappeared. And she definitely couldn't tell him how this was tearing her apart inside.
"Yeah," Sage answered, clearing her throat. "We're just friends, right? You and Lydia will look really cute together."
Stiles frowned. "Right. Um, so are you getting ready with them? Like hair and everything?"
"Ah, no. Melissa is going to help me," Sage said, picking at the price tag on the dress.
It was extremely gorgeous, and it definitely wasn't something Sage was used to wearing. Lydia said not to worry about the cost of it because if Sage looked pretty then none of the technical stuff mattered. Sage could practically feel an argument brewing between them, but thankfully it was pushed aside until later when Lydia walked out of the changing room, doing a small twirl.
"Yes or no, Sage?"
Sage smiled lightly because Lydia looked gorgeous. "Yes."
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Melissa forced Sage to sit down on the floor, taking the spot behind her to get her position ready to start curling her hair. Scott had yet to even start getting ready, just sitting on the couch and watching the two of them. Sage had to admit that things were awkward for a few days between her and Scott after they made out in Coach's office, but in some ways it made them closer. They were both manipulated and shared on that. Melissa grabbed the first lock of Sage's blonde hair, twirling it on the clamps.
"So, who's your big date tonight?" Melissa asked, nudging Sage with her free hand. Sage chuckled, and shrugged, careful not to mess up Melissa.
"I'm going solo."
Melissa looked over Sage's shoulder in surprise. "What happened to Stiles? I thought you two would go together."
Sage chewed on her lips, meeting Scott's eyes. He knew about the whole reason Lydia was going with Stiles, she had confided in him when she didn't have anyone else to tell. But now, it seemed like Melissa was the only one she could speak to and actually get real advice. Scott took the hint and walked out of the room, muttering about how he needed to find something to wear.
"He's taking Lydia," Sage said. "And I keep telling myself that I'm not upset about it but I am. I don't know why either because I don't have a chance against her. I've gotten my heart broken before, Melissa. I can't—" she paused, rephrasing her words. "I won't go through that again."
"What did your last boyfriend do?" Melissa softly spoke. Sage ran her hands over her teeth, wishing she didn't have to bring him up. In all honesty, that was a part of her that she wished she could keep hidden. Deciding to take the easiest route without alarming Melissa, she chose to only tell half of the truth.
"He was just a bad guy."
Melissa took another piece of hair. "I've been there before. But, Sage, you know that Stiles isn't a bad guy. The Sheriff and I were speaking about you two at the hospital the other day. He said he's happy his son has finally moved on. I don't think you see the way he looks at you. His eyes light up, and he just looks like his world walked into the room. And I've only ever seen this one other time."
Sage tilted her head. "When?"
"With Scott and Allison."
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