Quote: "We attach ourselves so strongly to people. When they are gone, a part of us is gone too."
Published: May 20, 2019
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Chapter 23: "Insatiable"
I sit up in Scott's room right next to Stiles as mom checks to make sure he's okay.
She checks his eyesight and then his pulse.
"Well... medically, you seem okay." Mom tells him. "You're definitely a real person." She slightly laughs.
"Okay, so I'm real, but am I really me?" Stiles asks and we all look up as Scott enters the room. "Is she here?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, let's do this."
None of us say anything as we look away from his gaze. I haven't really said much since we got him back.
"Guys, we have to do this."
I look to mom and Scott as they seem to get the message and they leave the room.
"Stiles-"
"Zoey." He cuts me off as I look down, but he puts his hand under my chin to make me look at him. "I have to do this, okay. I need to do this."
I barely nod as I place my hand on the side of his head. "Okay." I whisper and without hesitation I slowly bring his head down to mine for a short slow kiss. "Okay." I repeat and I stand from the bed.
I help him up and carefully walk down the stairs with him. As we walk into the living room we see Noshiko Yukimura standing there.
"Do you recognize me?" She asks Stiles and he nods to her. He looks over to me nodding in reassurance and I slowly let go of his hand.
"Stop." Kira tells her mom as she rushes into the room.
"It's okay." Stiles tells her walking closer to the two. "I'm the one who asked her to come."
"You're the one who's going to get stabbed with swords." She turns to look at her mother. "Mom, don't do this to him."
"It's already done." She replies. Two Oni appear in the living room and my heart starts to race.
I watch as one of the Oni stands behind him to keep him still and the other stands in front of him, grabbing his head just behind his ear. The Oni's eyes start to glow a bright neon yellow.
As the Oni let's go of him, I quickly rush forward to catch him in my arms and slowly lower him to the ground before he could hit it.
"Check behind his ear." Noshiko says and I hold onto Stiles' shaking body as Kira checks behind his ear to see the backwards five.
"It worked." Scott says as I sigh in relief.
"So, I'm actually me?" Stiles asks Noshiko.
"More you than the Nogitsune."
"Can the Oni find him?"
"Tomorrow night. It's too close to dawn now."
"Can they kill him?"
"It depends on how strong he is."
"What about Lydia? Why would the Nogitsune take her." I question worried for my best friend.
"He could only take her for an advantage."
"You mean her power?" Scott asks.
"The power of a Banshee."
>>> >>> >>>
After about half an hour Stiles and I talked through about what had happened to each other since not being in control of our own bodies since Eichen House. Both our mental states aren't well, but we're pulling through so far.
Stiles ended up wanting to go and see his dad and since he seemed more worn out than I was I drove him over to the police station.
Sheriff Stilinski's back is facing away from us as we walk up to his office door.
"Ah, if I could just find my keys?"
"In your coffee cup." Stiles speaks up and Stilinski quickly looks up to us, his eyes mainly on his own son. "You always drop them in your empty cup."
Stilinski looks over at me in reassurence that it's actually his son. I nod to let him know that it's him. He drops his coat and quickly walks over to Stiles as he takes a few steps to him and they embrace each other into a tight hug.
Slight tears are brought to my eyes from the reunion.
"Hey, dad." Stiles slightly laughs from the sudden tight hug.
I walk over to Stilinski's desk as they release from the hug.
"Is it over?" He asks me and I grab the keys from his empty coffee cup.
"Not yet."
I hand Stilinski his keys and after explaining everything to him he quickly leaves his office before coming back a few minutes later.
"We got an APB out on Lydia's car. Every unit on the road is looking for her."
"Isn't there anything else that we could do?" Scott asks who just recently showed up.
"At this hour? No, not really."
"He took her for a reason, dad." Stiles tells him. "Look, if we can figure out the why, then we'll figure out the where."
"Okay." Stilinski says as he looks behind him to make sure no one's listening. "What would a Nogitsune need with a Banshee?"
"We don't know." I answer. "All Lydia knows how to do is find dead bodies."
"Maybe he needs to find a body?" Stiles asks.
Stilinski turns to look at my brother. "Scott, you know more about this than all of us."
"Me?"
"You said you got the whole story from Noshiko."
"Yeah, but that happened during World War II. Like seventy years ago."
"Wait. What did you say?" Stiles backtracks.
"Noshiko told me about the internment camp-"
Stiles cuts him off. "No, no. Before that. You said the whole story."
"Yeah."
"What is it?" I ask Stiles as I place my hand on his arm.
"There's a girl at Eichen House. Her name is Meredith. I think she might be able to help."
Stilinski tells one of his deputy's, Parrish, to call up Eichen house. In a few minutes he's hanging up the phone.
"Sheriff." Parrish calls as he stands in the doorway. "Meredith Walker."
"She's still there?"
"Yeah, but they moved her to the closed unit."
Closed unit echos back in my head as I think back to Eichen House and I remember Malia telling me about it. 'Where they keep the real psychos'
"Why?" Stiles asks.
"They said behavioral issues."
"What issues?"
"She wouldn't stop screaming."
Scott, Stiles, and I all look to each other.
>>> >>> >>>
I'm sitting in the living room at my house while Stiles catches up on sleep on the couch. I'm watching over him instead of being at school.
Stiles gasps out of nowhere quickly standing up from the couch and I quickly jump out of the chair to catch him before he falls over.
"Hey!" I yell out to get his attention. "You okay?" I ask worriedly.
"What happened? How long was I out?" He quickly questions.
"Only a couple hours. You should sit down."
He quickly shakes his head. "Where's my dad."
"He's over at Eichen House, questioning everyone. Looking for Meredith. I promised him I wasn't going to let you out of my sight."
"Okay, what about the others?"
"Allison, Issac, the twins, they're all out looking for Lydia."
"It's starting to feel like we're waiting for a ransom call." Stiles says still trying to catch his breath from the sudden nightmare.
"Trust me I know the feeling, we're gonna find her." I watch as Stiles grabs his jacket putting it on. "You all right?"
"Yeah. I don't know why, I just can't seem to get warm." He shivers a little.
"Maybe you should sit down. Take it easy." Right as I put my hand over his, green veins slide up my hand as I siphon some pain away and I quickly pull my hand back. "You're in pain."
"It's not that bad. J - just more like a dull ache." Even if I can't hear his heartbeat I know that he's lying.
"Where?" I ask him.
"Sort of everywhere."
I grab onto his hand, but he quickly pulls away and sits down on the couch.
"You're freezing." I state as I sit down next to him and wrap my arm around his shoulders to help warm him up as best as I can. "Tell me the truth. How much does it really hurt?"
Stiles looks at me without having to answer and I can tell that he's in a lot of pain. I easily siphon more pain from him without feeling his pain myself and I can feel him relax under my touch.
"Thank you." He quietly mumbles that I almost don't hear him.
I leave a light kiss on his cheek.
"It's okay. You're okay. We're all gonna get through this."
The only thing is I don't know if I'm trying to reassure him or myself.
>>> >>> >>>
I rush into the school along with Scott and Stiles right behind me.
Scott got a call from Kira that Meredith was here and I was informed for Stiles and I to be here as well.
"This school has a very strict no bulling policy."
I hear coach's voice and the three of us run into the music room just in time to see Finstock taser Brunski.
"Well?" Coach asks as Kira meets up with us. "Get her out of here."
I quickly thank coach with a smile as the four of us hurry out of the room with Meredith.
I get her into the backseat of Stiles' Jeep and I hop into the back with her. Scott gets into the passenger seat with Stiles in the drivers.
"I'll call you." Kira tells Scott before leaving.
"Okay." Stiles says as him and Scott turn in the seats to look at Meredith. "Where's Lydia?"
Meredith looks between the three of us confused.
"Who's Lydia?"
>>> >>> >>>
"What are you doing here?" Scott asks dad as we burst into the living room of our house. Isaac here as well.
"I could ask you the same thing." Dad retorts.
"Free period." Stiles proclaims. "We're doing group study."
"Who's she?"
I look to Meredith and open my mouth to speak, but Stiles beats me to it.
"She's my girlfriend." I slap my palm against my forehead, oblivious at his lie as he awkwardly puts an arm around Meredith's shoulders.
"Ah, you're not my type." Meredith says.
"I thought you two we're dating." Dad speaks pointing to Stiles and I.
"Well, obviously we have a lot to talk about. We should maybe take this upstairs." Stiles suggests.
Meredith looks over at Isaac.
"He's my type."
We all glance between each other. "Okay. Isaac can come too."
Stiles leads Meredith out of the room as Isaac follows behind them.
"Hey, dad, we'll explain all of this later." Scott promises.
"I don't care that you're not in school. I know your grades are fine. All I want to do is talk."
"It's not really a good time right now." I speak up.
"Zoey, Scott. We need to talk."
Scott and I are now sitting on the couch as dad stands near us.
"Dad, can't we do this tomorrow?"
"That's actually something I've been saying for a long time." He answers Scott. "Come here." We both follow him to the bottom of the stairs. "You see this? These two indents in the floor... Those were from your heads. The night before I moved out your mother... your mother and I were fighting." Scott and I both crouch down to the floor next to him. "You both came out of your rooms. I grabbed you by the wrist." He motions to Scott.
"You pulled back. And you had a hold of Zoey's arm and you both fell. We watched you tumble down those stairs. You were both out for probably twenty seconds. When you came to, you didn't remember a thing. Your mom told me to be out by the morning. That's the last time I ever had a drink. And that's why I left."
After a few seconds of silence I stand to my feet, Scott following my movements.
"Okay, dad. Let us show you somethings." I walk over near the window. "See the edge of this window sill. I was riding rollerblades for the first time and I tripped, hitting my chin and nearly fracturing my jaw." I point to a scare on the side of my chin.
"This used to be glass." Scott says pointing to a wooden coffee table. "Until I fell on top of it trying to catch a lacrosse ball from Stiles. I got three stitches in my cheek. This house is full of accidents. The stairs? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it was worse. But we healed."
"We don't need your apology." I look him directly in the eyes. "So... we'll see you at graduation. Or whenever you decide to show up again."
Scott and I leave him as we're satisfied with our own responses.
We walk up the stairs going into his bedroom.
"They say Coup de foudre."
"Coup de what? What - what is that Spanish?" Stiles questions confused.
"French." I reply. "It's French."
>>> >>> >>>
We finally have our answer. We know where Lydia is.
Scott called Allison to let her know and to meet us at Oak Creek. We're all in Stiles' Jeep as he drives, Scott in the passenger seat, while Isaac and I sit in the back.
"Hey, you okay?" Stiles asks Scott.
"Yeah. Yeah. You don't have to worry about me." I can tell that he's lying.
"All right, I'm gonna say it." Isaac speaks up beside me. "You look like you're dying." Scott looks back at him and I look to Stiles with worry in my eyes. "You're pale and your thin, and you look like you're getting worse."
Stiles' eyes are sunken like they were when he was possessed.
"And we're all sitting here thinking it." He continues. "When we find the other you, is he gonna look like he's getting better?"
"What happens if he gets hurt?" Scott asks.
"What do you mean? Like if he dies, then do I die?" Stiles questions. "I don't care. Just so long as no one does because of me." A tear slips from eye sliding down my cheek as I place my hand on his shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze. Our eyes meet, but only for a quick second before he looks away. "I remember everything I did, Zoey. I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it." His eyes hold guilt.
"It wasn't you." My voice slightly cracks.
"Yeah, but I remember it. You guys gotta promise me... you can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."
Scott, Isaac, and I glance at each other but none of us answer.
>>> >>> >>>
We all arrive at Oak Creek and meet Allison and Kira at the open gate. We all stand together around in a circle and we're all silent before Scott speaks up.
"We've all done this before, guys... A couple of weeks ago we were standing around just like this and we saved Malia, remember?" He looks to Allison at the last part and she slightly nods. "That was a total stranger. This is Lydia."
"I'm here to save my best friend." Allison says.
"I came to save mine." Scott glances over at Stiles.
"I'm here to save mine as well. And my boyfriend." My hand grasps onto Stiles' and he squeezes mine in comfort.
"I just didn't feel like doing any homework." We all look over at Isaac.
"Are you able to say anything that isn't so insensitive?" I raise a brow and he just shrugs before walking through the gate.
I vaguely shake of my head and we all follow behind him.
Scott and Stiles leave to go and find Lydia as the rest of us go to look for the Nogitsune.
"Kira, turn around and go home." We approach Noshiko who has two Oni standing directly behind her. "Take your friends with you."
Allison grabs an arrow from the quiver on her back to hold against her bow.
"I can't. When I looked at the game I realized who I was actually playing. You."
"Call them off." Allison orders as she holds her bow up, aiming an arrow at Noshiko.
"You think you could take him alive? You think you can save him?" The nine hundred year old Kitsune questions.
"You don't think we can?" I cross my arms over my chest as I glare at her.
"I tried something like that seventy years ago. Your friend is gone."
"Are you sure?" Kira asks her mother. "Or if Stiles doesn't have to die. Maybe Rhys didn't have to die either?"
The Oni swing their swords as they stand in a fighting stance.
"I see I'm no longer the Fox now, Kira. You are. But the Nogitsune is still my demon to bury."
Both the Oni disappear in black smoke. After a few seconds Noshiko let's out a gasp and she lifts up a closed fist. She opens her hand and a firefly she was gripping disappears in a small cloud of smoke.
"Mom?"
"What is that?" Isaac asks. "What does that mean?"
"It means there's been a change in ownership." The four of us turn from Noshiko to see Void Stiles standing there with the five Oni standing behind him. "Now they belong to me."
I silently mumble curse words under my breath when I remember that my magic doesn't work against the Oni, the only exception is dark magic. But I won't risk it to take control of me again.
The Oni advance with their swords raised and I quickly duck as one of the Oni slices it's sword through the air, nearly chopping my head off as I recall my training.
I quickly stand to my feet and kick the Oni in the chest to knock it back only a couple of feet. It gives me enough time to reach behind me and pull two Pommel Daggers that Allison gave me from the waist band of my jeans.
Right as the Oni swings its sword back down I block it with the blades. Medal on medal sounds throughout my ears as a spark flashes in front of my eyes. But what catches my eye is that the spark isn't a light of yellow, it's green. The Oni pushes harder on his sword bringing it closer to my head. I push back from its force and I notice the bigger diamond on the guards of the daggers are glowing a bright green.
Power courses out of my palms and through the daggers as I push back even harder against the Oni's sword. A bolt of light blasts out of the daggers and the Oni gets knocked back at least thirty feet from me. I watch as it knocks down another Oni that Kira was fighting.
"How do we stop them?" A shifted Isaac asks Noshiko.
"You can't!"
I watch in shock as an Oni slashes its sword across Isaac's chest and another Oni starts to attack him as well. Before I can even step forward to help him, the last of Allison's arrows lands right into the chest of an Oni.
The Oni drops its sword and the light of a firefly exploded out of its chest, the Oni evaporates into black smoke.
Before I can even register that Allison actually killed an Oni, the next scene happens so fast as it passes in a blur.
"NO!" I scream out as an Oni stabs her through the stomach with its sword. The daggers in my hands slips through my fingers and clatters to the ground.
Ringing passes through my ears that I'm barely even able to hear Lydia Banshee screaming her name. The Oni withdraws its sword and I catch Allison right before she hits the ground.
Tears sting my eyes as I hold onto her, not paying attention to the Oni disappearing around us. I look up with a blurry vision to see Scott crouched down on the other side of us.
"Allison." Scott breaths out as I let him take her from my arms.
Not bothering to hold it in I let out a loud sob.
"Did you find her? Is she okay? Is Lydia safe?" Allison quickly question as she gasps and her breathing quickens.
"Yeah. She's okay." He says as he brushes her hair out of her face. Scott places his hand on hers and I continue to cry at the next words to come out of his mouth. "I - I can't. I can't take your pain."
"Its because it doesn't hurt."
"No."
"Alli.." I sob, quickly grabbing onto her other hand as I will my powers to heal here. "I - it - it isn't working. Why isn't it working?"
"It's okay." A tear slides down her face.
"Allison." Scott and I both say.
"It's okay. It's okay." Scott and I both cry over her. "It's okay." She repeats. "It's perfect. I'm with my first best friend that I - I first met since moving here. A - and I'm in the arms of my first love. The first person I've ever loved. The person I'll always love. I love - I love you. Scott.. Scott McCall."
"Allison." I cry even harder as she squeezes onto my hand that's holding onto hers. "Don't, please - please don't." Tears spill down my face as I squeeze her hand back.
"Allison don't, please." Scott begs her.
"You have to tell my dad. And you have to tell my dad. Tell him. Tell - you have..." I scream out in pain as she gasps her last breath and her eyes close.
Her grip loosens on my hand and I cry out as her hand slips from mine and drops to the ground.
Scott's cries make me cry even harder as he leans down to kiss her on the forehead.
"N - no!" Everyone around can hear my sobs echo throughout the place. The pain is the worse thing I've ever felt as my chest tightens up. "Allison!"
I fall back from my crouched position as sobs rake through my body. My hands in my hair as I will to grab onto something, anything.
I hear loud footsteps and look up to see Chris stop in his tracks, stunned, and he braces himself against a wall.
After seeing his face my sobs and yells of pain grow even louder. Tears continue to pour down my face.
"Alli.."
- - - - - - - - - -
Hey, neon lighters.. I'm not okay, I literally cried the whole time I wrote out that scene.
I wrote that scene as best as I could and hopefully with my emotional breakdown that it came out really good.
Hope you all enjoyed.