I pushed pass the hospital doors, running as fast as I could to reach the car park where the live electrical wire was flying around wildly and the cold night air hit me as Derek stopped me from running into the water on the concrete ground.
I noticed Kira standing in the middle of the water with wide eyes as she grabbed the wire in one hand and closed her hand around the top of the cord to smother the electric current. She slowly lifted her head to look at us and I felt my eyes widened when I caught sight of her glowing yellow eyes.
People started flooding out of the hospital main doors to see what the commotion was and I looked around as my gaze landed on a tawny haired figure sprawled in the water at the end of the car park.
“Isaac!” I screamed in horror as I pulled myself out of Derek’s grasp and ran towards the Beta as he twitched from being electrocuted. I dropped to my knees next to him as I frantically checked his pulse at the side of his neck and listened intently to the faint beating of his heart. “Isaac? He's not breathing. Scott, he's not breathing! Scott, he's not breathing!” I yelled tearfully as I looked over my shoulder with a panicked expression and Derek ran over to my side with a concerned look as he doubled checked Isaac’s pulse.
“Help! We need a doctor!” Derek shouted loudly over his shoulder without taking his eyes off of Isaac and I knew that he was remembering the night Boyd died in his eyes. I slipped my hand into his without looking away from my friend’s face and I felt Derek’s eyes on me as I squeezed his hand in reassurance.
________________________________________________________________
Sophie.
Has she been here all night?
Sophie, wake up.
How’d she get in here?
Sophie!
“Sophie! Wake up!” I heard someone say loudly right in my ear and I jumped in surprise as my eyes flew open. I blinked repeatedly against the bright fluorescent lights as I covered my eyes with my hand and made an unintelligible groaning noise in the back of my throat.
I slowly opened my eyes to see my brother, Allison and mother standing over me and I yawned as I lifted my head off of the side of the Isaac’s hospital bed.
“Hey. What’s up?” I asked them in a groggily voice as I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand and mom gently soothed my messy hair out of my face with a small smile.
“Have you been here all night, honey?” she asked me in concern as she frowned down at me and I tilted my head to the side in thought as I scrunched my nose up slightly.
“Is it morning?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ve been here all night.” I told her nonchalantly with a shrug of my shoulders and she sighed as though she had expected that would be my answer before she asked the question.
The steady beeping of the machine next to Isaac’s bed reminded me of the reason I was there and I turned my attention to the unconscious Beta lying on his back.
“How’d you even get in here? I thought only family were allowed in.”
“I’m Sophie.” I uttered absently as I slipped my hand into Isaac’s without looking away from his face and mom placed her hand on my shoulder gently before I heard her walk out of the room.
“I thought he'd be healing by now.” Allison stated sadly as she rested her hand besides Isaac’s leg and I tightened my hold on his hand as I slowly drew some of his pain into mine. My veins turned black as the stinging pain flowed up my arm and I pressed my lips together in a tight line so that I wouldn’t cry out.
“So did I.” Scott murmured quietly as he touched Isaac’s other hand with a frown and Allie bit her lower lip nervously as she looked between the two of us.
“Is he in pain?” she asked in a shaky voice as though she didn’t actually want to know the answer and I looked over at her sadly as she sighed knowingly. Scott inhaled sharply in pain as he took some of Isaac’s pain into himself and I frowned sympathetically as I reached out for Allison’s hand with my free hand in an effort to comfort her.
“It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain. I’ve been taking little bits all night.” I explained softly as I released Allie’s hand and stifled a yawn with my hand as I stretched my neck from side to side.
“Did Stiles really do this?”
“Whatever's controlling him did it. Whatever's inside him.” Scott answered her firmly as he turned his head to look at us with a determined expression and I raised an eyebrow at him as I pursed my lips together.
“Well, then how do we get whatever's inside of him the hell out of him?” I asked him in annoyance as I ran a hand through my hair and Allison nodded in agreement with my question as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I'm working on it.” he told us gently with a small smile and I could see the determination in his dark brown eyes as he spoke about saving his best friend. “Soph, you have to come to school. you already missed yesterday. We have an economic test today.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay. Um, Allison, can you pass me that bag over there?” I asked the huntress as I gestured with my hand behind me and she walked over to grab my backpack as I stood up from the chair I had slept on.
“When did you get clothes from home? I didn’t see you.”
“I didn’t. Aiden got them for me last night before he brought me dinner.”
“Aiden was in our house?” Scott mumbled to himself in confusion as I took the bag Allison to me with a smile and I nodded in answer to my brother’s question.
“He brought you dinner? That’s so cute.” Allison said in a slightly surprised voice with a small smile on her lips and I moved to the side of the room to get changed while Scott turned his back to me so that I could get changed.
_________________________________________________________________
Listen up! Anybody catches the slightest glimpse of Stilinski, you contact the first available teacher. Got it?” Coach shouted loudly at the assembled cross country members in the guy’s locker room later that morning and I leaned on the doorframe to Coach’s office with my arms crossed over my chest.
“Yes, Coach!” all the guys called at the same time as they stared at him with wide eyes and Coach nodded to himself before looking back at me momentarily.
“There's a card on my desk for Isaac Lahey, and every one of you losers is not only going to sign it, you're going to write a personal message so profound and deep, it's gonna bring a tear to Coach's eye. Because A) Lahey is a valued member of this team and B) little-miss-I’ll-seriously-maim-you-with-a-letter-opener happens to be his best friend and she frightens me!” Coach declared sternly as he gestured over to where I was standing without looking away from the team and I offered them a tight smile as I waved my fingers mockingly.
“Who's first? Ah, Danny! That's how you do it, buddy. Keep it PG.” he ordered jokingly as he hit Danny’s back when he passed by and I smiled gratefully at my friend as I pushed off of the doorframe. I saw my brother, Aiden and Ethan standing together at the back of the locker room so I made my way over to them and I kissed my boyfriend on the cheek in greeting.
“No Stiles, no demonic ninjas.” Aiden replayed quietly so that he wasn’t overheard and I wrapped an arm around his waist as I leaned in his side.
“Things are getting too quiet.” Ethan added in a more sympathetic tone as he looked at Scott and my brother sighed heavily as he glanced down at the ground.
“Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's making me nervous, too.” Scott told them honestly with a frown on his face and then he abruptly turned to his to the side with a deep frown as he listened to something in the distance
“Do you guys hear that? It's an emitter. One of Argent's.” I said softly as I listened to the familiar metallic pulsing that I could hear faintly and the twins both started listening for it as Scott started walking towards the door. I slipped my hand into Aiden’s as the three of us followed my brother out of the locker room and I paused for a second to try to work which direction the noise it was coming from.
“It's coming from the basement.” Ethan announced in a confused tone of voice as we all started jogging towards the sound and I frowned slightly to myself as we entered the stairwell to the lower level.
The deeper we travelled into the basement, the louder the metallic clanging got. The four of us stopped at the opening to a hallway and I squinted into the darkness as I slowly crept forward slightly, ignoring Aiden’s restraining arm out in front of me.
A darkened silhouette stood at the end of the corridor with their back facing us and their arms slightly risen out to their sides, one hand holding the sonic emitter. I tensed slightly as the figure slowly turned around to face us and felt my heart lurch when I realised that it was Stiles standing at the other end with his hands raised in surrender.
“Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me. I swear to God, it's me.” Stiles told us in a hard tone with a small amount of pleading in his voice and I pursed my lips together unsurely as the twins started growling at what they perceived as a threat.
Ethan and Aiden pushed pass Scott and I towards where Stiles was standing with their eyes glowing vibrant blue and I felt my eyes widened as I shared a look with my brother. I wasn’t sure whether or not it was Stiles or the Nogitsune standing in front of us at that moment, but I knew without a doubt that it was Stiles body and I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Stiles dropped the emitter to the ground in shock as Aiden and Ethan grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet while smashing his back against the wall behind him.
“Wait, stop! I said, stop!” Scott and I shouted at the same time over the twin’s menacing snarls as we both rushed forward to stop them and I grabbed Ethan’s shoulder roughly before throwing him across the room, making him crash into a cabinet.
Aiden dropped Stiles’ neck as he turned to growl at Scott with his werewolf teeth elongated but Scott just let his eyes shining scarlet red as he roared loudly and Aiden backed away in submission to his Alpha as his eyes changed back to their normal chocolate brown.
“it's me, Scott. I swear it's me.” Stiles said desperately as he rubbed his throat gingerly where Aiden had grabbed him and I walked over to where Ethan was pushing himself into sitting position. “I don't know where I've been the last two days or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise.”
“You know what happened at the hospital?” Ethan asked him breathlessly as I helped him to his feet easily and I glanced over my shoulder distrustfully as Ethan stood protectively by my side.
“I know more than that.” he admitted with a guilt frown as he walked over to the side of the basement and I noticed the backpack that was leaning up against the wall. Aiden moved over to my other side as Stiles pulled a rolled up piece of paper of the bag and placed it on the table to the side of the room as he unravelled it. “You see this? It's a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring. You see all these markings in red? That's my handwriting. I know I did this. I caused the accident. And everything in this bag, it's all stuff that could be part of something bigger.”
“What the hell have you been up to?” I asked him in a hard tone as we all gathered around the table and I made sure that I was on the opposite side of Stiles as Aiden and Ethan flanked me protectively while Scott stood next to his best friend.
I looked into the opened backpack on the table and saw electrical gear, metal cutters and various blueprints.
“I think something worse. A lot worse.”
“You mind telling us what…”
“I don’t know.” he said almost inaudibly as he shook his head sadly and looked down at the metal handheld saw that Ethan had picked up. I narrowed my eyes at him discreetly as the boys started carefully removing all of the rope, tools and paper out of the backpack and Stiles began pacing the room without taking his eyes off of the backpack.
“What the hell were you doing? Building a Terminator?” Aiden asked him sarcastically as he held up a length of chain with his eyebrows raised and I rolled my eyes slightly but my lips quirked into a small smile.
“Thank you for that.” Stiles spat sardonically as he stopped at the end of the table near me and I diverted my gaze when he looked at me. my gaze swept the uninterestedly over the collected artefacts until it landed on a piece of paper in Scott’s hand and I frowned immediately as I leapt forward to snatch it out of his and.
“Guys, this is a map.” I announced in a perplexed tone as I spread it out on the table for them all to see and I studied the different marked trails until I realised why it looked so familiar to me. “Isn't that the cross country trail?”
“That's the Tate car. Where Malia Tate's family died.” Scott added knowingly as he nodded slightly and pointed to the exact location of the car wreck on the map.
“You mean that's where her father put the steel-jawed traps.” Stiles stated tiredly as he leaned his elbows on the table next to me and I shifted away from him slightly as I studied the map again with a frown.
“Boys?” I asked them in a small voice as I looked up at them with wide eyes and they all turned to me expectantly as I glanced at the map once more before meeting Scott’s concerned gaze. “Where are you meant to be right now?”
______________________________________________________________
Scott, Stiles and I climbed out of the jeep at the start of the cross country trail and I saw Coach standing right near the entrance as we ran over to him.
“Coach!” Stiles and I shouted at the same time as Coach turned to face us at the sound of our voices and I heard the twins arrive behind us as I stopped running because I didn’t want to be that close to Stiles at the moment.
“Stilinski... Whoa.” Coach exclaimed as Stiles skidded to a stop in front of him and I turned around frantically as I gestured for the twins and Scott to come closer to me.
“You need to stop the students. They’re already started.” I told them in a rush as I pushed Scott towards the entrance of the trail and all their eyes widened dramatically as Scott and Ethan both ran into the trail without another word but Aiden stayed with me, which I was thankful for because I didn’t want to be alone with Stiles.
There was something off about him at the moment and I couldn’t tell if it was just my imagination because of what was going on or if there was something actually wrong that my stomach was warning me about but either way, I was going to be extra cautious around him.
Aiden grabbed my hand in his as though he could sense my unease and I offered him a shaky smile as we started running into the woods with Coach and Stiles to stop the runners.
“Scott! Stop, stop, stop! Everyone, stop!” Stiles called loudly as we ran over to where my brother and Kira were standing in the middle of the trail and he held out his hand out behind him as we skidded to a stop as all the other students approached us.
Aiden placed a restraining hand around the front of my waist to stop me from going any further and I watched uneasily as Stiles bent down to pick up the end of a piece of metal chain out of the leaves. He slowly started pulling the length of chain up out of the leaves with a frown on his lips and I tensed in anticipation as he got to the end but there was nothing at the end. Stiles frowned deeply in confusion as he stared at the metal chain and Coach started clapping slowly as he moved around him with a mocking smile.
“Congratulations, Stilinski. You found a length of chain. Can somebody now please tell me what the hell's going on?” Coach asked loudly in annoyance as he spread his arms out to the side and turned around to look at all of us for an answer.
Something on the ground at coach’s feet caught my attention as the sun glinted off of it and I squinted at it slightly until realisation hit me.
“Coach!” I screamed loudly in horror as I pushed myself pass Aiden’s arm but coach’s foot accidently hit the thin string of the tripwire and a whizzing sound whistled throughout the silent woods as an arrow sped towards coach’s stomach.
“Oh, crap.” He muttered to himself as he stared down at the arrow’s shaft and then fell to the ground as everyone froze in shock.
All at the same time, everyone rushed forward to kneel down at coach’s side to check on him and he started screaming bloody murder as he squirmed on the ground. “Get it out of me! Get it out of me.” he shouted in a panic as I pressed down on the wound around the arrow shaft, being care not to move it so that it didn’t cause any more damage.” Get it out of me. Oh, my God, I'm gonna die.”
“Coach! You aren’t going to die! But you need to shut the hell up and let me apply pressure! Moving around could cause more damage!” I told him sternly as I looked over at his panicked face with a blank expression and he continued to grimace in pain as he stopped struggling. I sighed in relief with a nod as I glanced over at the students that had gathered near the edge of the clearing and pursed my lips together at their varying expressions of concern. “Please tell me someone called the ambulance!”
“They’re on the way.” Aiden assured me as he held down Coach’s shoulders for me and I nodded absently as I watched Scott place his hand on Coach’s arm.
My brother looked over at his friend with a questioning look as Stiles nodded his head slightly and Scott started taking some of Coach’s pain as his veins darkened. Scott’s face contorted in pain with a grimace marring his lips as I bit my lower lip and came to a decision as I slowly focused on my powers on cutting off Coach’s sir supply enough that he passed out.
Coach’s eyes fluttered close as he fell unconscious and I lost my concentration as Scott sighed in relief now that he wasn’t taking pain Coach.
“I think he just passed out.” I stated innocently as I avoided everyone’s gaze by looking down at the wound and Aiden scoffed knowingly as I felt his gaze burning into the side of my face.
“I could have killed him. I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?” Stiles asked in a horrified whisper as he stared at the spots of blood on his hands and I glanced up at him with a small frown on my lips because he sounded so heartbroken that I needed to comfort my friend, then if it wasn’t him at the moment.
“But it wasn't. And he's going to be all right.” I assured him softly as I diverted my gaze back down to the wound when he looked over at me with wide eyes because I hadn’t spoken directly to him except for once when we found him.
“I think I just heard an ambulance coming.” Aiden announced as he let go of Coach’s shoulders now that he was unconscious and I looked up at him as I concentrated on the siren’s wailing in the distance.
“And my dad.” Stiles murmured in a worried voice as the siren’s got close enough that he could hear them with his normal hearing and I looked over at the dirt road as the police cars and an ambulance appeared. I sighed in relief as two EMT’s rushed towards us and Sheriff Stilinski climbed out of the police car as Stiles stood up anxiously while wringing his hands together.
The ambulance officers crouched down next to me as they replaced my hands with theirs and I immediately backed away so that I wasn’t in their way while they worked on Coach. Aiden wrapped an arm around my shoulders as he lead me away from the scene and Stiles walked over to speak to his father as Scott and Ethan went to wait by the jeep.
“I have blood on my hands.” I murmured to myself quietly as I looked down at my blood covered hands with a frown and Aiden squeezed my shoulders comfortingly as he lead me away from the crowded area.
“Here.” Aiden said softly as he removed his arm from my shoulders and bent down to pick up a plastic water bottle from the ground. I offered him a thankful smile as I took the bottle and poured the water over my hand to wash the blood away.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching us and used my powers to levitate the water so that it cleaned both my hands at once like a facet.
“Sophie, Aiden.” I heard my brother whisper from the other side of the clearing and I dropped the water to the ground as I turned my head to look at him with a frown. Scott gestured with his head for us to join him and Ethan over by the back of the jeep so I grabbed my boyfriend’s hand and began walking over to them in concern.
My frown deepened when I saw Ethan rummaging around in Stiles’ backpack and I looked around nervously as we stopped next to him to see what was going on.
“You guys better look at this.” Ethan told us sagely as he pulled out a roll of wrapping paper from the bag and I moved over next to him as I looked into the bag.
“This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present.” Scott said in confusion as he took the paper from Ethan’s hand and I grabbed a handful of metal nails from the bottom of the bag.
“Wasn't that William Barrow's thing?” Aiden asked us with both his eyebrows raised in question as I licked my lip nervously and dropped the nuts, bolts and screws back into the bag as I nodded slowly.
“A bomb made from nails and bolts all wrapped in a birthday present?” Ethan added questioningly as he looked between Scott and I for answers and I nodded slowly again as I felt bile rising in my throat.
“Where did it go off?”
“On a school bus.” I answered Aiden in a horrified voice as I stared at Stiles back with wide eyes and Scott immediately started running over to Stilinski to tell him that there was going to be another bomb. “We gotta get to the school. In the jeep. Now!”
“To the high school! Now!” Sheriff Stilinski shouted loudly to his deputies as three of us climbed into the backseat of the jeep and Scott and Stiles rushed over to us before jumping into the front.
We followed the police cars to the high school in record time and we rushed towards the parking lot where the school buses were parked.
All the cops ran down to the asphalt as we were stopped behind the barrier to watch helplessly and I stayed far away from Stiles by placing Scott in between us. I bit my lower lip nervously as I watched a handsome, young deputy walked onto the bus in a safety vest and shifted anxiously as I waited for either the bus to explode or someone to walk off the bus safely.
After a minute of complete silence, I started biting my thumb nail nervously and Aiden slipped his hand into my free one just as the deputy inside the bus walked to the front window with a frown on his handsome face. he held a name plate up to the window for the sheriff to see and I squinted my eyes to see what clue the Nogitsune left us to where the bomb really was.
Sheriff Stilinski
___________________________________________________________
Night had fallen by the time we arrived at the sheriff’s station, the darkness making the scene even more ominous than necessary and I stared in shock at the debris littering the lobby of the police station.
The desks, chairs and papers were still smouldering with fire from the bomb as I tried not to smell the chemical signals coming from the injured survivors.
“Get me an ambulance here, at the sheriff's station. We've got an explosion. We got multiple officers down. Multiple officers down. We need an ambulance A.S.A.P. On the double.” Sheriff shouted loudly as he ran into the burning remains of the station and I grabbed Scott’s hand tightly as I blinked in horror at the sight in front of me.
“Scott! Scott.” Stiles called over from besides one of the injured police deputies at the side of the room and I snapped my head in that direction as Scott rushed over to the severely hurt officer.
I looked around the room until my gaze fell on two familiar people and I immediately started running towards them in a mixture of horror, shock and relief.
“Derek! Chris!” I yelled over the clamouring going on around me as I rushed over to them and they both looked over at me as the hunter helped Derek stay standing up. Derek’s skin was incredibly pale like he was a second away from passing out as I grabbed his arm gently to help carry his weight and Chris nodded to me thankfully as I glanced over at him to see if he had been hurt also.
I offered him a small fleeting smile as I nodded back and then I turned back to Derek to see glass shards from the window embedded in his back. “Oh, my god. We have to get those out before anyone sees. We won’t be able to explain you healing.”
“Then get them out, Sophie.” Derek said weakly as his head sagged with the effort it was taking to keep conscious and I pursed my lips together as I nodded my head slowly.
“Chris, hold him up.” I ordered gently in a low voice so that we weren’t overheard and he nodded in understanding as he took most of Derek’s weight from me.
I moved around so that I had a clear view of his back and I grimaced in sympathy as I slowly peeled his leather jacket off his body making him groan in agony.
“Ah!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Just hurry up!” Derek grunted at me as he squeezed his eyes closed against the pain and I threw his jacket to the side as I concentrated on tightened the air around the individual shards of glass.
Once I knew that all the shards of glass were under my control, I slowly started mentally pulling them out of Derek’s back and he cried in pain for a second before clenching his jaw so that he wouldn’t make a sound.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I apologised to him profusely with a grimace as I dropped the bloodied glass onto the ground at my feet and Derek sighed in relief as he slumped down onto the bench next to us. I placed my hand on his cheek to take away some of his pain as I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut tightly as the pain invaded my hand.
“No, no. I’m okay. I’m okay. Don’t. I don’t want you hurt.” He said breathlessly as he reached up to removing my hand from his cheek and I tilted my head to the side with a disapproving frown but didn’t try it again as I squeezed his hand gently.
“Chris, give Derek your jacket. If someone sees the blood on his shirt, they might start asking questions we don’t want to answer.”
“The Oni. They're coming.” I heard Kira say faintly on the other side of the station and my head snapped up in that direction with a frown as the men exchanged jackets.
“Stiles, we gotta get you out of here.” Scott murmured quietly to his friends as he started pushing Stiles towards the door and I saw him gesturing frantically for me to follow them outside.
“Go. We’ll be fine.” Chris assured me quietly as he followed my gaze across the room and I looked at him for a moment before glancing at Derek nervously but they both nodded for me to go with the others. I nodded at them as I pressed a kiss to each of their cheeks and then raced after the other three as they climbed into the jeep in the parking lot. I nodded towards Stiles as I climbed into the backseat with Kira and he sped out of the parking lot without a word as it started pouring down rain.
“We’ve got to get to the animal clinic.” Scott instructed Stiles in a desperate voice as he shifted in the passenger seat and Stiles nodded in understanding as he turned down the familiar route to the clinic.
“It's an animal clinic?” Kira asked sceptically as she leaned into between the front seats to look at my brother and Scott turned his head to look at her as he nodded in answer to her question.
“Yeah, the place is lined with mountain ash. Just like my house.”
“It will buy us some time.” I added calmly as I glanced over my shoulder out the back window and Kira fidgeted anxiously as she twisted her hands in her lap.
“But they can get through it?” Stiles asked us pointedly in a worried one as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and I licked my lips nervously as I turned back to the front with a shrug of my shoulders.
“Eventually.”
“Nobody's got any better ideas?”
“Okay, sure. Animal clinic.” Kira stated nervously after a tense moment of silence as she nodded her head jerkily and I felt taste her anxiety on the tip my tongue so I slipped my hand into her, making her snap her head up to look at me in shock but I looked out the window to avoid her startled gaze.
We pulled to a stop out the back of the animal clinic as the rain stated pounding even heavier and the four of us climbed out as fast as we could before racing towards the locked delivery door.
Scott suddenly stopped in the between the car and the door as he spun around to look behind him. I stopped just behind him when I realised that he had paused and followed his gaze to three Oni that had just appeared behind us.
“Stiles, get inside!” Scott shouted at her friend over the rain hitting the asphalt as he threw his keys to the clinic over to him and I stepped forward in a fighting stance as I waited for my Alpha’s signal to attack.
The Oni charged at us with their swords raised in the air as we positioned ourselves in front of the others and I quickly dodged one of the Oni as it came straight towards me. I crouched low down to the ground so that the sword swung over my head and then straightened one leg out so that it kicked the back of the Oni’s knee.
I jumped back up as I aimed a punch straight into the Oni’s mask and it cracked slightly but didn’t break as it stumbled backwards. I back flipped out of the way as another Oni charged at me and I narrowed my eyes in annoyance as I twisted around to kick one of the Oni in the chest.
I spied a metal trash can lid lying next to the dumpster besides me so I grabbed it from the ground and then stood up quickly as I smashed it into the Oni’s masked face with all of my strength. I grabbed the Oni’s arm while it was distracted and flipped it over onto its back as I grunted in effort.
I spun around to do a quick situation report and saw Kira fighting off one of the Oni with a metal pipe while Scott watched her with a awed-filled expression on his face.
“Scott!” I shouted at him warningly when I saw an Oni approaching him while he was distracted and he turned to look at me just as the Oni rammed him through the stomach with its sword. His mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ as he glanced down at the sword sticking out of him and Kira shrieked in horror as she kicked the Oni she was fighting to the ground before flipping the one that stabbed Scott.
I rushed towards them as fast as I could and grabbed Scott’s arm around my shoulders to support his weight as I helped him stumble towards the clinic.
Kira and Stiles ran over to help me carry him inside as they lead the way into the examination room of the animal clinic and I propped my brother up against the metal exam table in the middle of the room.
Kira frowned worriedly as she moved around to stand in front of him and gingerly touched the handle of the sword as she looked at Scott for a sign that he was ready for her to pull it out.
I placed a hand on my brother’s shoulder as I held in place so that it didn’t cause any more damage when Kira pulled it out and he offered us both a small reassuring smile as he nodded slightly.
Kira inhaled sharply as she tightened her hold on the sword but before she could pull it out, Stiles grabbed her arm and when she turned to look at him in shock, he slammed her head down on the side of the table.
I gasped in shock as I moved around to place myself in between the Nogitsune and Scott because he was too injured to protect himself.
“Sophie, Sophie, Sophie.” the Nogitsune said almost tauntingly as he turned to face me with a hard smirk etched onto Stiles’ features and it was painfully obvious that it wasn’t Stiles in control of his own body. He sauntered closer to me as I stiffened at the proximity and his smirked deepened at my discomfort as he trailed his eyes down my water soaked body leeringly. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew it wasn’t Stiles you’ve been talking to today.” He continued knowingly as he mockingly touched a strand of my saturated hair and twirled it around his finger as I narrowed my eyes at him without answering. “You knew. That’s why you distanced yourself. Why you didn’t talk directly to me, unless you had to. You knew. You really are the brightest of the bunch, aren’t you, Sophie?”
“I had my suspicions. Perhaps you aren’t as good of an actor as you think you are.” I replied quiet in a mocking tone as I continued to glare at him heatedly and he chuckled darkly as he tugged me closer to him by the strand of hair he was holding.
My body pressed up against his as I swallowed down the disgust I felt at been this close to Stiles’ body and clenched my hands into fists to stop myself from punching him in the throat like I wanted to.
“I like you, Sophie. I think I’ll keep you around. You’ll make the game that much more interesting. It’s not fun unless your opponent is up to the same standards.” The Nogitsune taunted me lightly as he wrapped his hand tightly around my throat with a humourless smirk on his lips and I gasped for air as he tightened his grip on my neck.
I reached up to try to ply his fingers loose but he just shook his head at me mockingly and I saw black spots in my vision as my lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen.
The Nogitsune leaned in close to my ear so that his lips brushed against the shell of my ear and I closed my eyes shut tightly as I tried to gasp for air.
“I want you to watch.” He whispered to me as he spread his hand out across my hip and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter just because he wanted me to open them. “Open them! Open your eyes, Sophie!”
“No.” I gasped out breathlessly as I tried to shake my head at him and he snarled lowly in my ear as he tightened his hold on both my hip and my throat. I tried to cry out in pain as my eyes flew open in shock and he smirked victoriously as he loosened his hold on my throat. he soothed his thumb over my cheek in a smooth caress as he studied every inch of my face and I felt my lower lip tremble slightly as I was forced to look at him.
“Good girl.” he praised me in a whisper as he stoked the back of his hand over my cheek and I cringed away from his touch as I tried to regulate my breathing now that could.
The Nogitsune gave me a pointed look, silently telling me keep looking as he back away from me and turned his attention to my brother as I narrowed my eyes at him but didn’t look away from him.
“Please don’t. Stop.” Scott pleaded weakly with a slightly memorised expression as the Nogitsune moved to stand in front of him and placed one hand on my brother’s shoulder while the other rested on the handle of the sword in his stomach.
“Does it hurt? Hey, look at me. You should have done your reading, Scott. See, a Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife and pain. This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach. And then from a dying deputy. All that pain. You took it all. Now, give it to me.”
“No! stop! Please.” I begged in a slightly hysterical voice as I watched him twist the sword that was in my brother stomach and Scott cried out in pain as the Nogitsune grabbed his face in his hand.
They both ignored me as the Nogitsune started drawing the pain out of the Scott with a look of pure ecstasy on his face and I knew that tears were mixing with the droplets of rain splattered on my cheeks as I watched helplessly.
The Nogitsune let out a small moan as he released his hold on Scott’s face and Scott slumped back against the table with an exhausted expression. The Nogitsune licked it’s lips like it had just eaten a filling meal as he turned his attention back to me and I stiffened slightly as I tried to back away from him in fright but ended up hitting the wall.
“You really have to learn, Scott. You really have to learn not to trust a fox. Mmm-mmm. Know why? 'Cause they're tricksters. They'll fool you. They'll fool everyone. Well, nearly everyone, right, Sophie?” the Nogitsune taunted my brother as he kept his eyes locked on me with a sickening smirk plastered on his lips and I cowered against the wall with a whimper almost escaping my lips but I held it back as I glared at him.
“Not everyone.” I agreed with him as I saw a familiar figure appear in the doorway and I smirked at the Nogitsune as I reached up to wrap my hand around his throat. I squeezed slightly as his eyes went wide in surprise and I threw him across the room so that he landed sprawled on the ground at Deaton’s feet.
The vet crouched down to the ground as he jabbed the needle that he was holding into the side of the Nogitsune’s neck and I immediately rushed over to Scott’s side as I watched the Nogitsune fall unconscious on the ground at his feet.
“What was that? Was that a cure? Is he okay?” Scott asked breathlessly as I wrapped my hand around the hilt of the sword and I pulled it out in one swift movement as I steadied my hand on his shoulder.
“The fox is poisoned. But it's not dead. Not yet. Deaton poisoned him with letharia vulpina, wolf lichen. They used it to poison wolves and foxes. They'd put out pieces of meat with crushed glass and bits of lichen in it. The glass would perforate the intestines and allow the poison from the lichen to get in.” I explained easily as I placed the sword down on the table and I crossed my arms over my shoulder as Scott frowned at me in confusion.
“You knew it wasn’t Stiles?”
“I suspected. I wasn’t sure. Now I am. We need to find something to Stiles. And quickly, because that’s going to wear off sooner or later. Probably sooner, knowing our luck.”