Aiden drapes his arm over my shoulders. He has been holding me some kind of way ever since I arrived at Derek's loft. I had to get out- had to get away from everyone. I told everyone that I was going to tell the Twins and Derek in person that Allison was dead. Truth be told, I just couldn't see everyone so upset about Allison being gone when it was my fault.
I didn't know what to say when I arrived at Derek's loft. All I did was step through the already opened door and stand still with tears rolling down my cheeks. I've hurt so many people. They barely even noticed me until they stopped talking. Aiden made the first move and hugged me, asking over and over what happened. When I was finally able to say it, he just hugged me tighter. I didn't tell them it was my fault. I didn't say that she saved me, but I couldn't save her. I didn't say any of that.
I step out of his embrace. It's not over yet. I need to shut off my emotions for now. I can hate myself for this later. Derek got a call from Scott saying he needed to bring a triskele box with his mother's claws in it. Supposedly, if we catch the Nogistune's spirit and trap it in wood that was from the Nemeton tree then it will not be able to escape. Everything will be done.
I walk alongside of Aiden as we make our way towards Void Stiles and the Oni. We've been keeping to the shadows, quietly creeping along them to avoid being seen or heard. I know we are about to get in another fight. I won't let anyone risk their life for me. No one is going to die. I won't allow it.
Derek stands in the middle of the walkway about twenty feet from where Void Stiles is sitting on the outside stairs that lead towards the school The Oni are behind him, standing up. Ethan is on the other side, hidden in the shadows just like Aiden and I are.
"Did you bring us a present?" Void Stiles asks, smirking.
Derek sets the triskele box on the ground by his feet. "I brought three." Derek replies.
The three of us step out of the shadows to stand behind Derek. Void Stiles tilts his head to the side when he sees me. Aiden's arm fell off of my shoulders once we stepped out, but I am now standing between him and Derek.
"I've heard of an Alpha pack, Derek, but not a pack of former Alphas. It's a little sad, isn't it?" He smiles.
Derek walks forward with us behind him. "I might not be an Alpha anymore, but I can still fight like one." He growls.
The Oni swipe their swords through the air.
Void Stiles holds up a hand. "Before this begins, I'd like to say something." His eyes lock on me. "Arden, you feel all of that pain you have inside of you? I can make it all go away. I can make you turn off all of your emotions, to never feel pain again. All you have to do is join me."
"Piss off." I sneer.
Void Stiles shrugs. "I tried. I hope no one else dies because of you tonight." He stands up. "It would seem like people always die when they are friends with you and it's always your fault."
I face falters. How does he know that? No one knows about Blair. No one knows that she blamed me for her death. The only person I ever told was my mom.
"You don't know me." I whisper, struggling to keep my voice from shaking.
"I know everything about you."
Aiden steps forward, growling. His growl was all it took for the Oni to start to attack us. Ethan, Aiden, and Derek rush forward to fight back. I stand still just staring back at Void Stiles as he stares back. The three of them are fighting against the Oni. They can handle them. I'm going after the Nogistune.
I race towards him, only to see him smirk as he sneaks up the stairs. Derek jumps out of reach from one of the Oni and yanks me behind him. I open my mouth to yell at him until I see a sword swing through the air, where my head was just seconds ago. As much as I want to kill the Nogistune myself, my help is needed. Ethan and Aiden are fighting against one Oni and the other one is going against Derek and I.
Derek is far more a better fighter than I am. The only thing I'm better at than him is I control fire. I fling both of my hands down, creating a ring of fire around the Oni. Part of me was hoping that it would be stop the Oni for a second, but it just stepped over the line. Derek fights against it, pushing me out of the way.
Another Oni appears on my left. I jump back as its sword swipes inches away from slicing my stomach open. I kick my leg up, wishing I had claws like the three of them. My hands burn hot and I fling fire at the Oni.
"Where the hell are they?" Ethan yells in mid punch.
"The jeeps's here." Aiden throws an Oni to the ground. "They have to be somewhere!"
"In the school!" Derek shouts.
The Oni kicks me to the ground. Derek darts away from the Oni attacking him to forcefully push me away from all of them. Nearly tripping over my feet, Aiden grabs me before I can faceplant. I straighten back up, whipping my head around to see Derek on the stairs with the Oni's arm in his hand. Why do people keep risking their lives for me?
"You have to get the box!" Derek yells at the two of us.
I look towards the box, where two Oni appear behind it. Aiden and I can do this.
Aiden's face morphs back to a his wolf face. "I hate ninjas."
The Oni spins their swords through the air, both of them pointed at us. I pant from all of this fighting. My mom never taught me this kind of fighting. It was always how to create fire and use it to my advantage. I form two fireballs in both of my hands before joining them together to form an even bigger one.
Aiden stalks forwards. I throw the ball of fire at the two of them. They catch on fire for a second until it extinguishes. Aiden and I team up, fighting against the two of them. I duck as one of the swords swing over my head and Aiden kicks the Oni in it's stomach. It falls to the ground. I fling a fireball at the other Oni. The back of its sword knocks into the back of my knees. I land on the ground, my breathe getting knocked out of me.
"We can't do this! We can't beat them!" Ethan yells from somewhere behind us.
An Oni jumps through the air, slicing Aiden's arm. I sweep my leg out, knocking the Oni down. Aiden clutches his bleeding arm. I jump back up to my feet, throwing fire at the Oni. Anger courses through my veins as I feel my whole body grow hot. A line of fire soar out of my hands instead of being just a ball. I hold my ground, careful to not lose focus. One of the Oni full on catches on fire from head to toe.
"Take the box, Arden! We'll hold them off!" Aiden points to me.
I stop the fire and run over to the box. I reach down to pick it up only to be shoved to the ground by the Oni that was on fire. A sharp pain shoots from my shoulder. I glance at it to see my jacket sliced open and blood seeping through it. Black smoke floats out of it. What the hell is that? A glint of silver shines from the moon. The sword is inches away from my chest. Derek appears out of nowhere, shoving the Oni away. I clutch my bleeding shoulder, concentrating on having it heal.
I look down to see nothing happening. Why am I not healing? The Oni comes back, but Derek picks me up from the ground as the sword clangs on the ground where I was just laying. An arrow flies past mine and Derek's head and buries itself in the Oni. The same bright light shines from the Oni's chest.
Derek and I look behind us to see Mr. Argent on top of the stairs with a crossbow in hand. Isaac flips through the air, landing on the ground a few feet behind us. I turn back to the Oni to see it explode in black smoke.
"What was that?" I ask with one hand pressed to my shoulder.
Derek's arm wraps around my waist to support me.
"Silver." Mr. Argent answers, lowering the crossbow.
"Isaac, the box." Derek motions to the box that is still on the ground. "Get the triskele box to Scott."
Isaac takes off running towards the box and snatches it up. I watch him run away, hopefully in the direction that Scott is in. I whimper at the pain from my wound. Derek pulls me tighter to his chest. One of the other Oni heads towards the two of us. Derek once again pushes me away from the danger. He grabs the Oni's arm and forces it behind its back. Mr. Argent shoots another arrow. Derek holds the Oni still. The arrow flies directly into the Oni's chest.
Wincing at the pain in my arm, I run towards the other Oni. We need to kill all of them. Aiden is still fighting against it. I bite my lip to hold back a scream as I shove Aiden out of the way. I hear the arrow soar through the air. I grab the Oni, except it dodges the arrow by slicing it in halfway with its' sword.
"Get the arrow!" Mr. Argent yells down at us. "It's the last one."
Aiden and I look down at the arrow. I snatch the arrow up from the ground first, barely missing the sword that is aimed for my head. I toss the arrow to Aiden, hoping to keep the Oni distracted enough for Aiden to stab it in the chest. Aiden ducks underneath the sword that flies over both of our heads. He jumps up and slams the arrow in the Oni's chest.
Once the Oni vanishes, I see the Oni's sword sticking out of Aiden's chest.
"No." I whisper, closing the distance between the two of us. "Aiden, no. Please don't." Tears fill my eyes as I grab his face, forcing him to look at me.
Blood spurts out of his mouth and down my arm. One of his hands grab my hand as the other grabs the sword. He pulls the sword out, letting it fall to the ground by our feet.
"Aiden!" Ethan yells.
"Aiden?" I cry. I catch him as his legs give out. We tumble to the ground. "N-No, Aiden, no. I-I can't l-lose you, t-too."
"It's o-okay." Aiden leans up against me. His face scrunches up as he cries. "I'm okay. Y-You'll be okay."
Derek lowers himself to the ground with a hand on my back.
I shake my head, grabbing his hand in mine. "N-No...Please, A-Aiden, d-d-don't leave m-me."
Ethan falls down to his knees on the other side of him.
"Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" Aiden asks his brother.
Ethan rubs his back. "Yeah."
They both cry harder. I rest my forehead against the side of Aiden's head. Both of my hands squeeze his and he squeezes back. That should have been me. I should have held on to the arrow and killed the Oni. Aiden would still be alive.
"It's o-okay." Aiden chokes out. "Lydia never believed I was one of the good guys anyways."
Derek's hand slides across my back to my waist. He pulls me into his side. "She'll believe me."
I bring Aiden's hand to my lips, my eyes lowered to the whole in his chest. "I-I-I should have h-held onto the arrow. I-I should h-have been the o-one to kill the Oni. I should be the o-one dying. Just like with A-Allison."
Aiden removes his hand from my grasp and slides it on my cheek. "Stop. It's not your f-fault."
I hang my head. "But it is!"
"Take c-care of e-each other..." Aiden chokes and then becomes silent. His hand slips away from my face, falling limp.
Ethan lowers him to the floor, crying. Derek pulls me away from Aiden and holds me against his chest. I cry into him. I'm so tired of people dying. Derek's arms wrap tighten around me even more. I grab at his shirt, silently wishing that I was the one dead and not Aiden. Ethan's sobs are impossible to ignore, only reminding me that his brother is dead.
+
My back is pressed against the pillar in Derek's loft. My hands are clasped together as tears stream down my face. Derek's arm is pressed against mine. We've been sitting here ever since I told him that I didn't want to go home after Aiden died. I couldn't go home. Not yet. Everything hurts too much. I don't need my dad to see me like this. I haven't been able to stop crying.
It's all over. The Nogistune is forever trapped in the triskele box. Stiles is okay. He's no longer dying. Everything is okay, except that's not really true. We lost Allison and Aiden.
"First, Blair then Allison and now Aiden." I whisper, pressing my lips together, yet a sob still escapes. I suck in a breath. "Everything is my fault."
"It's not." Derek says.
I shake my head. "No, it really is. Their deaths are on my hands. I could have saved all of them."
Derek places his hand on my knee. "You can't blame yourself for their deaths. They aren't your fault. You saved Isaac's life and Allison saved yours. It's not your fault she died."
"I could have saved her, too." I hang my head. "If I had been the one that died then no one would be hurting. My parents would be upset, but that'd be it. Scott, Kira, Stiles- all of them- they wouldn't be nearly as upset if I had been the one that died. I would prefer my death over Allison and Aiden's."
"Don't-"
I push his hand off of me. "Sure, my friend might be upset, but they'd get over it. I wasn't a first love or sister to anyone. I was just a daughter. My mom is a work alcoholic anyways and dad- well, he'd be okay."
Derek grabs my face in his large hands, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Enough."
I stare in his eyes. "I can't help it." I whisper, crying.
"You deserve to live. You are alive for a reason." Derek keeps my face close to his.
"I just don't get it." I try to look away, but his hands keep my head in place. "I can't lose anyone else. I just can't. My friends always die. Even you should stop talking to me. I don't want you to die next."
His thumbs brush over my cheeks. "I'm not going to die. No one else is going to die. Everything is going to be okay."
I flick my eyes back open. "How can you say that? This town will never be okay. We will never be okay." I lean against his left hand. "I'll never be okay. I-I put on a good act, but I'm dying on the inside."
Derek rests his forehead against mine. "You will be okay."
My hands grab his wrists. "I'm so scared." I shake my head. "Everything scares me. I act like I'm f-fine, but that's far from the truth. I'm always lying to my dad because he can't know about the supernatural world or about me. People keep dying. I don't want to be like this anymore. I want a normal life."
"You are strong enough. I believe in you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Guys, it's over. Playing The Vixen is officially over. Wow.
Don't worry, though! There will be a sequel! Thanks to @cyn521 I am going to have it be called Becoming The Vixen
This chapter, though. I was possibly crying when I wrote about Aiden dying. I connect to things very easily and cry easily. I feel everything's emotions. Aiden is dead. I liked his relationship with Arden. She won't have that brother/sister relationship anymore.
I'm excited for season four! I can't wait. No idea when I will start Becoming The Vixen.
BUT GUYS THAT LAST PART THOUGH. Sorry. I liked the part with Derek and Arden. I thought it was needed. It was so cute. I couldn't pick Stiles. I couldn't make Stalia not happen. Although, Starden is not really dead. They may still have a little feelings towards each other and be really good friends. I still like Starden, but Darden will be happening in season four.
Question: What do you think about Darden and what do you think will happen in season four?
So, yeah!