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"Are you sure you two want to do this?" Sheriff Stilinski gave the two boys a frown as he pulled up to Eichen House.
After the two boys had woken up they realized all of the chaos they had caused. Stiles immediately talked Apollo into staying at Eichen House.
Both teens gave a quiet nod to Sheriff Stilinski as they got out of the car.
"Ready?" Stiles mumbled to the Argent boy.
However, the sound of a motorbike stopped them, both boys turning to see Scott pulling off his helmet.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott looked at the three in confusion.
"Because we wanted to avoid something like this," Sheriff Stilinski sighed.
"It's only three days," Apollo told the alpha with a frown.
"This is the same place Barrow came from. The guy who had the tumor inside him with flies. You don't know everything yet," Scott looked to the sheriff with wide eyes.
"I know enough. Nogitsune, kitsune, Oni, or whatever they're called."
"Wow, that was actually," Stiles glanced at his dad. "All surprisingly correct."
"Scott, I saw an MRI that looked exactly like my wife's. And it terrifies me. I'm heading down to LA tomorrow to talk to a specialist."
"Then why are you putting him here?" Scott looked at Stiles. "Why are you here?" The wolf looked to the Argent.
"I'm here for Stiles, we're both a hazard McCall," Apollo sighed.
"It was my decision," Stiles told him as well.
"Guys, I can't help you if you're in there," Scott was clearly worried.
"And we can't hurt you," Stiles retorted.
"Deaton's got some ideas. Argent's calling people-"
"My dad hit a dead end a long time ago, Scott," Apollo shook his head. "We're doing this."
"Apollo, we're going to find something," the wolf glared.
"And if you can't," Stiles stepped closer to the wolf. "If you can't then you need to promise me something, okay? Make sure we never get out."
Scott gaped at his two friends, Apollo resting a hand on Stiles' back.
"Come on," Sheriff Stilinski nodded the two boys away from Scott.
"Later McCall," Apollo gave a final nod to the boy.
Eichen House made Apollo Argent completely, and utterly, sick to his stomach.
The lighting was far too low for his liking, and people were lurking as if they were waiting for something to happen.
"Mr. Stilinski." A nurse called to the Sheriff, giving him a smile. "This way, please."
Stiles and Apollo shared a look of uneasiness as they followed the woman through the halls.
"First seventy-two hours there's no phone calls, no emails, no visitors. We will be taking you both from here to a brief physical. In the morning you'll be assessed by a staff psychologist, speak to a social worker, and attended group therapy."
"I feel like we're forgetting something," Sheriff Stilinski rambled out quickly.
Apollo could tell that the man was regretting his decision now that he was here.
"You two will be wearing these," the nurse placed two pairs of shoes on the desk. "No laces allowed. You're not wearing belts are you? Empty your pockets here," she placed a container on the desk.
Apollo sighed as he placed his phone on the desk along with his wallet, he hadn't brought anything else.
"Your pillow. We forgot your pillow," the Sheriff told Stiles.
"No, it's okay dad."
"You're never going to be able to fall asleep, we have to go back."
"It's fine dad I don't need it."
"I can't believe I forgot it," the Sheriff stammered on.
If things hadn't been going as strangely as they were for Apollo, he would've felt sad watching Stilinski.
"I mean, every time we've ever stayed in a hotel, the first thing you pack is your pillow."
"You can bring it tomorrow, it's all right," Stiles reassured his dad.
"Okay, you know what? Stop. Both of you stop," Sheriff Stilinski stopped both boys from taking anything else out of their pockets. "Both of you, get your stuff. You boys aren't checking in here, not if you can't get a good nights sleep."
"Dad," Stiles stood and rested a hand on his dads shoulder. "We haven't had a good nights sleep in weeks." The teen wrapped Stilinski in a hug, Apollo's heart hurting for the sheriff.
"Hey," Stilinski called to Apollo. "You too kid, come here." The man pulled Apollo into a tight hug, the Argent tensing at first. But as the sheriff hugged him tighter he relaxed and hugged back, realizing it wasn't just for him.
"This way boys," the nurse smiled at Stiles and Apollo.
The Argent boy swallowed hard as they walked through the halls, moving closer to Stiles. Apollo hesitantly reached out, taking the brunet's hand as his eyes flickered around the room.
Stiles smiled looking down at their hands, but it quickly turned into a frown when he looked back up at Apollo's face. The Stilinski boy squeezed his hand in comfort, trying to calm Apollo's nerves.
"Hey, do you see that?" Stiles asked the nurse in a panic, looking up.
Apollo followed his gaze, seeing a man standing on the edge of the railing on the stairs and tying his bedsheets around them. Stiles rushed up the stairs, pulling Apollo with him.
"Wait for me," the nurse shouted at them.
"Stop it!" Stiles yelled as he and Apollo ran, trying to get the man's attention. "Somebody stop him!"
The man jumped from the stairs case, his bedsheets around his neck.
Apollo jumped at the sight, burying his head into the Stilinski boy's shoulder.
"Come on."
The nurse quickly pushed the two boy's away from the scene, the teens sharing wide eyed looks.
"Okay, I know there's the whole seventy-two hour thing but we really need to use the phone," Stiles told her desperately.
"The accident that occurred is being taken care of," the woman told him.
"You're seriously referring to that as an accident?"
"Incident," the woman corrected.
"Either way it still happened," Apollo glared.
"We still need to use the phone. Five minutes?" The woman opened a door to their room and ushered the boys inside. "Three minutes?"
"Would you like to go to sleep, Stiles? Or would you like to be introduced to our five point restraint system?"
Apollo felt anger grow at the threat, glaring down the woman as a flicker of bronze entered his eyes.
"We'll go to sleep," Stiles shook his head.
The nurse closed the door and the two boys stood in silence.
"We can use the phone tomorrow." Apollo told Stiles quietly. The Stilinski boy nodded, taking a seat on the bed and waiting desperately for sunrise.
"Something is wrong with this place."
Apollo and Stiles were weary as they made their way to the payphone, steering clear of the other patients.
"Unfortunately I think you're right," Stiles sighed.
The two boys waited to use the payphone, a girl ahead of them whispering into it frantically.
"I really think I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story."
Stiles and Apollo listened closer.
"The whole story. I really think they should know. Yes, I do. Two of them are standing right behind me."
At that Apollo rose an eyebrow, looking over the girl as if she were a threat.
The girl hung up the phone, walking past Apollo and Stiles with her head towards the ground.
"That's Meredith." A boy walked up to the two. "She's a little weird."
Stiles nodded at the stranger, picking up the phone.
"I'm Oliver," the boy held a hand out to Apollo.
"That's Stiles. I'm Apollo."
The Argent looked to Stiles, the boy gaping as he held the payphone to his ear.
"It's dead."
"They turn off all the phones for twenty four hours after a suicide," Oliver told them with a shrug.
"Come on," Stiles took Apollo's hand once again.
"What are you gonna do now?" Oliver asked as he followed them.
"We're getting out of this nuthouse," Stiles replied.
"Holy shit," Apollo scoffed at the girl in front of them.
"Malia?" Stiles gaped as well.
The wolf turned, her face morphing into a glare as she sent a punch to Stiles' face.
"Hey!" Apollo shouted, moving forward and taking the girl's wrists in his hands.
She hissed as she felt her bones strain to stay together, Apollo's eyes having anger Malia had never seen before.
"Don't touch him," Apollo hissed as bronze filled his eyes.
All at once nurses rushed forward, restraining the three that had just spoken to each other.
"Hey, she hit me!" Stiles tried to fight the men off, failing miserably.
"Leave him alone," Apollo called as well as he was restrained.
"Enough." A familiar voice made the orderlies release the two boys.
Stiles and Apollo pushed themselves off the ground, Mrs. Morrell standing in front of them.
"Stiles," she moved closer to the boy. "You saw something didn't you?"
Apollo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, watching as the boy nodded.
"The basement. We've been down there before."
Morrell pursed her lips looking down before giving a friendly smile to Apollo.
"Nice to see you, Apollo."
And the boy nodded in return, but the circumstances were not nice. Not nice at all.
"I want to go back to the topic of guilt today," Morrell told the group. "It might surprise you to hear me say guilt is a good thing. It's a rather, mature emotion. Malia, you said something about guilt the other day. You said it came with a visceral reaction."
As the woman spoke, Apollo buried his head into his hands. Everything was loud, his head was pounding and there was an inexplicable fire behind his eyes.
"I said it made me feel sick to my stomach," Malia nodded.
"Guilt often becomes physical. You feel it in your gut," Morrell looked over to Apollo. Stiles did the same, now noticing there was something wrong with the Argent boy. "It's not just psychological. How does guilt make you feel Stiles?"
"Nervous," he responded quickly.
"Like a sense of urgency," Morrell nodded. "Apollo?"
"Angry," he mumbled as he squeezed his eyes shut.
Morrell's voice became background noise as Apollo heard a ringing in his ears.
Morrell looked over the two boys, clearly anxious. And as she looked closer she began to see the dark veins on both of their necks, moving towards their faces.
"I'm sorry everyone, but we need to take a break," Morrell stood and nodded to the two. "Come with me, you two."
Apollo and Stiles did as told, following the woman back to her office.
Morrell ghosted her hands over the veins on Stiles, noticing they went all the way to his neck from his back.
"It's call a Lichtenberg figure. They appear on lighting strike victims. The fact that they're appearing on you two after Stiles was shot by wolf lichen is both, significant and strange."
"Morrell, we don't have time for guessing games," Apollo sighed. "What does it mean?"
"When the marks fade the Nogitsune's grip over you will return. I'm guessing you'll be feeling the effects as well," Morrell handed Stiles a pill bottle.
"What are these? Sleeping pills?" Stiles questioned.
"Amphetamines. Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do. You're vulnerable when you sleep," she looked to Apollo. "Deaton said you're linked to him somehow, you aren't as effected by sleeping."
"So all I have to do is stay awake?"
"For now. If your friends haven't figured something out by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you guys."
"To shoot us more full of wolf lichen?" Apollo crossed his arms, not liking the idea.
"No, pancronium bromide actually. It's a respiratory paralysis."
"That's sounds a lot like death," Stiles told her shakily.
"It's used for lethal injection, yes."
Apollo pulled at his hair, beginning to pace as Stiles gaped at the woman.
"So, when the Nogitsune takes over, you're going to kill us?" Stiles glared at her.
"I'm gonna do what I've always done. Maintain the balance," Morrell told them sternly.
"No, you're going to kill us because we were infected with this bullshit like some kind of disease," Apollo hissed at her. "We didn't ask for this, Stiles didn't ask for this."
"Apollo," she glared as she saw bronze. "Calm down."
The Argent took a shaky breath, shaking his head.
"Okay then, I've missed our talks," Stiles told her dryly. "Thanks for the illicit drugs." Apollo followed behind Stiles quickly.
"Stiles," she called as the two boys left. "Stay awake."
Stiles nodded as he continued out the door.
"Apollo, can I please speak to you alone?"
"You've said enough," Apollo gave a dry laugh to the woman.
"Don't pretend with me," Morrell gave a cold glare to him.
Apollo paced around the room like a predator, a laugh escaping him.
"This has always been inside you, Apollo. You fought it for so long," Morrell's voice became softer as she gave a pitiful look to the teen. "Try and fight it for just a little longer."
"Or what?" Apollo grinned at her.
"Or the people closest to you will face the consequences."
And despite all the precaution the teens had taken, by the end of the day the chaos would be back and thriving.
With no plans of stopping no matter who got in their way.