There were a few of you asking for her to go to Eichen with Stiles (crazy people), so there you go hahaha
Side note: I have had this planned for a while, so I'm glad there were some people who wanted the same. I love hearing everyone's thoughts and recommendations, so keep them coming!
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"Riley," a voice drawled. "It's time to wake up."
My breathing was heavy as I opened my eyes. I was in the examination room where I had been sedated, except everything was dark now.
"Over here, little sylph."
This caught my attention. Who knew what I was? Scanning the room quickly, I saw a figure standing in the shadows.
"Who are you."
"Who am I?" The voice growled in a low tone. "No. That is not important, little sylph. You should be wondering what I want."
"Alright, what do you want?" I spat.
The person made a noise that I assumed was supposed to be a laugh. "Everything. But first, I need something from you."
"I don't even know who you are, why would I do anything for you?" I asked quietly.
"Because, if you don't, I'll kill everyone you hold dear. Every last one."
I wasn't going to let some guy whose face I couldn't even see threaten me. I had been through enough. "For the last time, what do you want?"
They chuckled again. "I was going to have you help me out there, but then you went and made a scene in the hospital. So now you're in here. Such a shame. For now, I want nothing. But, later-"
This person wasn't making any sense.
"Sorry, try someone else. I don't do favours for creeps." I tried to sound fierce, but knew my voice was shaking.
"Little sylph. . . by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging to help me."
The person stepped out of the shadows, walking towards me. They were wearing casual pants and a shirt, wrapped in a bomber jacket. But the thing that caught my attention, was that the head and hands were covered in bandages. The only part of their face I could see was their mouth. Except, it didn't seem human. Their lips were almost black, with sharp silver teeth within.
"That is my promise to you," he growled as he leaned over me, "Little sylph."
**********
I woke up gasping for air. I was in the same room again, but the lights were all back on. This time, however, I wasn't accompanied by a nurse or the bandaged man. Instead, Charlotte sat in the chair in the corner.
"Char?" I mumbled as I woke up. I tried to move, but I was still strapped to the bed. My heart-rate rose as I looked around. "What's going on."
She walked to my bed side, brushing my hair to the side. "Hey, hey, it's okay, you're okay now. They're letting me see you before you're fully committed, but I won't be allowed back for a few days. You gave us no choice."
"What are you talking about? Why am I here?" I asked her, tears welling in my eyes.
Charlotte's eyes squinted as she looked at me.
"Last night in the hospital-"
"I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry," I said quickly.
"It wasn't just me," she said quietly. "You nearly killed everyone on that floor of the hospital. You almost suffocated eighty people. Do you understand me, Riley?"
The whole floor of the hospital? She couldn't be serious. Was I really that strong?
"I didn't mean it," I sobbed. "But you didn't have to send me here. Anywhere but here. This is where they kept William Barrow; you know, the Shrapnel Bomber?"
"Riley, you know I wouldn't put you in a dangerous situation," she told me. "In fact, Stiles told me about this place."
"What? Stiles told you to put me here? That doesn't make sense," I told her. "Why would he say that?"
"He said that you told him that this was the safest place to put you if you lost control. You don't remember?"
Shaking my head rapidly, my voice stuttered, "I. . . I never said that, Char. You shouldn't have put me here."
"You didn't give me much of a choice, Riley," she whispered, tearing up a bit. "You nearly killed people, in a way that no one understands. What if it happens again and no one is there to stop you like Melissa did?"
"But Eichen? Why not just the hospital?"
"Because the hospital seems to think you tried to gas their patients or something. That was the only way they could make sense of what happened, and they were ready to take action," Charlotte explained, running a hand through her hair.
Note to self, public places weren't good for losing control.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Can we please leave?"
She shook her head, "You have to stay for observation. I'm sorry."
The door behind her opened up, revealing the nurse from earlier. "Your time is up, miss. You need to leave."
Charlotte nodded, before placing a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be back as soon as I'm allowed. Just concentrate on getting better."
The nurse opened the door wider for Charlotte to leave, and I could've sworn I saw the bandaged man standing in the hallway. Panic stirred inside me as a shiver ran through me at the memory of his laugh. It was a dream; but it had felt so real.
"Please, don't leave me here," I begged.
She apologised once more, before the nurse closed the door. "Time to get you to your room. Are you going to cooperate?"
Taking a moment to compose myself, I nodded. I was scared out of my mind, but I didn't want another needle.
"Lovely," the nurse smiled. She held two cups in her hands, showing them to me. One had a few pills in it, while the other had water. "Take your medication, and then we'll be on our way."
The bandaged man was now in the room, whispering for me not to take the pills.
I was hesitant at first, but she wasn't giving up on getting me to take them. Eventually I swallowed them, and then she promptly undid the restraints on my limbs and walked me out of the room.
The hallways echoed with the calls of those locked within Eichen House, the noise bouncing around in my head. It was so loud, I couldn't concentrate on anything besides what was right in front of me. We walked upstairs for a floor or two, and then the nurse lead me to a door. She walked me into the room and sat me on the bed.
After leaving, she locked the door behind her, but not before the bandaged man walked in. It was lights out, apparently.
"You're not real," I muttered to him.
Glancing around the room, there wasn't much to see. Two metal beds, one long window, a small table with two lamps, and that was it.
"I didn't think I'd be getting a new roommate today," a voice said from the other bed. "Do you have a name?"
I looked over to see someone very familiar sitting on the bed across from me. Malia Tate; the girl we had saved in the woods.
"Don't tell her you know her," the bandaged man instructed me from the corner of the room.
"You're not real," I repeated, louder this time.
Malia looked me up and down, confused. "So, you're proper crazy then?"
Dragging my eyes away from the man in the corner, I gulped a little. "What? No. Sorry. I'm Riley. We've actually met. Me and my friends, we saved you out in the woods? Scott McCall-"
Before I could get another word out, Malia had walked over and slapped me across the face. Her expression was hard with rage as she glared down at me.
"What the hell?" I gasped, bringing a hand to my cheek.
"What'd you expect? A thank you card?" She laughed darkly. "You and your friends ruined my life."
"What do you mean?"
She clenched her fists. "Every day in that house I had to face my father, all the while knowing that I had killed my mother and sister and had tried to eat them. Being a coyote. . . I didn't have to deal with that."
I had never thought of it that way.
"We thought we were helping. I'm sorry."
"If you wanted to help, you'd find a way to change me back."
"I don't know how," I said softly.
She walked back over to her own bed, "I never wanted your help."
The bandaged man chuckled, seemingly amused. "I warned you, little slyph."
"I understand," I said quietly as I laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
It almost sounded like Malia was going to speak again, but she decided against it, eventually just laid down also, falling asleep within minutes.
"You should have listened to me, little sylph."
"Tell me who you are," I responded, not looking away from the ceiling.
It slowly got closer, "Think harder. You already know who I am."
Closing my eyes to think, my mind began to slow. The pills I had taken were beginning to take effect.
♡♢♤♧
"Nogistune," I gasped as I woke up. Searching the room quickly, I saw he was gone.
It was the Nogitsune. Scott had told me briefly about it. It was like what Kira was, a Kitsune, but a different type. It was a trickster spirit, who thrived on chaos.
But how was I seeing it when no one else could?
"I'm glad you remembered. Let me ask you something, little sylph. A riddle," the Nogitsune grumbled. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"
"Leave me alone," I said softly, not wanting to wake Malia.
"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"
"Leave. Me. Alone."
He let his head fall to the side, "Maybe you'll listen if I looked more. . . appealing."
I didn't get the chance to ask it what it meant, before it began to undo the bandages around its head. My jaw almost hit the floor, when I saw that it was Stiles beneath the bandages.
"Stiles," I gasped.
He smirked, sitting on the bed beside my legs. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"
"A shadow," I answered quietly. "Why do you look like Stiles?"
The Nogitsune tutted, frowning. "You know the answer to that riddle also. You have for a while, you just couldn't figure it out because you didn't have all of the information. And now that you do, you will help me."
"Why are you so sure?"
The trickster masquerading as my boyfriend smirked, "Because if you don't, then when I'm done with Stiles, I'll kill him."
"No!" I said loudly. He disappeared as I sat up in an attempt to grab him. "Stiles!"
"Hey, are you okay?" Malia asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"I'm fine," I took a deep breath, looking over to her. "I thought you weren't talking to me?"
She sat up more in her bed as she faced me. "I never said that. I thought about it, but never said it," she clarified. "Besides, you're the only other person I know in here who knows about this stuff. You may not know how to change me back, but maybe someone you know does."
"Well, even if I did, we're locked in here," I sighed.
Malia looked disheartened, but continued to talk to me anyway. "Who is Stiles?"
"He's uh- he's my boyfriend."
"Does he know you're here?"
He's part of the reason why I'm here.
"Yeah. He does."
"Maybe he'll visit," she said. The sound of the locks clicking open on our door caught her attention.
"Let's go get something to eat."
"Wait, I'm confused. Are we friends now?" I asked.
Her eyes scanned me, before she met my gaze, "We're helping each other."
I nodded, getting up to follow her. I hoped Stiles didn't visit because, for all I knew, it wasn't even Stiles. But at least now I sort of made a friend.
♡♢♤♧
It had been almost two days since I'd been admitted, and I didn't feel any better. In fact, I felt worse. Malia and I spent almost all our free time together. She was a nice person, and I felt terrible that we were the reason she had ended up in here.
I had even seen Miss Morrell around, but she didn't talk to me outside of the group sessions. It was like she was purposely trying to avoid me.
I was even getting to the point where I was happy to see the nurses with the little cups of pills. Because, ever since that day in the hospital, that clanging sound just wouldn't go away.
The Nogitsune wasn't letting up either. Everywhere I looked, there he was, still wearing Stiles' face. Between him and the clanging, I was being driven insane. Every night when I fell asleep, he'd get in my head, trying to convince me to help him.
I didn't want to sleep, but that was the only time I could escape the noise.
Seeing him everywhere had lead to me having some outbursts here and there, getting me in trouble with Brunski, the head orderly. He had already had issues with Malia, so the fact that I was her roommate didn't help my case either.
It was hard seeing him like that though. Every now and then I'd look out the corner of my eye and see him, and for a split second, I'd think it was Stiles. But then he'd smirk in that way that made my skin crawl and I'd be brought back to reality.
Malia and I were currently walking back to our room to prepare for lights out. I hated that I was beginning to have a routine here after only a couple of days.
"So, you've been here a few days now. We're on the same page about certain things and you know why I'm here, but you still haven't told me why you're here?" Malia asked me as we sat down at a table together.
Fiddling with the sleeves of my shirt, I couldn't make eye contact with her. She was right; I had been trying to avoid the subject. But she was also right when she'd said we were on the same page.
When we reached our room, I continued to look down as I told her what had happened. "I nearly killed everyone on a level of a hospital."
Malia's eyes widened as she stared at me, searching my face, "You're joking, right?"
"I wish I was," I told her quietly. "I'm something called a sylph. I have a sort of influence over the air around me. I found out someone I love was sick and I just. . . lost control."
"And you loved it," the Nogitsune chuckled darkly from the corner of my room.
"Shit," she mumbled. "So, they sent you here?"
"They don't trust me anymore," I answered simply.
"Poor, little Riley," The Nogitsune mocked. "It's okay, because I trust you."
"Have you lost control before?" Malia asked me.
Shaking my head, I finally looked up, "Not like that."
"No, because this time, when you lost control, you didn't care. You let it happen. You wanted it to happen."
The Nogitsune continued to taunt me, and I honestly didn't know how much more I could take.
Malia got up all of a sudden, walking out into the hallway before returning to our room. "There's a new guy."
Minutes later, an echo drifted through the halls. It was the sharp twang of material being pulled taut. Someone had hung themselves in the stairwell.
"Wonder if that was the new guy?"
My friend sat down, preparing to talk more when I stopped her. "Can we be done for the night? I just - I don't really feel like talking about that night any more than necessary."
Malia said it was okay, before we both climbed into our separate beds and tried to get some sleep.
For me though, as soon as I closed my eyes, the Nogitsune was centre stage.