Chapter Six : A world without Color
I walked down the halls. It felt like the word all around me was in slow motion. I was at war with myself. Everything I pushed away as a child ran around my head. If I could reach the fireflies, but I was that coordinated. If I could save Allison and Aiden, but I didn't know how soon or far their deaths were. "Cait. Hey....." I could hear Kira from my left side but I kept walking.
My arms felt weak as I walked out the school. I didn't even bother with a car, just let my feet guide me. I was headed to the hospital. My mind went blank as a vision passed over it. I truly couldn't tell if it was a vision or a memory.
"ALLISON!" I watched as Allison's body got impaled with a sword the oni around everyone fleeing. Allison's body fell into Scott's arms. Her breaths became shorter and her words choppy. Scott was crying and her arm went limp hitting the ground with an indescribable noise.
I opened my eyes. I was still on the sidewalk, making my way into the heart of town. My arms tightened around the few books that wouldn't fit in my bag. I rounded the corner stopping at a 7/11. I paid for a soda and kept walking the world around me seemingly losing all color.
My breath became abnormal as I wrapped my hand around the cold handle labeled pull. My feet hit the floor but didn't make a sound. I stumbled to the back of the north wing, netting a room labeled, MRI.
Stiles sat on the MRI in a blue gown with a pair of grey sweat pants. His father was leaning on a wall in the corner, but they were the only people in the room. "Caity are you okay?" Stiles asked me as I shifted my gase back to him.
"Yeah. Why would you think I wasn't?"
"It's just, you have tear stains." I removed one of my hands from around my books bringing it over my right eyes. I hadn't even noticed the water that had fallen on my face, but nonetheless I brushed it away, taking a few steps into the room.
I heard three sets of footsteps behind me as I walked closer to Stiles. Scott Melissa and a doctor walked into the room. Scott joined Stiles and me at the edge of the MRI. "Stiles." All three of us looked up when the doctor spoke, "Just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through the metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."
"No. No, I don't need anything." Stiles said in the same tone that the day went by. No emotion, no color, no care.
"Hey," The sheriff spoke, "We're just on the other side of that window. Okay?"
"Okay." Stiles told his father, sadness now slipping into his voice. All adults left the room leaving Stiles Scott and me alone. I started to play with the hem of my jacket, not wanting to look into anyone's eyes. "You two know what they're looking for. Right?" Stiles asked, causing me to look up. "It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mom had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure." Stiles finished. This time I felt the water slip down my face.
Scott wiped his eyes, "Stiles if you have it, we'll do something about it. We'll do something." He paused turning to face Stiles, "I'll do something." Stiles pulled his best friend into a hug, for a few moments it felt like this was the worst of the world.
Scott pulled away. I replaced him wrapping my arms around Stiles back, "I love you Stiles. We'll get through it, we always do." I whisper in his ear.
"I love you too Cait." We stood there for a few more moments. Scott Stiles and I, just looking around. Before we left to go to the other room, I pulled Stiles in one last quick hug, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. I let go and exhaled. Closing my eyes I got the strength to leave the room walking around the door and into the operator's room.
The doctor spoke into a mic on the table, "Okay Stiles, if you would lay down. We are going to start." Stiles did as he was told moving from his upright position to lay on his back. I watch as Stiles is rolled back inside the MRI. "Okay Stiles, this will take about 45 minutes to an hour. Now remember to try not to move. Even just a little bit." The Doctor explained. I shifted my weight so I was leaning on Scott, he shifted his arms to place it around my shoulders. I was scared to move, hell I was scared to blink. Everytime I closed my eyes I saw Allison with a sword in her stomach and the sound of Lydia screaming her name. "Stiles you're going to hear that noise now. It's going to be a loud clanging. Kind of like a hammer hitting an anvil."
I looked out the small window in the door. Derek stood, in his normal leather, his face grim. "Scott." I say nudging his side a bit before pointing to the door. Scott just nods and walks out of the operator's room. I didn't have it in me to follow, the world still felt colorless. I closed my eyes and a few more tears fell. "Mrs. Mcall."
"Yeah Sweetheart?" Melissa asked, turning around to face me.
"I- I have to go if Scott comes back, tell him I left."
"Sure thing."
I walked back outside. The darkness now took over the sky as my feet led me to where I wanted to go. I didn't even know where that was, but I knew it wasn't home, home was worlds away. But it wasn't family either, family was a few left turned the other direction. "Everyone has it. No one can lose it." I heard myself whisper but It was almost like a dream, like on out of body experantion. The sounds of car horns and blinking street lamps didn't matter, the only thing on my mind was those words that Stiles said the other night. "Everyone has it. No one can lose it."
I didn't know where I was headed, till the building came into view. The apartments above me seemed foreign, but still I pressed the white and gold button with an up arrow. The golden doors opened like a shining mouth. I walked into the small four walled elevator, pressing the button for floor eight of 11.
The golden doors closed reflecting on my tear stained face from all the crying of the day. For the first time all night I let myself close my eyes. The first thing I saw was not Allison's death but rather Scott and Allison sitting at a picnic table at school. "Scott what is that? I mean you seem to have it a lot, so what is it?" Allison's voice came through. I looked to what she was talking about. Just like the other day it was my jornal in Scott's hand. The image changed to the inside of Allison's room.
"What do you mean?" The Argent asked but the person did not answer. Then what I was dreading passed my mind.
"ALLISON!" This time I could hear Lydia's cries as well as her screams. I noticed the blood splatter on the wall behind where Allison stood, her arrow still in her hand. The weirdest thing happened next. It was like the screen rewinded to when Allison shot the arrow at the oni in front of Isaac.
The scene changed once more. Allison stood in a shed of sorts. She was melting an arrowhead with a mold. "Pure silver takes way too long to melt." She whispered to herself as she poured the metal.. The sliver, into the mold. The images stopped when the elevator rang in my ears.
I walked up to the door right in front of the elevator, the white door had two sliver numbers on the front, right above a peephole. I read over the 82 three times before knocking on the door.
Chris Argent answered the door, "Caitlin? Is everything okay?"
"I need to speak to your daughter."
"It's the middle of the night."
"Please! I just need to speak to Allison." I repeat now on the verge of tears.
Chris nodded as if knowing I would only come this late if it was dier, "She's in her room, you might have to wake her up."
"Thank you." I rush out as Chris steps aside so I can enter the apartment.
I walked through the apartment till I was in front of Allison's closed bedroom door. I gulped down a wade of spit before slowly knocking. I heard a moan from inside, so I knocked again. "What Dad?" I knock again. "Dad?" I heard her feet shuffle as she walked over to the door, opening it. "Caity what the hell?"
"You never call me Caity." I point out.
"You never show up in my bedroom at.." Her eyes shifted to the four red numbers in the corner of the room, "Midnight. It's midnight, what?"
"I need to tell you something. About me, and it might save your life." I explain. Alison sighed and turned the lights on in her room.
"Start talking."
~
"Go back. Explain how being this doppelganger allows you to see the future?" Allison asked.
"My job is to protect the multiverse, I do that by seeing the future of certain earths. In this case, because I have spent so much time on earth 40, this earth, I can see clear visions of what happens on this earth." I explain like she asked.
"And you told Scott, because Deucalion called you Caitlin Roads the doppelganger in front of him."
"Yeah."
"And you haven't told anyone else because you think it could protect Lottie and the twins?"
"Yes."
"So the hell are you telling me?" Allison asked, waving her arms around.
I lifted my head from the floor to look at the Argent girl. She was sitting on her bed, now fully awake. I had explained everything to her, but this small detail of why. "I know how you die. And it's soon."
"Wha-" She couldn't even get the word out. "Just tell me."
"When the nogitsune takes control of the oni, everyone heads to some old run down camp-"
"Oak creek?"
"Maybe. I think. But you find a way to kill the oni, and it more or less causes you to freeze amazed at what you've done, it less than a milaseconded but and oni stabs you through the stomach. Everytime I close my eyes, I hear Lydia's screams and watch your body go limp in Scott's arms."
"What was I doing?"
"You were holding an arrow, but it was as if you never shot it before."
"Is there any way I could see it?" Was there?
"I'm not sure. But Maybe- do you have any mountain ash?"
"Yeah in my dad's office." The two of us were already on our way to the back of the apartment to where the ash was. "What do you need me to do?"
"Make a circle, then hold my hand."
Allison does as I say, pouring out a circle of ash and then grabbing my left hand. I placed my right hand on the barrere, the normal yellow glow coming off of the ash. My veins started to turn the same yellow color. The room started to spin, the four plan walls turned into a dark sky white a white brick wall and a black gate fence.
I turned my head to the right where a ghostly version of Allison stood. I turned back to the scene before me. I watch Allison draw back her bow with a silver tipped arrow. The arrow tore through the air, killing an oni that was about to kill Isaac. It dropped it's sword and glowed green like a firefly. She smiled looking at an arrow in her hand. I heard the real Allion gasp from next to me as a soward went through her gut. "ALLISON!" Lydia screamed from wherever she was. Scott raced forward shifting to human catch his old love. Blood clearly on the wall behind him. The world moved in slow motion as Scott cradled the Argent girl.
"Did you find her? Is she okay? Did you find Lydia?" Allison choked out.
"She's okay. She's okay." Scott cried, moving Allison's hair away from her face. Allison could hardly breath when Scott took her hand, " I- I can't. I can't take your pain."
"It's because it doesn't hurt." Allison said in almost a dream. The real Allison who I brought with me gripped my arm tighter as she watched herself struggle to talk.
"No."
"It's okay."
"No Allison." Scott cried.
"It's okay.. It's okay. It's okay. It's perfect. I'm in the arms- I'm in the arms of my first love. The first person I ever loved." Allison still struggled to get the words out, "The person I will always love. I- I love you.. Scott. Scott mcCall"
Scott lets out a new set of tears, "No please no. Allison don't please."
"You have to tell my Dad. You have to tell my Dad. Tell him.. Tell him I-" She let out her last breath.
"No. NO." Scott sobbed over her as Allison's arm fell to the ground. The real Allison starts to pull me to where Isaac was. I float behind her, never letting go of her hand.
She bends over picking up the arrow that was on the ground next to the soward. "Silver?" Allison asked out loud as the area around us started to fade. "Wait, no." The arrow slipped from Allison's hand as we went back to the office. "No. No"
"ALLISON." I yelled her name.
She turned to face me, "I don't want to die."