Blake's outfit
For the flashbacks⬆️
When you see
** and italic
It's a flashback
Chapter Twenty-Nine
⊚ Frayed ⊚
Blake sat on the bus in the seat in front of Scott and Stiles with her back against the window and her feet up on the seat. Notebook in hand as she sketched a familiar face. She didn't have any ear buds in, just in case someone talks to her, not that she was really paying attention to what anyone was saying.
"Yo, Scotty! Hey, yo! Scotty? Still with me?" Stiles said making Scott start paying attention to Stiles again, "Yeah, sorry. Uh, what's the word?" He asked and Stiles Stiles looks down at a vocabulary app on his tablet, "Anachronism."
"Something that exists our of its normal time."
"Nice! Okay, next word-- "incongruous."
"Uh, can you use it in a sentence?"
"Yes. Yes, I can! It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross-country meet, after what just happened. Incongruous." Stiles says as he looks over the seat to momentarily check on Blake. "Out of place, ridiculous, absurd." Scott said making Stiles nod.
"Perfect. Okay, next word. Um... Darach. Darach. It's a noun?" Stiles says slowly making Scott give him a look, "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for, like, five hours, so why not?" Stiles said and Scott just turns to the window and the passing landscape. "Next word... Intransigent."
"Stubborn, obstinate." Scott says and then the bus hits a bump making him sits up with a gasp, catching Blake's attention making her turn to them. "Oh, buddy, you okay?" Stiles asked and Scott nods, but with a pained expression. "Will you let me heal you now?" Blake asked and Scott shook his head, "I'm fine." He said making her roll her eyes.
"We shouldn't have come. I knew it-- we shouldn't have come." Stiles said while shaking his head, "We had to. There's safety in numbers." Scott said making Stiles scoff slightly, "Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre.. or bloodbath...Carnage... Slaughter...Butchery... Wow, that's..." He trails off when he notices Scott barely listening, chest rising with labored breaths. "All right, I'm telling Coach that-"
"No, no, no, no, I'm all right." Scott said making Blake scoff, "Well, you don't look all right! Would you just let me see it?" Stiles asked and Scott shook his head, "I'm okay.." he said. "If you're okay, then stop being so Intransigent and let us see it." Blake said and a reluctant nod, Scott lifts his shirt to reveal slash marks crusted in blood over his torso. Dark bruises surround each painful-looking wound.
"Oh, dude..."
"I know it's bad, but it's because they're from an Alpha- it'll take longer to heal." Scott said making Blake scoff, "How come Boyd and Isaac are fine, then? Scott, you've gotten wounds from Alpha's before, none of them took this long. You should be healed by now. You would be if you would let me heal you."
With no answer, Scott returns his weary gaze to the window and the world blurring past, "I can't believe he's dead... I can't believe Derek's dead."
Blake took a deep breath at the mentioning of her brother and sat back down in her seat. She looked down at her drawing which was a realistic looking sketch of Derek. She sighed softly as she messed with the necklace around her neck while a tear fell down her face.
All of the sudden, Stiles got up and moved over to Blake's seat. He picked up her legs before gently setting them on the ground and sitting next to her. "What are you doing?" Blake asked as he made her turn so he could wrap his arm around her. "Sitting with my girlfriend." He said, smiling down at her making her smile softly and rest her head on his chest.
About half an hour later Coach points an angry finger at a couple of team members in the aisle, "The two of you-- back in your seats! Jared, again?Carsick? Every ti-- How do you even get on the bus? Look at me! No, don't look at me! Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes-keep your eyes on the horizon. McCall, not you, too?" Coach yelled making Scott lift up his head, "No Coach, I'm good."
"Hale!" Coach yelled making Blake jump slightly and look away from the window. Stiles had went back to Scott a minute ago making her go back to leaning against the window while looking out. "Don't tell me you're getting sick too." Coach said pointing at her making her shake her head. "No, no. I'm just depressed." She said, holding a thumbs up and he nodded, "Very well."
As Coach turns away, Stiles spots the dark blood stains on Scott's shirt underneath his jacket. "Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again. And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that "still bleeding" means "not healing," like, at all." Stiles said but Scott gazes past him, attention focused down the aisle.
"He's listening." Scott said nodding towards Ethan who sat next to Danny. Blake looked over to see Ethan with his head turned a little, obviously listening. "Yeah? Then he can hear me tell him that he can go fuck himself." Blake said before turning back to Scott and Stiles.
"Is he gonna do something?" Stiles asked and Scott shook his head, "Not in front of this many people." Scott's tone comes off like a warning directed at Ethan. Slowly, the twin pulls back out of sight. "Okay, well, what about the two ticking time-bombs sitting right near him?"
"No, they won't-- not here."
"Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop 'em?"
"If I have to."
⊚
All of the sudden Scott started to stand up making Stiles and Blake look at him confused. "Scott? Where are you going?" Stiles said, 'Boyd-- he's gonna do something."
"Okay, what? How do you know?"
"Look at his hands." Scott said and they turned to see Boyd opens his fist, claws out. "Sit." Blake said as she stood up making Scott go to argue, "Scott McCall you sit your ass down right now. You are still hurt, you're not going to move and make it worse. I will deal with it." Blake said giving Scott a look making him sigh and sit back down.
Blake walked over to where Boyd and Isaac sat and sat in the seat next to them. "What are you going to do Boyd?" She asked eyeing his clawed hand, "Something." He growled out making her raise her eyebrows. "Something? Like attack him in a bus full of human teenagers? That sounds like a great idea, I wonder how they would react seeing their classmate who is twice their size with fangs, claws and glowing eyes." She said making him look at her for a second and sigh before calming down.
"We can't just sit here and not do anything. Blake, they killed Derek." Isaac said and Blake sighed and looked down at her hands for a moment before look back up at them. "I know that. But beating the shit out of them or killing them, isn't going to bring him back. You'll just be like Peter. You remember what I told you about what my uncle did? How he hunted down and kill a bunch of people because they killed our family?" She asked and they nodded.
"Him doing that didn't bring our family back. It just made everything worse. And that's exactly what happened if you go after them." She said making them glance at each other and sigh, "Trust me, I wanna beat the shit out of them more than anyone. But punching someone will feel good in that moment but it won't after wards." She said.
"But you punch people all the time." Isaac said making her squint at him, "Yeah well, you guys are a lot nicer than I am. You'll actually feel guilty afterwards. So moral of the story dont do anything." Blake said and the pursed her lips, leaning forward, "At least not while we're on a bus full of humans." She whispered and went to stand up but Boyd spoke up making her stop.
"How are you so okay?" He asked making her furrow her brows, "You knew him better and longer than anyone else, he was your brother and yet you're handling this better than anyone else. How are you so okay?" Boyd ask and Blake took a deep breath, playing with the necklace around her neck.
"I'm not. I've just done this before and I've learned that death is inevitable and can happen to anyone at anytime. So I've kind of just excepted it. It gets better eventually." She said, smiling at them sadly as she patted Boyd's shoulder before walking back over to Scott and Stiles.
"Crisis averted?" Stiles asked and Blake sat back down, "Mmhmm." She hummed while nodding. "Okay, good, 'cause we got another problem. Ethan keeps checking his phone, like, every five minutes. It's like, he's waiting for someone, you know? Like, a message or a signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that."
"I don't like him sitting with Danny." Scott said and Stiles and Blake nodded in agreement. "Yeah, neither do I." Stiles said as he pulled out his phone, "What are you doing?" Blake asked as Stiles started typing, "I'm gonna ask." He said. Him and Danny texted back and forth for a moment until Danny put his phone away causing Stiles to aggressively spam text him.
Peering over their seat, Stiles and Scott watch them. Ethan glances back and they both boys drop down out of sight while Blake just held up her middle finger. "That was so subtle it's like you guys are ninjas." Blake said sarcastically making Stiles playfully glare at her as his phone vibrates with a new message: "Someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night"
"Ennis?" Scott asked, "Okay, so, does that mean, uh..." Stiles trailed off.
"He's not dead."
"Not yet." Stiles said and Blake pursed her lips, "You know, I never wish death upon anyone but I hope all of them, especially Ennis, die a horrible death."
⊚
'Jared, I'm warning you, I'm an empathetic vomiter-- you throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you, and it will be profoundly disgusting."
"Please don't talk about throwing up... It's not good..."
"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared."
'It's not good... It's not good..."
"Now, the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam... a minor tornado warning... Jared... We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us. Stilinski, put your hand down." Coach said and Stiles lowered his hand down a bit. "You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half mile up. I don't know, if we stop, and then maybe-"
"We're not gonna stop."
"Okay, but if we stop-"
"Stilinski! Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"
I hate him. Did you call Deaton?" Stiles asked looking at School, who shook his head, "I keep getting his voicemail." Scott said making Blake sigh and pull out her phone. "Fuck this. I'm call Lydia and Allison." She said as she started to dial Lydia's number. "How are they gonna help, back in Beacon Hills?" Scott asked making Blake scoff.
"They've been following us since we left the school." She said right before Lydia answered the phone, "Hey, Blake! Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie! Uh, you know, the popcorn, and-"
"Lydia, you're a horrible liar, know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker."
"Okay..."
"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt."
"What do you mean, "still?" He's not healing?"
"No, he's not healing. He's actually getting worse. The blood is starting to look like my blood. And he won't let me heal him, and I can't just punch him to make him let me because he's still hurt."
"W-what's wrong with him?"
"What's wrong with him? I just cause I've lived with werewolves my whole life doesn't mean I know everything about them. This kind if thing doesn't just happen."
"We need to get him off the bus."
"And take him where, a hospital?"
"If he's dying, yeah. Blake, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over."
"Yeah, Stiles been trying..."
"Well, reason with him."
"Reason? Have you met this guy?"
"Just try something!"
Whistle hanging from his lips, Coach stares blankly at Stiles as he makes a second attempt at convincing him to stop. "Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay? We've been on this thing for, like, three hours-" Coach blows a short burst of the whistle. "It's sixty miles to the next rest stop-" Another whistle burst.
"Being cooped up for hours is not good-" Whistle.
"You know, our bladders aren't exactly-" Whistle.
"Coach, this-" Whistle.
"Can you please-" Whistle.
"Let me talk!-" Whistle.
"I'm-" Whistle.
"Every time-" Coach blows the whistle for as long as he can in Stiles's face. While everyone around covers their ears, Stiles takes the full blast until the whistle drops from Coach's lips. "Get back to your seat, Stilinski!"
"OKAY!" Apoplectic with rage, Stiles turns back down the aisle in jaw- clenched silence. "Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon." Coach said and Jared responds with a moan, a sound which stops Stiles short. Thinking, he slowly turns back, then slips into the seat next to him. "Hey, Jared... How you doing?" Stiles says
and his lips spread into a malevolent smile
⊚
Stiles and Allison hurry Scott into the rest stop men's room while Lydia shuts and locks the door behind them. Scott slumps down against the stained tile wall and his jacket falls open to reveal this bloody torso. Kneeling to him, Allison lifts his shirt and looks over the wounds.
"Oh, my God..."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison asked and Scott gave her a weak smile, "Sorry..." He said weakly. "Okay, just give us a second, okay?" Allison says then pulls Blake, Stiles and Lydia aside to whisper. "This shouldn't be happening- I've seen him heal from worse than this. Can you heal him?" Allison asked looking at Blake who sighed and shook her head.
"It's gotten to bad. I dont have enough Healer training for this." Blake said with a slight shrug, "Okay, what do we do, then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles asked and Allison sighed worriedly. "What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" She said, "We gotta do something."
"You know, it could be psychological." Lydia making them all look at her confused, "What do you mean? Like, psychosomatic?" Stiles asked.
"Somatoformic."
"Som-"
"A physical illness from a psychogenic cause?" Lydia said and Allison and Stiles still looked incredibly confused making Blake sigh, "She's saying it's all in his head." Blake said and Lydia nodded in agreement. "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died." Stiles said and Allison nodded, "So, what do we do?"
Lydia opens her purse and pulls out a travel sewing kit, "Stitch him up." She said and Allison and Stiles raise their eyebrows. "I'm serious! Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing." They glance back to Scott. Breathing becoming more and more labored, he holds his hand tighter over his shirt, blood seeping between his fingers.
A few seconds later a lighter flame licks the tip of a sewing needle, sanitizing its point. Clicking the lighter off, Allison tosses it back to Blake. Stiles pulls out every paper towel from the dispenser, surrounding Scott with them as Allison cleans the blood from the wounds. "He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" Allison said and Stiles nodded.
"Um, I'm gonna get it. I hate needles anyway, so...Uh, do you know what you're doing?" Stiles asked and Allison nodded, "Yeah, my father taught me." She said. "I mean, how fast are you gonna...? I mean, the bus, like... the bus could leave."
"Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave." Allison said and Blake nodded before grabbing Stiles hand, "We got it." She said before her, Stiles and Lydia walked out of the bathroom.
** "You sure this is a good idea?" Blake asked as Scott pulls on his jacket, and picks up his bike helmet. "Yes, I'm sure. We need to try something that doesn't involve killing each other." Scott said and Blake sighed. "Let's hope this actually works then." She said.
They turned to walk out but stopped when they see Isaac standing in the door way. "Where are you guys going?" He asked and they both awkwardly pursed their lips, "Uh, we were gonna go get some food to eat..." Scott said and Isaac nodded.
"Oh, cool! I'll come with you." Isaac said and Blake and Scott glanced each other, "Nah, dude. It's okay. We can eat alone. You know, foster brother and sister bonding time." Scott said and Blake nodded. "What are you getting?" Isaac asked and Scott looked st Blake with wide eyes.
"Mexican." Blake answered and Isaac smiled, "Dude, I love Mexican." Isaac said moves to grab the extra helmet, that was ment for Blake, off the floor, but Scott stops him. "Isaac, I can eat alone. It's okay." Scott said but Isaac picks up the helmet anyway. "You're not going alone. Come on."
Scott meets the boy's perfectly sincere gaze and, finally, gives a grateful nod. Blake sighed and shrugged before pulling out her keys, "Fine. But if there's gonna be three of us then we're taking the camaro and I'm driving."
"We're going to talk to him. Try to reason with him. That's it." Scott said as they got out of Blake's car. Isaac nods with a thoughtful look as he closes the car door, "What?" Scott asked and Isaac just shrugged, "It's just--I'm actually kind of hungry now." He said. "So am I." Scott agreed, hand to his shoulder, Scott leads him forward as Blake nodded in agreement.
A silhouetted Blake, Scott and Isaac proceed cautiously into the bowels of the mall, a structure both bare and foreboding. Standing just outside one shaft of light, Deucalion cocks his head, listening to their approach. "You didn't come alone."
"Yeah... this is Isaac and Blake."
"I'm not talking about Blake and Isaac."
The crunch of boots turns the three's heads. Three silhouettes step into the light. Blake sighed and shook her head when she saw Derek, Boyd and Cora walk out of the shadows.
"You knew I'd do this." Scott says but Derek doesn't look at him. He passes through a shaft of light and into darkness. When he steps into the light again, he's a werewolf, fangs bared, red glowing. Cora and Boyd transformed behind him, they approach, steady and fearless.
"Derek, don't. You can't do this and no one gets hurt. If someone dies-" Blake says but Derek cut her off and points at Deucalion, "Him. Just him."
"Just me? Now how's a blind man find his way into a place like this all on his own?" Suddenly the sound of claws scraping made them all turn to see Kali sliding down a pillar by her claws. And soon enough Ennis and the twins made an appearance as well. **
A whistle blowing over a crowd outside the bus where a fight has broken out as Coach desperately tries to pull the teenagers apart. Blake and Stiles turns to Scott who arrives helped by Allison and Lydia. "What's happening?" Scott asked, "They went after him. We told 'em what was happening with you, and they just went after him!"
"Who, Boyd?" Scott asked and Blake shook her head, "No, Isaac."
"Isaac! Isaac! Isaac! Back off! Stop!" Coach yelled trying to break up the fight but still swinging his fists even as Danny struggles with him, Isaac tries to get another hit at Ethan. The twin takes the beating with a disturbing smile until suddenly Scott pushes through the crowd.
"Isaac!" Scott's voice thunders through the crowd, turning every head and shutting every mouth. Whistle hanging off his lip, even Coach falls silent under the young man's commanding presence. Lowering his fist, Isaac looks at the healed Scott with relief. And finally, backs off.
** Snarling, Derek rushes Deucalion. But Kali launches toward him, feet slashing. At the same time, Ennis quickly takes both Boyd and Cora to the ground. Above, Ethan and Aiden leap off a platform. Two feet land below, the Twin Alpha formed. The creature roars, turning to face Scott and Isaac, both now transformed and charging into the fight. Blake rolls her eyes, sighing before moving to help her sister and Boyd with Ennis.
But as bodies hit the floor, limbs crack and blood flies Ennis wraps his powerful arms around Isaac, Kali shoves Cora to the floor with a foot over her neck while grabbing Blake by the neck, making sure that her claws are in the perfect position to pierce skin if Blake moved.
The Twins drag a struggling Scott into a vise-like hold. Spitting blood, Boyd tries to push himself up from the cement floor as Derek turns to find him lying at his feet.
"Kill him. The others can go." Deucalion says making all eyes look to Derek. Boyd peers up at him while still trying to find the strength to rise. "You're beaten. Do it, Derek. Take the first step." Held by the Alphas, Scott and the others look on Derek and the choice presented to him.
"Are we serious with this kid? Look at him. He's an Alpha? To what? A couple of useless teenagers?" Kali snarled. "Some have more promise than others." Deucalion says, he turns slightly, almost as if he's looking at Scott. But the others keep their eyes on Derek.
"Let him rise to the occasion then. What'll it be, Derek? Pack or family?" Kali asked as her eyes glow a fierce red as she pushes her foot down on Cora's neck, threatening to break it before smirking. She tightened her grip on Blake's neck, draw small drops of blood as her claws dug into flesh making Blake hiss in pain.
Derek looks from his sisters to Boyd, an impossible decision. Until, his ear picks up a familiar sound.
The drawing of a bow string.
Derek ducks down as a flashbolt arrow whistles past and strikes the Twins, exploding against them in a blinding flash. Scott slips free as Ethan and Aiden break apart, bodies tumbling back.
"Your eyes--cover your eyes!" Deucalion yells making Kali let go of Blake and Cora. Blake quickly brings her foot up, kicking Kali away before ducking down to grab Cora, covering her sister's eyes in the process
As Derek pulls Boyd to his feet, Ennis drops Isaac and charges like a battering ram toward Scott. But astonishingly, Scott drops his shoulder and rushes in to meet the Alpha.
As they claw with brutal force, for the briefest second, Scott's eyes glow red-the eyes of an Alpha. Deucalion turns his head as if sensing it, breath taken away by this significant moment. But Scott tumbles back to the floor, eyes returned to yellow and not recovering nearly fast enough when he sees Derek pulled to his feet by Ennis. Scrambling forward, Scott swipes at Ennis's ankle, catching him right in the Achilles' heel.
Ennis staggers forward. Derek's feet hit the floor, but he stumbles as well, Ennis's hands still locked on him. Both werewolves tumble backwards. Blake's eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen making her scream out "No!"
Derek looks over at Blake hearing her yell before both men go off the side of the escalator platform. Their bodies fall, slamming to the pavement with a terrible cracking sound.
Blake let's out a heartbreaking scream as she rushes over to where Derek once stood but Scott grabbed her and pulled her away, holding her close to him. They both fell to their knees as she let out heart wrenching sobs. Scott hugged her close, putting her head in his chest making her grip onto him.
The mall was quite, the only sound was Blake's cries as everyone watched in silence, tears on their eyes as they watched the girl who always seemed so strong break. Cora slowly walked over to her sister, gently placing her hand on Blake's back before leaning her forehead against Blake's shoulder. **
The bus rumbles toward ever-darkening skies while Stiles turns to Blake in their seat, Lydia sitting in the seat next to them. "All right, let's go over this one more time... So, it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's, like, a dark Druid of some kind."
"Or actually is a dark Druid." Lydia said and Stiles nodded, "A Darach." He said and Blake pursed her lips in thought. "You know... Some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle." She said making Stiles raise his eyebrows at her.
"So, we've got Alpha Werewolves against a dark Druid?" He said and the girls nodded, "Yep. Let's hope the next threat we get is just a simple Pokémon." Blake muttered making Stiles look st her in awe. "You just keep on proving that you're the best girlfriend more and more." He said making her laugh and rest her head on his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around her.
**Blake sat on the edge of her bed looking down at a necklace in her hand. It was a silver locket with a triskelion carved into the front. A tear slowly fell down her cheek as she opened it to reveal two small photos on both sides.
One was a picture from back when she was at least three years old, it was of Laura holding Cora on her hip while Derek had Blake on his shoulders and Peter was standing behind them with his arms crossed. The picture was taken on Derek's birthday and they all held wide smiles on their face, even Peter was smiling. The other picture was a portrait picture of her mother back when she was about eighteen. She was smiling, looking as happy and as beautiful as ever.
Talia had given Blake that necklace a month before the fire for Christmas. She had always worn it but stopped wearing it after the fire, it pained her to much it even look at it. She took a deep breath before closing the locket, bringing it up to put it around her neck.
All of the sudden her bed room door burst open making Blake's head shot up to see Stiles run in. She bit her lip before standing up and rushing over to him. He met her half way and pulled her into a tight hug as her body shook in quite sobs. Scott had called Stiles, waking him up to tell him what happened making him instantly get up and race over. Know just how much Blake was hurting, she had just lost her brother who had been her rock for seventeen years.**
Blake gazed down at her notebook at the picture of Derek with a sad expression as she played with her necklace. Stiles looked down at her and sighed sadly before kissing the top of her head making her look up at him with a sad smile.
She moved to where she was more laying against him with his arm around her. They both looked out the window, wishing that last night was nothing but a horrible nightmare.
A few minutes later Stiles looked down to see Blake with her eyes closed making him smile softly, knowing she didn't get any sleep the night before. Quietly he grabbed his jacket that he took off earlier before laying it out on top of her.