â The Nogitsune â
word count: 7965
Juno was in the basement of her home, leaning against a table as she watched her Vampiric sun protection brew. Anyone who wasn't familiar with alchemy or potion making would be certain that the Clarkes' basement was a meth lab, but it was where Juno would spend most of hour night hours if she weren't wandering around the woods just to kill time.
A surge of panic throughout her body caused her to stand straight. She clutched onto her abdomen as she tried to steady her breathing.
"Stiles," she muttered, knowing well that he was the source of sudden panic. Cursing under her breath, she rearranged the numerous flasks on the brewing table so they wouldn't boil. She ran up the basement stairs and snatched her old letterman jacket off one of the hooks and frantically put on her shoes, before fleeing the house.
Something however wasn't right. Juno could normally scope out Stiles' scent from wherever she was, but it had weakened for whatever reason. She wondered whether if she had finally gotten used to it, and groaned in frustration at the realisation. His blood scent lingered slightly, but it wasn't enough for her to track him. She was about to race to Stiles' house, but an intense feeling of terror washed over her.
She frantically looked around her, feeling suspicious of everything around her. Letterboxes, shrubs, the shadows of trees, everything in her sight seemed as if it was a mysterious figure watching her until she would focus her attention on it and see what the object really was. She began to hyperventilate; she felt afraid that someone was going to harm her, but she had no reason to be, it was Stiles' fear that she could feel.
It only made her want to find him more, to save him from whatever was making him feel so horrified. But unfortunately, moving was the last thing her body allowed her to do. Stiles' intense anxiety and fear completely took over her mind, to the point where Juno began to wonder if it was just Stiles' fear that she felt of perhaps her own. She stood in the centre of the empty road, hands trembling and knees shaking as her breathing became more and more rapid as each second passed.
Juno's legs completely gave out, and she was suddenly kneeling on the asphalt in the middle of the road. Her hands fumbled to her pocket where she struggled to retrieve her phone. Her trembling hands could barely swipe the screen and open it, especially due to her ice cold hands. After multiple attempts, she finally unlocked her phone, and immediately called Scott to tell him that there was something wrong with Stiles.
He answered the phone immediately, breathless, possibly from running.
"Juno! Did Stiles call you too?" Scott asked immediately.
"N-no," she managed to let out. Her hands trembled, and her voice was shaking when talking over the phone with Scott. "I-I can f-feel that h-he's"
"Juno, hey, it's alright," Scott reassured. "We're gonna go to the sheriff's station to tell Stiles' dad that he's missing. Can you go and get your brother to see if he can help?" Scott asked. Juno choked out a yes before hanging up. She made her way towards the hospital, but only at human pace as she found herself having to stop every few seconds just to catch her breath.
-
Juno was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. She had done what Scott asked, but apparently Cyrus was busy so she had to wait for the end of his shift to speak to him, which was luckily soon. Scott arrived at the hospital followed by Isaac and a swarm of police officers. He found Juno in the waiting room and recounted everything Stiles told him over the phone, from his industrial location to the strong stench that made his eyes water, and to the fact that he was bleeding. Scott and Isaac both asked Juno if she was willing to search the hospital with them for Stiles, but Juno felt uneasy knowing that Stiles was bleeding, but she couldn't smell it.
Everything around her seemed like a threat in her eyes. Due to Stiles' emotions, she felt pure terror of anything around her hurting her. This only made her worry about Stiles more, knowing that he was afraid of someone harming him in anyway.
Juno clutched onto the cuffs of her jacket, bouncing her leg up and down as she tried to take her mind off of the intense feelings of terror in her body. Shutting her eyes tight, she begged her mind to make the feelings stop, the feeling that something was about to jump out at her and harm her despite her in no situation to feel so.
A strong grip on her shoulders made her open her eyes sharply. She frantically looked around, the sudden force definitely not helping the anxiety she felt from Stiles. She looked up and saw Cyrus leaning down slightly so he could make direct eye contact with her. He frowned, reading her mind as he knew she was in no position to form complete sentences as she trembled under his grasp.
Immediately, he lead her out of the building and outside so she could breathe in the fresh air. Noticing that the emotions that she could sense from Stiles were still present, he sighed as he reluctantly dug his nails deep into her shoulders, and tightened his grip on her, using all of his Vampiric strength that he could.
Juno hissed and shoved Cyrus off him. She rubbed her shoulders from the pain, but ultimately thanked him for using pain as a way to bring her back to normality.
Sighing, she brushed loose curls away from her face. The fact that she couldn't smell Stiles' blood despite him apparently bleeding was beyond her, and absolutely worrying to her.
"Do you know much about what's happened?" She asked her brother.
"All I got was that he had gone missing, no more details than that," Cyrus explained. "I'm assuming you haven't found him yourself because his emotions are holding you back?"
Juno shrugged, completely unsure about the whole situation she's experiencing. "Well, I can feel everything he feels, so I know he's in danger, but if you're implying that his anxiety is preventing me from following his scent, then you're wrong; I can't trace his scent at all."
Cyrus frowned, his eyes mixed with both confusion and worry. "Stiles Stilinski: the boy who's blood makes you dizzy every time you're near him, and you can't even get a whiff?" Cyrus asked in disbelief.
Juno shook her head, pulling her hair at the roots as she grew increasingly frustrated with herself and her inability to find Stiles. "I've tried! Scott told me that Stiles said over the phone that a strong scent made his eyes water so maybe that's why I can't track him, but then he told me that he was bleeding and-"
"For you specifically, no other scent could overpower the scent of his blood, especially if he's bleeding," Cyrus hummed. He pinched the bridge of his nose in thought. Cyrus began to pace, wondering why Juno specifically couldn't track him down. Stiles' blood scent was completely unique to her, and was one of the reasons why she became so attracted to him, so there could hardly be a logical reason as to why she couldn't track him.
But then Cyrus connected the dots. With the appearance of the Oni, and the sudden disappearance of Stiles, and adding the fact that Juno can't track him, he realised something.
"Stiles isn't Stiles anymore," he muttered to himself.
Juno raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Stiles isn't himself," Cyrus clarified. "And what I mean by that, is that the Stiles that we're looking for is not the same Stiles that you know. His mind has been taken over by the Nogitsune."
Juno frowned upon the realisation, "the dark spirit that the Oni are looking for..." She mumbled to herself. "W-what do we do?" She asked, desperation evident in her eyes as she stepped towards Cyrus eagerly.
"Well the first thing we need to do is find the bastard before he does God knows what," Cyrus hissed. "Nogitsunes feed off of chaos, strife; he could be doing all sorts of things to cause chaos, and it could end up hurting or even killing others."
Juno looked down at the ground. She wanted to refuse that Stiles would ever hurt anyone even if they seriously deserved it, but knowing that a dark spirit could taint his blood and make her not smell him made sense, but it was a hard pill to swallow.
"How come I can still sense his emotions then?" She asked.
"Stiles is still there, but his mind isn't in control," Cyrus answered. Juno's breath hitched, the thought of Stiles having a war in his mind, having to watch as the dark spirit would do whatever he pleased; it made her feel sick. "You're connected to his mind, June, not his body. You can still feel everything he feels, but this possession means his blood scent is gone. He doesn't have physical control, the Nogitsune does."
Suddenly Juno could feel her chest tighten, but it wasn't Stiles' feelings, it was her own. Her vision became foggy as tears welled in her eyes. Somehow, she thought to blame herself for not being able to prevent this from happening despite Stiles' possession not being caused by her. Still, Juno felt a pang of guilt, and the image of Stiles fighting against a demon in his own mind, being unable to stop his body from causing harm, caused Juno to sob uncontrollably.
Cyrus read his sister's mind and pulled her into an embrace, gently stroking her blonde curls as she wept into his chest. "June, you couldn't have had anything to do with this."
"But what if I did?" She choked out. "I had been ignoring him. I was distant. I could have seen the signs better and I could have stopped it-"
Cyrus had his hands gripped firmly on her shoulders and leaned lower to make direct eye contact. Staring into her bloodshot, teary eyes, Cyrus tried not to tear up himself seeing his sister so heartbroken for the first time in decades.
"Juno, you couldn't have done anything to stop this from happening to Stiles," He reassured, his grip tightening to emphasise his seriousness. "This was something out of your hands, all you have to do now is keep it together to save Stiles. Besides, he may not be fully taken over yet, but instead he may be fighting against it," Cyrus reassured.
Juno frowned, "w-what do you mean fighting it? How can he not be-"
"You've been feeling his anxiety, his fear, haven't you?" He questioned. Juno simply nodded. "He may be afraid of the Nogitsune fully taking over. Maybe there's still a piece of him in control, but he's slipping. Keep it together so he can be found. Don't tell anyone about the Nogitsune just yet, if there's a possibility he can fight it off, there's a good chance he may if it's what he's been able to do for the past few weeks."
Juno was avoiding her brother's gaze, but she knew that he was right in her needing to be stronger than a lovesick girl weeping over a missing boy that she was no more than friends with. She wondered why she couldn't tell Scott about Stiles, but it made sense to her that Stiles may still be hanging on to control over his body, and she didn't exactly want to be the one to tell Scott that his best friend was fighting a Japanese demon in his mind.
She was about to question Cyrus more, but a hoard of police were running out of the hospital, followed by Scott who tailed behind them. Her eyes widened watching the urgency. She quickly managed to grab Scott's forearm, asking him what was going on.
"They've found him," he announced breathlessly. As Juno's eyes widened, Scott firmly took hold of her wrist, and lead her to where the Sheriff was taking them.
-
Lydia thought she had found where Stiles was. The whole police force along with Scott, Isaac, and Juno were lead to an insane asylum under the name Eichenhouse, but Stiles was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Scott' father found Stiles holed up in a coyote den, which was apparently the den that belonged to a girl that he helped transform from Coyote to human.
Everything had returned to 'normal' except Juno found herself staring into space in class, the thought of a demonic spirit dwelling in Stiles' mind was eating her alive. She also felt guilty for completely cutting him off. Not only could she not have supported him with genuineness when he went through the repercussions of the ritual, but she was left in the dark when he and the others whom she thought were her friends, saved a WereCoyote.
She had no one to blame but herself. It was her decision to cut most people off which resulted in her being left out. Juno hid her face in her hands as an overwhelming sense of emotions took over her. Not only was she worried about Stiles, but she felt an unbearable level of guilt for being irrational to a group of people that she enjoyed being around. She rarely interacted with others as she was afraid to lose them due to her supernatural nature, but now that she actually had some friends, she felt that she was going to lose them to her stubbornness.
But before Juno could have her impulses take over and turn around to Lydia, the school bell rang, and Lydia got up as quickly as she could. She stormed out of the classroom, her palms pressed firmly against her ears, and her brow furrowed as she ran out. Juno groaned, her many cries out to Lydia clearly not being heard at all as she continued to run out of the building. Juno flinched at a hand on her shoulder. Looking beside her, her shoulders relaxed noticing Scott beside her.
"She's been hearing things lately, she says it's driving her insane," he explained, sighing once Lydia was completely out of sight.
"I just wanted to apologise for being a shitty friend..." Juno sighed.
"She knows how you're feeling, I'm pretty sure Allison was kind of your middle-man and told her everything."
"I'd still want closure and to get it off my chest. I don't want her to think I just let things go and pretend it never happened, or hope that things will mend if I ignore it. That's not who I am."
Scott smiled, "you're a good person, Juno, but don't let the weight of something like this hold you down." He admired her determination to make things work, showing how dedicated she was to her new friends and to make sure they stayed close.
Juno couldn't fight the small smile that formed on her face. However, she remembered Stiles, and suddenly her face fell. And though Scott couldn't read her mind, he still knew what was wrong.
"After school I was gonna visit Stiles, did you wanna come with me?" He asked.
Juno shook her head. "You're more family to him than I am. I think I'll just head home, Cyrus will probably call me to the hospital anyway so I might see you there later."
Scott hummed in agreement. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he gently pulled her to his side for a brief moment when he noticed her eyes watering. Juno closed her eyes for a moment, letting a few tears roll down her pale cheeks.
"We'll do something about it, he'll be alright."
-
Like expected, Juno found herself at Beacon Hills Hospital anyway. She was carrying Cyrus' work bag that was filled with numerous folders and sachets of blood. She was told to pick it up and bring it home, since Cyrus was going to be performing Stiles' MRI. She wondered why since Cyrus was a surgeon, but of course, after being alive for so many years he would have had enough time to be a qualified medical technician.
As she strode towards the exit, the unmistakable, pungent smell of wet dog filled her nose, telling her that Scott, was possibly nearby. Peeking her head around a corner, she spotted Scott sitting in a chair beside Derek Hale. Scott had his head in his hands; he was speaking to Derek, but Juno couldn't make out what he was saying.
She hesitated to go towards him, but before she could make her own decision, Scott looked up and noticed her standing there. He smiled slightly, but his eyes showed the opposite.
Derek's normal brooding stare turned into a scowl noticing Juno at the end of the hall. He was about to speak up, but Scott getting up from his seat already told him that there was no point in saying what he wanted to.
Scott's pace as he made his way towards Juno quickened with each step. He was desperate for someone to show him just some emotion since Derek wasn't the greatest source for such a thing. Juno's small frame became foggy in Scott's vision as tears began to cloud his sight after recalling what had happened in the room with Stiles. He was worried that Stiles was going to end up like his mother at a significantly younger age.
Before Juno could speak, she was engulfed in Scott's arms. She stuttered for a moment as she was lost for words, but she relaxed her body and wrapped her arms around him tightly as she felt his chest pulsed while he held back sobs. Juno gently rubbed circular patterns into Scott's back with her palm, trying to soothe him somewhat. Scott's high body temperature made small beads of sweat form at her hairline as she wasn't used to such intense heat.
She herself tried not to get emotional. She was overwhelmed with the fact that Scott had thought of her close enough to see him be in such a state, let alone practically run into her arms when he saw her. Juno wasn't sure if Scott was just an easily trusting person, or rather he didn't care who he showed his emotions to, but the fact that she knew the likely reason as to why Stiles was struggling to be himself and she couldn't tell Scott made her feel even worse.
Scott pulled away and quickly ran his fingers along his undereyes, drying his cheeks from his tears.
He chuckled slightly before sniffling, "I'm sorry," he played off casually.
"Don't be sorry," Juno said, her voice almost at the level of a whisper. "Like you said earlier, he'll be alright."
"No, he won't be," Derek spoke up, still glaring at Juno. Juno fought every muscle in her body to not scowl at the Hale back, not wanting to ruin the moment by being foul. Instead, she ignored Derek, which somehow made him angrier that she was able to withstand his presence without being aggressive.
"Kira's foxfire kickstarted the Nogitsune and is taking over Stiles," Derek explained. Scott was puzzled at Juno's lack of surprise, since she already knew what had been happening to him. She looked at Scott apologetically and sighed.
"Cyrus had brought that up..." She mumbled in shame, not wanting to look at Scott as his expression was even more pained than previously. "He wasn't one hundred percent sure so he-"
"You two knew this was happening to Stiles and said nothing?" Derek spat, stepping threateningly close to Juno. "Do you realise we might have been able to help him if you told us sooner?"
"I only just found out last night!" She protested. "Like I said, we weren't even positive that was the case-"
Derek clenched the collar of Juno's shirt for a brief moment before Scott ripped him away from her.
"You don't threaten her like that, man!" Scott growled. "She's our friend, and if she says that her and her brother weren't exactly sure what was wrong with Stiles then it's fine."
Scott turned back to Derek and started talking again, about things that they found on the roof of the hospital when Stiles went missing. Juno however began to lose focus as she felt an intense feeling of anxiety and fear inside. Her breathing quickened, although she did everything she could to try and stop it. Inside her mind she couldn't get the image of Stiles feeling this way out of her mind, which only increased the anxiety that radiated off of him to her.
Scott turned around and froze as he noticed Juno's trembling hands pinching her own skin over and over. She was trying to cause pain to stop the feeling, like Cyrus had done to ther the night before.
"Juno? Is it Stiles?" He asked quickly, his hands gripping onto her shoulders as he lowered himself to look into her now golden eyes. Juno swatted his hands away and stepped back from him.
"P-pain... pain stops it from-"
Before Juno finished her sentence, Derek's clenched fist hit her square in the jaw. Juno cried out in pain and stumbled to the side slightly before catching her balance. Scott cursed out loud, turning to Derek to chew him out from what he had done. While Derek did stop the rising anxious feeling Stiles was giving her, she couldn't help but still be mad at him.
Glaring at the brooding Werewolf who now had a playful smirk on his face, she repositioned her jaw back into place.
"You absolute cu-"
"Alright!" Scott interrupted, holding his hands out in front of him to stop Juno from saying the horrible insult. "Juno, Derek and I are gonna check out the roof. Can you text me when Stiles is done?" He asked her. When Juno nodded, he then quickly bolted with Derek at his side. Juno huffed before sinking into the chair outside of the room Stiles must have been in. She peered into Cyrus' work bag and checked if each blood pouch was still cold. She sighed of relief before zipping it shut again, then leaned back in the chair.
After only a minute of playing a phone game that Stiles had downloaded for her -because goodness knows Juno can't handle technology- the lights in the hospital all turned off at once. Juno turned off her phone and stood up from her chair, squinting as her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. A few long seconds later, the lights turned on again, and the door that lead into the MRI room was open. Juno made eye contact with Sheriff Stilinski, Scott's Mother, and Cyrus. The three of them looked puzzled and fearful.
Stilinski charged out of the room with Melissa following close behind. Juno raised an eyebrow at Cyrus as he paced towards her.
"What the hell was that?" She asked, staring up at the lights that still flickered ever so slightly.
"Power surge, but I think it's Stiles' fault." Cyrus took his bag from Juno, then placed his hand on her shoulder as he lead her towards the exit. "And I think so since once the lights came back on, he had left the room," Cyrus said, answering Juno's question before she even asked it.
"He managed to disappear in just a few seconds?"
"It's the Nogitsune, it'll make him much more powerful. I think it's finally taken over because when I was guiding Stiles through the procedure, I could hear a second voice in his head."
"What was it saying? Do you know where he's going?"
"No, I don't. The Nogitsune was asking him the same riddle over and over, being the playful demonic spirit that it is," Cyrus answered the last part through gritted teeth. The Clarkes both pushed through the large entrance doors and towards the parking lot, but stopped when they saw sparks coming from a cut wire that laid in a pool of water. Juno gasped at the sight of Kira standing right on the edge of the water. Before Juno could run to her and pull her away, Cyrus held onto her shoulders and kept her close.
There was already a few bodies lying in the water, and one of them was Isaac's. Juno surged forwards, but Cyrus was far stronger and kept her still. She watched as Kira picked up the electrical wire that waved around her. Scott and Derek both ran out beside the Clarkes and watched Kira's eyes glow as she absorbed the hospital's electricity through her hands. The four of them stared dumbfoundedly, watching Kira drop the wire before she was quickly ushered away by what looked like her mother as more people began to run out of the hospital.
Derek ran to Isaac's side, where he yelled out to Scott that he wasn't breathing. Cyrus let go of Juno and followed Scott closely to pick up Isaac and bring him into the hospital. Derek began getting defensive, refusing his help, causing Cyrus to roll his eyes.
"I'm the best doctor this town has you mutt, don't deny my help now," he spat, lifting Isaac up with ease as he called out to the doctors running out of the hospital to help others in the water to bring him a stretcher. Juno looked down at Cyrus' bag that he had dropped to get Isaac and quickly picking it up. She was about to leave until Derek stopped her by grabbing onto her shoulder.
She narrowed her eyes at him as he took in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to talk to the Vampire without coming off as condescending.
"If you see Stiles, you tell somebody," he said lowly. "Don't let the Nogitsune play tricks on you, and I know you can tell if it's really him or the Nogitsune, so don't lie just to keep him safe."
"I wouldn't lie. And how do you know I can-"
"All you corpses have weird powers," Derek said through a condescending chuckle, causing Juno to frown. "And if I'm honest, I think you would lie. You wouldn't want to tell anyone if it's Stiles or the Nogitsune because you don't want a finger laid on him."
"Because I'm the only one that doesn't want him to get hurt," Juno said, rolling her eyes.
"You're not, but I don't trust you," he spat. "Prove that I can by bringing Stiles forward if you see him."
"Why do you assume I'll be the first to find him?" She asked.
Derek couldn't help but laugh at Juno's naivety. "Stiles seems to always find a way to you, or have whatever sentence comes out of his loud mouth be about you. I'd be surprised if you aren't the one who finds him."
"Right, but the Nogitsune and Stiles surely don't think alike, why would the Nogitsune find me?"
Derek leaned closer to Juno. The Werewolf scent causing her to scrunch up her nose slightly as his close proximity only made it strengthen. Derek locked her dark eyes onto hers, as a mean to intimidate her, but also let her know that he was serious. While he hated her and her brother Cyrus, she had Scott and the rest of his pack's trust. He wanted nothing more than to rip the Clarkes to shreds, but a small part of him wanted him to be able to trust them. An even smaller part of him wanted Juno to not be in danger around the new Stiles, but he would never admit that.
"You're Stiles' weakness, Juno, the Nogitsune will want everything to do with you."
-
The next day, Juno walked to the girl's locker room, replaying Derek's words in her mind. She didn't tell Scott what Derek had told her, and she definitely didn't tell Cyrus that the Hale spoke more than a syllable to her.
As she opened her locker to change into her sports clothes, a strong, flowery scent washed over her and caused Juno to become dizzy. She gripped onto the locker door and squinted her eyes shut, feeling weakness overcome her. For a moment her thoughts were muddled and she had no idea what was happening, but then the fragrance became familiar as she concentrated her thoughts.
Wild roses.
Juno noticed the fragrance dwindle, but was still present. She wondered who in the world was carrying wild roses at school, and why. The only reason she came up with was to lure her somewhere; even if someone brought a rose to school as a gift, or a teacher had one as a decoration, the rose wouldn't be from wild bushes.
Closing the locker door, she excused herself to get fresh air from feeling dizzy. Taking slow steps towards wherever the scent came from, Juno gently dragged her fingertips along the walls incase she were to lose her balance from the overwhelming diziness and weakness that became stronger the closer she became.
Unknowingly, she bumped into the chest of a Werewolf. Looking up, she made eye contact with none other than Aiden.
"You alright, Juno?" He asked, his hands holding onto her forearms as she stumbled slightly. Juno noticed with him were his twin brother Ethan, and Scott.
"Can you hear the emitter too?" Scott asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"What? No, Vampires can't hear those..." she spoke slowly, her mind unable to properly process a lot of things at once. "Someone has wild roses..."
"That's your weakness?" Ethan asked in disbelief.
"One of."
"Let's not wait around," Scott spoke up. "Whoever has an emitter and wild roses clearly wants us four to find them." Scott took hold of Juno's forearm and quickly lead her in the direction of the emitter, which was also the direction of where the scent of wild roses came from.
After the four had been wandering the halls, they found themselves at a storeroom. Scott opened the door, and the sound of the emitter became much clearer. Juno let out a deep breath as suddenly she felt even dizzier than before.
Looking up from the ground, Juno saw Stiles slowly turn to face them. In one hand, he was holding a silver device that emitted odd metallic sounds, and in the other, he held a bouquet of deep red wild roses.
"Guys, I swear it's me..." Stiles said steadily, holding his arms out in front of him in surrender, despite his hands being full. Juno heard two growls come from either side of her. While she wanted to stop the twins from attacking Stiles, she didn't have the strength to in the immediate presence of the roses. She watched the twins pin him against a cabinet and growl in his face. Scott repeatedly yelled at them to stop, but resorted to roaring with glowing eyes until they finally pulled away.
Breathlessly, Stiles looked around at the four. "It's me, I swear. I don't know where I've been the last few days but this is really me."
Juno couldn't help but feel suspicious. She wish she could be able to tell if it was the real Stiles or not, but her powers were weakened, and the rosey fragrance masked Stiles' blood. She could catch a small hint of it, but it was weak. Her eyes locked with his, and Stiles'face went from breathless to uplifted in a matter of seconds. He grinned as he practically ran to her, flowers still tight in his grip, causing Juno to step away from him and leaving his outstretched arms hanging.
"June, it's me, Stiles..." His broken mutter caused a sharp pain to appear in her chest.
She eyes the roses suspiciously. "Why do you have those..."
"Th-they're... I got them for you," he admitted shyly. Stiles smiled apologetically and advanced towards her again, but Juno took another step away, making his expression fall.
"If they weren't making my head spin and my powers nonexistent then I would be thankful for them, but they're doing that right now," she breathed out, hands trembling by her side.
Stiles cursed under his breath and threw the roses away in a cabinet, which made a slight difference for Juno, but the fragrance was still present. Without warning, she felt Stiles wrap his arms around her tightly. For the first time, she felt somewhat out of breath from how strong he held onto her. A part of her enjoyed the foreign feeling, but another part of her mind screamed that it wasn't right. She simply brushed it off as the roses still weakening her.
But she still felt off. Someone had laced her locker with wild rose fragrance. She could only be weakened by them in clsoe proximity, and was weakened the entire way she walked through the school halls all the way to Stiles. She realised, that someone, or in this case, Stiles, had deliberately placed the scent of wild roses around the halls that lead to him.
She then made another conclusion. It wasn't Stiles, but the Nogitsune.
Her body tensed up in his arms. Juno didn't even realised Stiles had let go of her until she saw him crouched down on the ground, pointing his index finger along blue prints that Scott and the twins surrounded. The boys payed no attention to Juno frozen in her place, assuming that it was just the roses that left her in such a state.
While Stiles was talking, Scott looked over to Juno with a worried expression. Making eye contact, he mouthed the words 'are you okay?' Juno kept her body still. Derek's words popped up in her mind again.
Don't lie just to keep him safe.
But she also remembered how quick the twins were to attack Stiles just at the sight of him. She remembered that Stiles is the only person other than her brother that she feels the most comfortable around, the most safe around. While she knew that having even a hunch that Stiles wasn't himself that she should tell someone, for some reason she just couldn't. Stiles frequently glanced over to her, and while he kept the seriousness on his face as he talked to the Werewolves, she still couldn't help but feel enslaved by the rich amber hue.
She completely ignored Derek's words, feeling protective over Stiles even if it wasn't the real him. She nodded at Scott, letting him know that she was fine.
And he believed her.
-
The entire day was filled with chaos. Juno thought it would be chaotic enough with Stiles luring her with wild roses, but she stayed along side him and the Werewolves to witness Coach have his diaphragm ruptured by an arrow, and now she was at the police station surrounded by injured, bleeding officers. Why Stiles thought it would be a good idea to bring her along was beyond her, but he insisted that she stay by his side during the day.
During the chaos, Juno could notice the scent of Stiles' blood being more present again. Stiles wasn't acting any out of the ordinary since the morning, but exactly like himself. His blood scent wasn't the strongest since he still had a mild trace of wild roses on his clothes, but Juno began to think that maybe this was the real Stiles, and earlier she didn't actually lie to Scott.
One thing that she did notice that was different about Stiles' behaviour was his increase in confidence. He wasn't slightly awkward or anxious around her anymore, but instead he would constantly touch her in any way he could. She found him gently placing his hand on the small of her back to usher her somewhere. She found him purposely grazing their hands against each other when they walked, or even out right draped his arm around her shoulders to keep her close. It was suspicious, but at the same time, Juno had no complaints.
She noticed Stiles initiating the constant need for touch again as she felt his warm palm gently rub circles into her back as she tried to keep her eyes a dark brown in the police station. He leaned close, telling her that things would be fine, that she had control.
It was almost uncomfortable to be around this newly confident Stiles Stilinski. It had only been a few hours but she missed his stuttering and inability to finish sentences around her. It was one of the main reasons why she fell so hard for him.
"I'm going to check on Scott okay?" Stiles muttered. When Juno nodded, he quickly got up and went over to Scott who was knelt beside a dying police officer. Juno got up from her seat and left the station entirely, standing in the parking lot, letting the heavy rain drench her clothing and her hair. Not only did she feel out of place since she had no real reason to be there other than the fact that Stiles wanted her to be, but the number of dying people in there made her feel uneasy, and not just because of the amount of blood in the room, but because of the lives that she could easily save, but at the same time she couldn't.
That's when Juno began to feel miserable. Being dragged around all day, only to watch people get hurt. Seeing Coach get shot by an arrow in front of her and watch him bleed out and scream before an ambulance came took a toll. Now, adding dozens of police officers who were dying, and she was there just to stand on the sidelines made everything feel even worse.
Juno wasn't sure why her emotions were all over the place, but the past few days had been overwhelming. From Stiles disappearing, to reappearing, disappearing again and then running around unknowingly causing all of this pain for her to just stand on the sides and watch was taking its toll. She began to sob uncontrollably. She knew there were waterfalls running down her cheeks but the rain definitely hid it. It was as if something made her only feel utter misery and emotional pain, something wanted her to let everything out.
Suddenly Stiles ran out of the police station, wide eyes as he saw Juno hunched over slightly, her blonde curls sopping wet. Strands stuck to sides of her face as she continued to sob. Stiles panicked slightly, before quickly taking her in his arms, pleading in her ear to not cry.
What Juno didn't know was that Stiles wasn't telling her not to cry because he didn't want her to be upset, but because he wanted her to keep everything bottled up inside of her.
Her intuition earlier was right, and Stiles was indeed taken over by the Nogitsune.
He was just in time though. She hadn't been crying for long, and as his arms were around her, he felt seven hundred years of pent up aggression, depression, and pain be absorbed into his body. He let out a deep breath of ecstasy as the sweet feeling of all of Juno's suffering fueled his body. The Nogitsune originally wanted Scott to absorb pain all day, but Scott's pain would be nothing compared to the pain Juno had been holding onto for centuries.
At a rapid pace, Juno felt every negative feeling wash away. She pulled away from Stiles, staring up at him with eyes full of shock, unable to completely comprehend what had happened. She looked up into his eyes and noticed that they were a lot darker than before. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and his pupils were greatly dilated. His hair now drenched as well, raindrops rolling down his temples and down the bridge of his nose.
"Stiles-"
"The Oni are coming!" A breathless Kira cried out, running towards them from the parking lot of the station. Kira fumbled over her words as she breathlessly asked where Scott was. In that moment, Scott came running out as he had seen Kira through one of the windows of the station.
While Kira repeated her words to Scott, Stiles looked down at Juno with wild eyes swimming with fear. Juno clutched onto his hand, ready to lead him to wherever Scott would take them to hide Stiles from the Oni. However a feeling in Juno wasn't sitting right.
Stiles' blood scent wasn't that strong, and despite Stiles looking scared, she didn't feel it.
She still kept her mouth shut anyway.
The four made their way to the vet clinic, since Scott said the mountain ash that protected the building would fight off the Oni for a short while.
"Juno get Stiles inside!" Scott yelled as he began to fight off the Oni.
"I can't die but you can, Scott!" Juno cried over the loud sounds of heavy rain pouring around them. "I can fight them off for a while, don't risk getting hurt and make sure Stiles is okay," she insisted.
Scott was hesitant, but he knew that Juno was right. The Oni may be stronger, but she was faster, and if she slipped up and they hurt her, she wouldn't be killed. That wasn't the case for him and Kira. Scott and Kira both fought the Oni off a little more before running into the clinic, leaving Juno alone in the pouring rain fighting off three other Japanese demons.
It wasn't difficult for her to dodge the punches and attempted slashes they made with their Katanas, but Juno knew a hit into them would only stun them for a moment rather than knock them out or kill them. Juno hissed in pain as one of the Oni cut into her forearm. Wincing as she watched the wound slowly close and heal before her eyes, she stumbled backwards away from the Oni, realising that fighting them off would do nothing but be monotonous.
Opening the back doors into the vet, she slammed them shut and chained them so the Oni were locked out temporarily before her and the others formed a plan.
"I couldn't do much, they're still going to want to come in here-" Juno breathed out, but cut her sentence short as she saw Kira unconscious on the floor, and Stiles gripping onto the side of Scott's face with the other hand on a sharp object impaled in Scott's abdomen. Scott saw Juno, causing him to communicate with her with his eyes but it was too late, as Stiles turned and saw Juno standing behind him.
Evil was plastered all over his expression. His eyes were much darker than before, and his lips were curved into a menacing smirk as he ripped the broken piece of metal Stiles had found that he impaled Scott with. He shoved Scott to the ground, slowly advancing towards Juno.
"Oh Juno..." Stiles hummed. Digging through his pocket, Stiles pulled out a rosary, holding it out in front of him and clearly displaying the cross. His smirk grew wider when Juno's breath hitched and she started to hold onto her chest. The presence of the cross was a weakness to Vampires, and was almost a torture device as it made them feel as if they were in the sun, or being stabbed by a million burning knives.
The Nogitsune possessed Stiles began to grin as Juno started to sob from the unbearable pain. In the presence of the cross, her body was forced to fall to her knees, all while still digging her nails into her skin as a way to stop the pain.
"You knew I wasn't really Stiles," he teased. "You're a smart girl Juno, but you didn't listen to your intuition because you don't want Stiles to get hurt."
He only grinned wider watching Juno scowl at him, lips quivering and tears rolling down her face.
"You're definitely my favourite you know," he hummed, gently caressing her cold cheek, causing her to jerk her face away. "Not just because you're breathtaking, but you can withstand anything."
Juno's eyes widened. 'Stiles' grabbed her by her arm and yanked her off of her knees. She tried to fight against him, but with the pain caused by the rosary and his unbeatable new strength, Juno was helpless. Stiles had Juno leaning against the metal table like he had Scott, but Stiles was far closer in proximity. With his free hand, he held her face by her chin and forced her to look at him, keeping the rosary in close proximity in his other hand.
"Nogitsunes feed off of chaos, pain, and misery," Stiles said. "Earlier at the station when you broke down, you didn't feel better because I comforted you... you felt better because you gave me centuries of your pain and misery."
"Now, I can do whatever," Stiles threatened, stabbing the end of the cross in Juno's abdomen. She screamed in pain at the feeling of the blunt object tearing through her flesh, and the holiness of it adding an extra burning on top. "And I don't have to worry about your pretty face dying on me," he chuckled menacingly.
Juno thrashed beneath Stiles, screaming helplessly as Stiles continued to hurt her in unthinkable ways. The torture from the cross slowed her healing, but it didn't stop Stiles. Getting the metal piece he stabbed Scott with, he did the same to Juno, earning more screams and cries to leave her mouth.
Stiles looked down into her eyes clouded with tears. No part of the Nogitsune felt any bit of sympathy as he enjoyed every moment torturing her. He watched the pain flowing from his hand on her face flow through his veins.
"Why don't you just knock me out," Juno spat, hating every moment Stiles spent eyeing her with a lustful stare while torturing her.
He chuckled, "why would I hurt that pretty face?"
Juno glared at the Nogitsune and generated enough saliva to spit in his face. Stiles growled in anger, pushing her so she laid back onto the table. His hand moved from her face to her neck.
"Don't provoke me more," he spat. "You have no idea how much Stiles is screaming for me to stop, you're only going to make him more upset."
Juno widened her eyes. She didn't realise that the real Stiles was still there, but had no control. He could see everything.
"That's too bad though," he said through gritted teeth, before tightening his grip around her neck. He leaned over so their faces were inches apart, but still kept his grip around her neck. Juno thrashed her legs around, but her movements slowed, and her eyelids fluttered the longer Stiles choked her.
Suddenly, she felt dead weight on her. Deaton had arrived and injected poison into Stiles' neck as he was asphyxiating Juno. The last thing she saw was Stiles' unconscious body be dragged off of her, and a blurry Scott clinging onto Deaton for support.
Juno's eyes fluttered shut, where she became unconscious. The rosary still stabbed into her slowed her healing significantly. The holy power from the rosary being spread through her insides made her mortal for an unknown amount of time.
And as Deaton noticed that her wounds were not sealing in an instant, he began to panic.
~
Hey! Sorry about the wait, each chapter is clearly getting longer and longer...
And yes, Juno will be fine, but who knows what repercussions this will cause? Cyrus definitely won't be happy.
Hope you enjoyed. I've started the next chapter as of now xoxo.