Chapter 23
Buzz buzz buzz
"Scott, turn it off" I mumble half asleep.
It's way too early for this.
The phone continues to vibrate. I lift the duvet over my head. "Scott," I grumble, but it comes out muffled.
"I'm getting there" He mutters. I hear movement before the buzzing stops. "It's Stiles."
"Tell him we're sleeping," I grumble turning onto my side.
"Hey man, what's up?" Scott asks into the phone. I groan and am about to put a pillow over my head when I hear what's on the other side.
Static
"Stiles?" Scott asks more concerned but is met with nervous breathing along with the same static sound. I lift the duvet off of my head, quirking my ears to hear better. "Stiles, you there?"
"Scott?" Stiles whispers. He sounds terrified. I sit up in the bed, fully awake. Scott lifts the duvet and sits up.
"Hey man, I'm here." He asks getting more concerned. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"Scott, I don't... I don't know where I am. I don't know how I got here." Stiles' broken voice whispers. "I think I was sleepwalking."
"Okay, um, can you see anything? Just tell me what you see"
"Ah, it's dark. It's hard to see. I think there's something wrong with my-"
The call disconnects.
Scott gets out of the bed and worriedly turns to me. "Try again," I suggest, biting my fingernails. Scott dials again and paces the room.
"Hey-"
"Stiles?" Scott breathes.
"-this is Stiles and you missed me-"
Scott hangs up the call. "Try your phone." He rushes, trying to dial Stiles again. I quickly grab my phone and search for his contact. "Come on," He mutters to himself, putting the phone to his ear.
"Hey this is Stiles-" His voicemail sounds again. I try my phone and the same thing happens.
"I can't get a hold of him either." Scott begins to breathe heavily, nervously brushing his hand through his hair. "Scott..." I mutter putting my hand on his shoulder. "Breathe." Scott continues to dial Stiles, muttering under his breath.
Finally, the call connects.
"Stiles?"
"Scott, I don't think I can get out of here." His panicked whisper sounds again. "I can't move."
"Where are you?" Scott's wide eyes turn to me.
"I don't know, I don't know. It's too dark. I can't see much." He panics. "And something is wrong with my leg. It's stuck on something and I think it's... I think it's bleeding." My hand flies over my mouth.
"How bad, Stiles? How bad is it?" But there is no reply. "Stiles, are you there? Can you hear me?"
"Ah, there's some kind of smell down here. Something smells terrible." His voice cracks. "It's brutal. My eyes are watering."
"Okay, listen I'm gonna call your dad-"
"Wait, no, no, no, don't." Stiles panics.
"But your dad-"
"Don't. Just please don't call him. Promise you won't." Stiles' broken voice sounds. "He already worries about me too much. Scott, please."
"But what if I can't find you?" Scott rushes, panic evident in his voice. "Stiles, I can't make a promise like that."
"No, no, no, just please." He sniffles."Please, don't call him. Come find me. You can do it. He doesn't have to know. Scott, you can find me."
"I don't know if I can do this." Scott starts breathing heavily. I step towards him and grab his free hand, trying to calm him down.
"Oh, I gotta call you back. I have to turn the phone off."
"What no, hey, wait..."
"I'm gonna call you right back..."
"Stiles." I gasp as I hear the call disconnect.
"Hold on, Stiles wait..." Scott checks his phone. His wide eyes meet mine. "Get dressed." I don't need to be told twice. I grab my jacket and shoes, before rushing to the bedside table to grab my phone. "I'll call Derek."
"Isaac! Isaac! get up!" Scott yells, grabbing clothes from his dresser. "We need your help."
Isaac opens the door with a worried expression which soon turns into confusion. "Why? What happened?" His gaze then turns to me. "Why are you are?"
"It's Stiles." Scott panics. "Get dressed."
Isaac gives me a confused look. "What's wrong with Stiles?"
"We have no idea." He goes to get dressed while Scott meets him downstairs. I search through my contacts until I find his name.
"Derek, we need your help."
"Nina? Where are you?" He grumbles.
"At Scott's."
The line is silent for a moment before he answers, sounding more awake. "Why are you at Scott's?"
"That's not important right now." I roll my eyes. "Stiles is missing. We can't find him."
"Missing? What do you mean missing?"
"He called Scott. He said he was somewhere dark... he's hurt, Derek." My voice softens.
"I'll look around and see if I can find him." He says as I hear him moving around.
"Thank you. Call me if you find anything." I hang up and leave Scott's room heading down the stairs. As I walk down, I hear voices... Stiles? I rush down the stairs to see Scott and Isaac on the phone.
"-the phone's dying I can't talk... I have to go. Please." Stiles' voice drops towards the end, making my heartbeat pick up.
"Stiles... why are you whispering?" Scott asks.
His reply sends shivers down my spine.
"Because I think there's someone in here with me." The phone disconnects.
My wide eyes meet Scott's as it's quiet for a moment. I don't know what to say. What to do. Stiles is missing and hurt and we have no clue as to where he could be.
"Let's try his room, we need to get a better scent," I nod as we go out of the house. I hop on my motorbike and follow after them. We get there in a few minutes and rush into the house and up the stairs. We open the door to Stiles' room, only to find Lydia and Aiden already there. "How did you know? Did he call you too?" Scott rushes.
"I heard it."
"Don't ask. It gets more confusing when you ask." Aiden interjects.
"Not as confusing as this," Lydia adds turning around to show us what's behind her. There's a pair of scissors stuck in Stiles' bed with red strings attached to it. The red strings links to pictures scattered on the wall.
"What is this?" I mutter walking closer to it.
"He uses red for unsolved cases," Lydia replies.
"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unloved case," Aiden suggests.
"Or is an unsolved case," Isaac adds, raising his eyebrows.
"Hold on," Lydia says, turning around to face us. "Is he still out there? You don't know where he is?"
"He said he's in an industrial basement somewhere," Scott replies.
"We came here to get a better scent," Isaac adds.
"What else did he say?" Lydia asks, worry filling her voice.
"Something's wrong with his leg. It's bleeding." Scott asks warily.
"It's dark. He couldn't see anything. He said there was this smell..." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
"And he's freezing," Issac adds.
Aiden's eyes widen, "Tonight's the coldest night of the year. It's going to drop in the '20s."
"What did his dad say?" Lydia asks a far-away look on her face.
"We kind of..." Scott looks exchanges glances with me and Isaac. "We didn't tell him yet."
Lydia give us an exasperated look, "Stiles is bleeding and freezing and you didn't call his dad?"
"He didn't want us to," I remark, looking to Scott.
"We promised," Scott adds turning back to Lydia. "We can find him by scent. If he was sleepwalking he couldn't have gotten far, right?"
"You guys didn't notice his jeep is gone, did you?" Aiden states, looking at the three of us.
"You promised you wouldn't call his dad." Lydia takes out her phone. "I didn't."
"Wait, Lydia hold on." Scott stops her. "We can get more help. Nina already called Derek and I can get a hold of Allison..."
"Everyone except for the cops. Great idea." She sarcastically remarks.
"You guys remember she only gets these feelings when someone is about to die, right?" Aiden states. My heart drops.
We have to tell him. There's no other way.
"You don't have to call his dad. It's five minutes to the station." Scott gives in. We turn around to leave before Lydia stops us.
"We'll catch up." She says referring to her and Aiden.
"Why?" I question, taking a step towards her.
"There is something here."
"Yeah. Evidence of total insanity." Isaac says bluntly, looking around the room, earning a nudge from me.
"We can figure out what's wrong with him after we find a way to keep him from freezing to death." Scott reasons.
"Go. We'll be right behind you."
There is total silence at the police station. Sheriff Stilinski leans over the desk. He squeezes his eyes shut as he keeps his eyes trained down. He takes a deep breath before turning to face us. The pain in his eyes is enough to make my heart drop.
"If his jeep is gone. That's where we start." He says slowly after regaining his breath. "Parrish." He turns to the young man with green eyes and brown hair. "Let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ-5 jeep." He turns to an older officer. "Cordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sub-level of any building that he could've gotten into while sleepwalking." He then turns to every officer in the station. "It's the coldest night of the year so far so if he's out there barefoot in just a t-shirt, he could already be hypothermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast." He then turns to us. "The three of you, come with me." We follow him into his office and he shuts the door. "Okay, is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell everybody out there?"
"Lydia knew he was missing." Scott starts.
"Can she help find him?"
"Well, she's working on it." Isaac inputs.
"And you know Lydia," I quirk my eyebrow.
"Anything else?" Stilinski questions.
"Derek's looking around town. He's hasn't found anything yet. And Allison hasn't responded." I say playing with my fingernails.
"Can you find him by scent?" He asks hopefully, but he is interrupted by a knock on the door.
"We got it, sir," Parrish states walking into the room. "We found the jeep."
We rush out of the station as everyone gets into their vehicles. Scott and I hop on our motorbikes and follow the police cars to the hospital. When we arrive, Stilinski rushes over to the parked blue jeep. He checks it before turning to me and Scott with a disheartened look.
"It's dead. He must have left the lights on."
"Why would he come here?" Scott asks looking around at the hospital.
"Let's find out." Stilinksi looks over at us. "You three start at the roof and work your way down." He turns to his deputies. "We can start at the basement and work our up. Okay, let's go." I follow after Scott and Isaac as we make our way to the roof.
"He's not here." Derek suddenly says as we reach the rooftop. "Not anymore."
"You mean the whole building?" Scott asks.
"Gone." Derek simply states before turning around to face the three of us.
"I'll go tell Stilinski," Isaac suggests.
"And see if you can find Allison. She's not answering her phone." Scott says. Isaac nods before rushing away.
"Notice how strong the scent is up here?" Derek questions. "Ever hear of chemo-signals, Scott?" He shakes his head in response. "Chemical signals that communicate emotion. And just our sweat can give off anger, fear, disgust... desire." Derek gives me a pointed look at the last part. I roll my eyes and look to the floor. "Take a deep breath" Derek continues. "And tell me what you feel." I close my eyes and focus on the scents surrounding us. One stands out from the others.
"Fear," I state opening my eyes.
"Stress," Scott adds.
"And anxiety." Derek finishes.
"What was he doing up here?"
"I don't know. But there was definitely some kind of struggle."
"With who?" I question walking around the rooftop.
"Himself."
After regrouping, Derek and I decide to check the high school in case he wondered in there, while Scott and Stilinski are going to meet Lydia and Aiden at Eichen House. Lydia has a banshee feeling that he's there.
"So..." Derek starts after a few minutes of silence. "You just gonna ignore it then?"
"Ignore what?" I ask, staring out the window of his car.
"Why were you at Scott's house?"
"I couldn't sleep." I breathe out. "Seeing your dead mother has that effect."
"Then what happened?"
"Not what you're thinking, Derek." I roll my eyes. "We were just sleeping. I didn't want to be alone."
He raises his eyebrows, "What about me?"
"I didn't think you'd want to have a sleepover at Scott's house." He gives me a blank look as he blows a huff of air out of his lips. "You know what I mean, Derek." I laugh, running a hand through my hair. It gets quiet for a moment before he breaks the silence.
"I didn't know things were that serious with you two." He says slowly.
"It's not... I don't know. We haven't really been together long."
"He seems to really care for you." He glances at me before turning back to the road.
"Sometimes I get afraid that something bad is going to happen." I let out a breath, looking down at my hands.
"You know, not everything in life has to be a threat. Sometimes good things happen as well."
"I don't know if I deserve it," I mutter, playing with my fingernails,
"After everything you've been through, you deserve something good in your life. You're allowed to be happy, Nina."
"I just don't want it to be taken away from me." He looks at me before nodding his head.
The fire that killed our family took the happiness out of my life. I lost everything that day.
Almost everything.
"You can't live your life in fear of something bad happening. And Scott's a good kid... most times. When he's six feet away from you." I laugh lightly and turn to look out the window again. "You know, I haven't seen you smile this much since we were young. He makes you happy."
"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' at the end of that."
"But... as I said before if he hurts you, he's going to have more to worry about than the Nogitsune." He parks the car on the school grounds and turns to me.
"Come on it's Scott." I beam, lifting my hands up. "You think he would do something like that?"
"Okay... then if you hurt him we-" He motions between himself and me. "-are gonna have a little chat." I chuckle and nudge his shoulder.
"I would never hurt Scott."
"I hope not."
We get out of the car and make our way to the entrance. As we suspected, the doors to the school are locked so we do a quick scan of the grounds and come up empty-handed. As I get into the car, my phone vibrates. A smile overtakes my lips as his name pops up.
"Let me guess. It's Scott?" Derek teases.
"Shut up." I laugh, nudging his shoulder.
They found Stiles in the coyote den. He's being taken to the hospital now. Lydia and I are on our way there.
"They found him." I breathe in relief. "He's at the hospital now."
"Where was he?" He asks as we make our way there.
"Coyote den." I laugh lightly, but there's hidden darkness to it. Tonight could have ended very differently. Stiles could have died. He could have frozen in that coyote den and no one would have known where he was. I'm relieved that he's safe, but it doesn't stop that nagging feeling that something is seriously wrong with him.
We reach the hospital in a few minutes. Scott and Lydia are inside waiting for news while Aiden, Derek, and I jump-start Stiles' jeep.
"So you think he was just sleepwalking or is there something more to it?" Aiden asks, checking to see if the jeep starts. It roars to life before he slams the door.
"In this town, there's always something more," Derek says, picking up the jumper cables.
"I kind of overheard..." Aiden hesitates. "Well, I listened in on Stiles talking to Scott and-"
"Hey, that was private." I interrupt, stepping towards him.
"Well, when were you gonna tell the rest of us?"
"Tell us what?" Derek perks up, looking between the two of us.
"It's not important," I mutter, looking away from Aiden.
"Oh really, so you think Stiles writing that message in the chemistry room is just what... daily high school gossip?"
Derek furrows his brows, "What?"
"The message telling Barrow to kill Kira. Stiles wrote it."
"Thinks he wrote it. There's no proof." I defend.
A smile forms on Derek's lips, "So you think Stiles. Skinny, defenseless Stiles is the Nogistune. A powerful, dark spirit?"
"You see. It doesn't make sense." I give a pointed look to Aiden.
"I'm not the only one thinking it. I'm just the only one saying it." Aiden gives me a look back.
Something is wrong with Stiles, that much is obvious. But being the Nogistune? I don't know.
"This thing wants to possess someone and it chooses Stiles? Why not take someone bigger, stronger. Someone with a little more..." Derek trails off as his eyes fix onto the jumper cables in his hands. "Power."
Derek and Aiden soon leave, and then it's just me. I lean against my motorbike waiting for Scott to come out of the hospital. After a few minutes, I get bored, so I start making my way towards the entrance but stop when I meet familiar eyes.
"How is he?" I ask tentatively.
"He's sleeping." Scott simply replies, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"And how are you?"
"Tired." He smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"He's going to be okay, Scott." I put my hand on his arm. "I'm sure of it."
"This isn't like him. He hasn't done anything like this before and I..." He trails off looking at the ground. "I feel helpless."
"You're doing everything you can. Now it's the doctor's turn, okay." I slip my hands into his. "Now you need to take care of yourself. Go home. Get some sleep. They'll call you if anything happens."
"Where are you gonna go?"
"The loft." I swing our hands back and forth. "You need your sleep."
"I'll sleep better with you there." He pulls me closer to him as my eyes glance at his lips.
"But I won't." I bring my lips to him quickly before pulling away with a smile. "Goodnight, Scotty."
"Scott!" I hear Kira call from down the hall. I turn away from my locker to see Scott stop in his tracks before walking away from her.
"Seriously?" I mutter under my breath.
I don't blame him. He's going through a lot at the moment. With Stiles being in the hospital, the Nogistune and the Oni. But still, that's no reason to ignore your friends.
I close my locker and walk over to Kira who is still standing in the middle of the hall. "Don't take it personally. He's got a lot on his mind." I perk my nose up as a familiar scent surrounds me.
I roll my eyes as Derek speaks up, "He's a little preoccupied." He says, walking towards me and Kira.
"Aren't you a little too old to be walking around a high school?" He gives a sarcastic smile and is about to open his mouth when I interrupt him. "Oh, I forgot. This is my brother Derek. He may seem intimidating but he's a marshmallow." Derek slowly turns his head to me before looking back at Kira.
"I can help you."
"Why would you want to help me?"
"Because I want you to tell me everything that happened at the power station with William Barrow. Actually... I want you to show me."
We make it to the power station and begin walking back to the place from the other night. I rub my hands up my arms.
This place creeps me out. I don't know why, it just feels strange.
We walk down the aisle of electricity boxes surrounded by metal gates. "It was around here." Kira gives an uneasy look around the station. "I think. But everything kinda looks the same now."
Derek suddenly stops and stares transfixed at the ground. I follow his gaze and see a mark in the cement leading towards one of the electricity boxes. A metal bat is stuck to it.
"What is that?" Kira asks, getting a closer look. "Is that a baseball bat?"
"It's Stiles' bat." I slowly remark, furrowing my brows.
How did it get stuck on there? What the hell happened?
Derek walks towards the bat and manages, with some difficulty, to pull it away from the box. He examines it before turning to us.
"It's magnetized." He places the bat on the mark on the cement. It begins to pull Derek forcibly toward the box before sticking to it with a loud bang.
"What the hell?" I breathe, walking towards it.
"Kira, I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know about foxfire." Derek motions towards the sign behind her.
Danger
High Voltage
We get back into the car and I pull out my phone. I scroll through Scott's contact but still don't see any message.
Maybe he doesn't want to be disturbed? But what if he needs someone with him?
I pause for a moment before deciding to ask him how everything's going. After a couple of minutes of staring out the window my phone beeps. I anxiously unlock it.
Stiles is having tests done at the hospital now.
At least they're trying something. I put my phone away as my stomach begins to twist. I really hope he's okay. Both of them. I never thought I would care so much about people other than my family, but here I am. Worrying close to sickness about someone I'm not even the slightest bit related to.
After a few more minutes of uneasy silence, we arrive at the hospital. Derek and I get out of the car and begin walking to the entrance, but Kira hesitates.
"Kira?" I question, taking a step towards her.
"I don't know if I should go in," She confesses playing with her fingers. "You're gonna tell Scott that Barrow might have used foxfire created by me to jump-start the Nogitsune's power inside Stiles."
"Yeah." Derek deadpans.
"Basically that I helped a dark spirit take control of his best friend."
"Oh, yeah. That could be an issue." I muse, putting my arm around her shoulder.
"You should probably wait here." Derek realizes.
"I'll let you know what happens." I pat her shoulder, before following Derek into the hospital. Derek sits down in the waiting room, but I continue to the medic room where Scott and Stiles are. Mrs. McCall and Stilinski stand outside the glass window, both displaying matching anxious expressions.
They both raise their heads as I approach. "Hi," I say tentatively. Stilinski gives me a small smile, but I know it was forced. I can't imagine what he must be going through. I peer through the window to see Scott and Stiles having a somber conversation.
"...It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers." Stiles says mournfully. "And there's no cure."
Scott quickly wipes away a stray tear. "Stiles if you have it, we'll do something." He turns to look at Stiles with a determined look. "I'll do something."
I turn away as they share a brotherly hug. I hastily wipe away a small tear that trickled down my cheek. I don't make eye contact with anyone on my way to the waiting room. I can't. I sit down in the chair opposite Derek. My eyes fixed onto the floor. We sit in silence for a few minutes before Scott walks towards us. He takes the seat next to mine. I silently grab his hand and feel his grip tighten. After a few moments of silence. He speaks up.
"You know the stuff you were telling me about chemo signals earlier?" He asks. "It reminded me of the time you were teaching me to use anger to control the shift."
"I think you ended up teaching me more about that."
"Are you teaching me again?"
"Think of it more like sharing a few trade secrets," Derek says. I give him a knowing smile, realizing that he is talking about what we learned from our parents... and even Peter. "You know, I took Cora back to South America, right? It's where she and Nina spent most of their time after the fire." I shift uncomfortably in my chair as I feel a pang in my chest. I miss her. I wish she could have stayed here in Beacon Hills, but I know it's not her home anymore.
"But that's not the only reason I left." Derek continues. "I needed to talk to my mother."
"Your dead mother?" Scott questions, furrowing his brows.
"It's... it's a long story" I mutter.
"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things." He pauses. "She said that my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They protected it." Derek gave me a glance. "This town needs someone to protect it. Someone like you." He looks to Scott.
"And someone like you to teach me a few trade secrets." Scott smiles, but it slowly fades. He suddenly stands up.
"Scott..." I question looking up at him.
"He was trying to protect us. Stiles was protecting us."
"From himself." Derek realizes also standing up.
what?
I follow them up to the roof as they begin looking around, "What are we looking for?" Derek asks.
"I'm not sure. But I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with himself." Scott rushes out. "I think he was struggling not to do something."
"But what?" I question trying to find anything out of place. Any scent, anything. Scott jumps up a bench and looks above a power box. "Find something?"
"Maybe." He mutters, reaching up and pulling a bag down. The bag comes crashing on the floor and a bunch of electrical equipment comes pouring out. We all exchange confused looks before I hear the sound of sparks. I move my gaze above the electric box to see a cable partially cut.
"What the hell was he planning?" I think aloud. I move away from the electric box and look around the roof, trying to find anything else out of place.
Just then, the electric box erupts in a shower of sparks. Scott swiftly pushes me behind him away from the flying sparks. I stare in shock as the wire, now fully cut, flies around the roof before falling to the ground below, by the entrance to the hospital.
I race to the edge of the roof. The cable is causing chaos. Sparks are flying, cars are crashing and people are screaming.
"Uhh guys?"
Season 3B
Episode 6 (Riddled)
Part 1/1
State: edited
Hey guys! :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!
Stay safe and healthy! â¤
Until next time my fellow wolfies!! :D
-Nicole ^.^