Chapter 27: Love & Evil ✔

Chapter 27

"This is not a good idea."

Allison lets out a huff of air, "You're right, this is a terrible idea."

"He's right there. We can get him." Derek says gesturing to the loft doors on his left.

"I'm talking about Nina being here."

"It'll be okay. If anything happens we will be right here with you, okay?" Derek tries to affirm me, but I don't feel too confident. I know what happened last time I was near the Nogistune. "And didn't you say it was when he touched you that you felt different?"

"Yes, but I don't know if that applies to every situation," I answer.

"Well, we just won't let that happen this time, okay." He smiles. "And besides, it's a good test either way."

"You're not my son," Stilinski says from inside the loft. That's our cue.

Allison, Argent, and Derek walk into the loft. I take a breath and follow behind them. Stiles stands in the center of the loft with the broken handcuffs lying at his feet. His eyes scan over us until he reaches my face. A sick grin overtakes his features.

"Look who joined the party." He says. My head starts hurting. The same familiar feeling from that night.

Allison aims her taser gun at him and fires. He switches his attention back to her and grabs the tasers. He looks more annoyed than in pain as he tosses it to the side with ease. Derek growls and tries his luck next only to be thrown to the side like a ragdoll. I take a step forward only to see Stiles' attention immediately switch to me.

"It's your turn." I stay in my place. "Come on. Give it your best shot." I don't move. I know what he's trying to do and it won't work.

The pounding in my head gets stronger.

A gun suddenly cocks in front of me as Argent firmly points his gun at Stiles. "Argent, listen to me," Stilinski speaks slowly. "Don't do this."

"Why not?" Argent answers cooly. "I've done it before. Werewolves, Berserkers. I can easily add a Nogitsune to the list-"

"Or an Ōkami," I say firmly, taking a step in front of the gun. "I don't know about you, but we don't kill our friends here."

"Nina!" Derek protests, stumbling to his feet. "Stop."

"Don't be stupid, Nina." Argent stares straight at me, gun still raised.

"I'm not being stupid. We can't go around killing a teenager, even if he is possessed."

"That's right." A cold hand is placed on my shoulder. "Thank you, Nina," Stiles says from behind me.

The pain stops. It's like a switch was turned. All emotion is drained out of me until I feel like a shell of my former self... I don't feel anything.

Well... I do feel something

"What? You gonna shoot me too?" I say taking another step towards Argent.

"Argent put the gun down now," Derek growls, but Argent doesn't move.

"What are you going to do, huh?" I take another step forward. The cold metal of the barrel touches my forehead. "Kill another Hale?" He stares at me for a few seconds longer. The silence in the room is deadly.

"It's the Nogistune, dad," Allison warns. "It brings it out of her."

He slowly starts to lower his gun, "I never killed a Hale."

"Maybe you didn't pull the trigger but you might as well have," I say slowly. "Kate, your sister, killed my family. Like we're animals. Monsters." My voice starts rising. "Burned them alive."

"Nina-" Derek tries to intervene.

"As you said... that was Kate not me. I only hunt what I need to. Monsters as you say."

"Is that all we are to you! Something for you to kill?" I continue staring straight into his eyes. "We're half-human too, you know."

"You've killed too, remember," Argent says calmly.

"He deserved it." A coolness overtakes my eyes. "But I can easily add a hunter to the list." I flick my claws out.

"Nina no!" Allison cries as I raise my claws. Argent raises his gun and points it at my forehead. Derek tightly grabs my hands and holds me back.

"Let me go!" I thrash around in his grip.

"Sorry, Nina." Derek struggles as he pushes me to the side. My head hits the beam as I fall to the floor.

"Ouch." Stiles winces. "That's gotta hurt." Argent immediately points his gun back to Stiles. "My turn?"

"You see, this is a monster," Argent confirms.

"It's also my son." Stilinksi raises his gun to Argent. "Put the gun down." Argent glances at Stilinski next to him.

"You said it yourself, Sherrif." Argent turns his attention back to Stiles. "That's not your son." I grab ahold of the beam and start to bring myself back up to my feet. Derek grabs my wrist firmly.

"I'm okay now. I promise." I affirm as the pain in my head returns. Whether it was from the Nogitsune or me knocking into the beam... I don't know.

"Put it down." Stilinski's voice hardens, but Argent doesn't move. "Put it down." The look on Stiles' face suddenly morphs from its sick smile to a... frightened one? His eyes go big as he stares at the gun pointed straight at his head.

"Dad, he's going to shoot me." His voice shakes. "He's going to kill me, dad."

Wait... is this the actual Stiles? It can't be.

Can it?

"Don't listen," Argent says, still pointing the gun at Stiles' head.

"Put it down." Stilinski continues. "Now! Do it! Put it down!" Stiles' face suddenly morphs again back to its sick smiles as he stares straight into Argent's eyes.

"Pull the trigger." Argent falters, his brows furrowing. "Come on." Stiles taunts him.

"You listen to me, you put that gun down now!" Stilinksi begins to yell.

"Shoot me."

My head begins to throb.

"Put the gun down now!"

"Dad." Allison tries to interject.

"Shoot me!"

"Put the gun down!"

"Shoot me!" Stiles screams even louder.

throb...throb...throb

"Argent, you put it down!" Stilinksi screams even louder. "You put it down now!"

"Shoot me!"

I scream.

Everything goes quiet.

"Enough. Stop it. Just stop it!" I hold my head in my hands. The pressure is too much.

"Strife," Allison says. "It's exactly what he wants."

"Not exactly," Stiles interjects. "I was kinda hoping Scott would be here. But Nina was a great surprise." He slowly walks towards my cradled position on the floor. Derek steps forward his fangs and claws bared. Stiles turns his gaze to him and grabs his neck in one swift motion throwing him to the side. His cold hand is placed on my head.

"There we go. No more pain." He says softly, rubbing my head. "Now I need your help." He looks at everyone else in the room. "All of you. Glad you have your guns out because you're not here to kill me." Black smoke suddenly forms by the windows and morphs into the Oni. "You're here to protect me." His eyes turn back to me. "I think you better defeat them. They hurt us, remember. They're the bad guys." I stare back into his eyes. I get up with ease and turn my gaze to the Oni.

"With pleasure."

"What happened?" Scott quickly asks, his eyes darting around the room. They widen as they meet mine.

"They disappeared." Allison breathes out. "They're literally just vanished."

"And so did Stiles."

"Are you okay?" Scott asks kneeling down by my side.

"I'll be fine..." I breathe, holding my side. "It's just a flesh wound."

"Let me see." He gently grabs my hand and moves it away. He winces.

"It's better than it looks," I say staring at the stab wound on the left side of my stomach.

"It looked a lot worse earlier," Derek adds, getting to his feet. "She healed quite a bit."

"You see," I say trying to get up. "I'll be-ow!"

"Come on, I'll help you get up."

"It's not that bad." Scott grabs my arms and gently lifts me up with Derek's help.

"How did it happen?"

"Stiles." Derek exchanges a look with Argent. "He did something to her. He made her fight more... vicious."

"Why did you let her come with then?" Scott asks with annoyance. "You knew what happened last time."

"Don't blame him, Scott," I interject. "I wanted to help."

"It doesn't matter what happened. Just help her get some rest." Stilinksi says softly as he looks back down to his hands.

It must be really hard for him... the thought alone of having to put your own son down is enough to drive you crazy.

Scott helps me up to my room and makes sure I'm okay before taking Kira back home. After a few hours of trying to sleep, I decide to go and check up on Derek. I stagger down the stairs to see Derek standing by a chess set.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Chess." He answers shortly. "You should be resting." He glances back at me.

"Well, I can't sleep." I stop beside him and watch him placing pieces on the board. "Why are you playing chess?"

"I was just about to ask the same thing." A voice sounds from behind us. I internally groan. "Hello to you too, my dear niece." He says sarcastically. Maybe it wasn't as internal as I thought. "More importantly why aren't you healing?" He says pointedly to Derek.

I follow his gaze to see a gaping wound on Derek's left shoulder. "Ouch."

"It's from one of their swords," Derek says, simply. "It'll heal."

"By playing chess?"

"Back in his room, Stiles had a board with my name on one of the pieces," Derek explains. "If this is a game to him, then I need to figure out the plays."

"Not so easy to do when it's a game without rules." Peter picks up one of the pieces and examines it.

"What does that mean?"

"You're dealing with a kind of spirit that's lived too long to play by human rules. It's a fox spirit that chose to become human and supposedly that's something they can do only after about 100 years." Derek just shrugs his shoulders in reply. "So if a Kitsune is an annoying pain in the ass then a Nogistune, which is a dark kitsune, is a freaking disaster." Peter puts his jacket on. "And besides, chess is Stiles' game. It's not the game of a Japanese fox. Do yourself a favor. Put something on that before it gets infected." His gaze shifts to my side. "You might wanna change that dressing." I look down to my side to see blood beginning to stain my shirt.

"I thought I was healing." I groan.

"You were stabbed by an Oni's sword." Derek turns to face me. "It's not going to heal in a few hours."

"But it was healing pretty fast earlier."

"That was when they were still here. The Oni, Stiles." Derek thinks. "Maybe besides from making you angry, it also makes you heal faster."

"Interesting." Peter stares at me before turning and walking away without another word.

"You know sometimes, he really freaks me out," I say staring off at the loft doors.

Derek quirks his head, "Well, he annoys the hell out of me."

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep," I say simply. He studies my eyes for a moment before his nose crinkles. His gaze immediately shifts to my side as his eyes widen.

"You're still hurt." He steps closer to me and lifts my jacket up to reveal blood splatters on my newly changed shirt.

Maybe I should have cleaned the wound before changing my shirt...

"It's healing... just not as fast as I would like it to." I give a half-smile. "This was my favorite shirt," I mutter under my breath.

"Have you cleaned it?"

"No... to be honest, I don't know what to do. I wasn't really paying attention when Allison cleaned the scratches on my arm." I subconsciously rub my arm even though it has long since healed. It still brings back a lot of memories. Memories I wouldn't want to repeat.

"I can help you. If you like. I know a bit about cleaning wounds."

"Okay." The corners of my lips twitch. "Consider it a repayment for the other day." He grabs my hand and leads me to the bathroom.

"I was just cleaning your face, Scott." I take a seat on the counter as he grabs the first-aid kit from under the sink.

"I'm feeling generous." He gives a little smile before going through the kit. After searching for a bit he pulls out a tube and gauze before placing it down next to me.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" I pick up the tube and examine it.

"I was a very clumsy kid so I had to do this a lot."

My lip quirks up, "I can imagine." He fetches a cloth and runs it under warm water before turning back to me. He doesn't say anything for a few moments as he glances back at the cloth.

"What?"

"Can you... um." He clears his throat as his eyes shift from mine. "Your shirt."

"Oh, yeah." My hands hesitantly lift up my blood-stained shirt sightly, just enough so that the gauze is shown. His fingers brush against my skin before slowly taking the gauze off. The cold air hit my side as the gauze comes completely off.

"Are you sure it's healing?" His soft eyes meet mine.

"Yeah, definitely." My eyes glance down at it. The wound is about the size of my fingertip but it oozes blood every now and then. "It was bigger last time I checked."

He grabs the damp cloth and cleans the blood away to reveal the now smaller wound. He traces his fingers around my exposed stomach leaving goosebumps in its wake. My skin feels hot despite the cold air blowing against me.

"It looks much better now that it's clear."

"Y-yeah. It does." He removes his hand from my side and goes to place the cloth in the sink. "Will I live?" I joke.

A smile overtakes his lips, "I don't know...It looks pretty serious. Good thing my mom's a nurse."  He takes out a tube of antiseptic before looking at me with soft eyes. "This may sting a bit."

"I think I can handle it...I'm an Ōkami aftera- ow!"

"Sorry." He says sheepishly.

"Maybe I'm not as strong as I thought."

"Maybe not-." He says quickly.

"You didn't have to agree so fast."

"You're stronger." He finishes putting the tube away. "Maybe you don't see but I do. Don't underestimate yourself." He takes a new gauze and gently applies it over the wound.

"But what happened today, and at the clinic-"

"Everyone has moments of weakness." He puts a strand of hair behind my ear. "That's what makes you human." I stare into his beautiful soft eyes for a moment. I bring my hand up to his face and begin tracing his cheek.

"You have such beautiful eyes," I mutter as I stare into them. "That was the first thing I noticed about you. In the vault. Even though it was dark and I was rabid, a part of me felt calmer after seeing them." A smile overtakes my lips, "It turns out you don't need red eyes to be powerful, Scott."

I can't believe how lucky I am to have found someone like him. Someone who always does the right thing in the face of adversity. Someone who will always stand up when knocked down. Who never gives up. Someone who is so powerful yet so humble at the same time. It almost feels like I shouldn't be here. Like I'm not good enough to kiss him. To love him-

Love?

Do I love Scott? I haven't known him for the longest of times but I don't know if I would be able to live without him now... He makes me want to be a better person. He makes me believe that there is hope in the world. That after everything I've lost and everything I've done, he is the one person who will never judge me.

is that love?

"I love you." I suddenly blurt out before I even know what I was doing. His eyes go wide. 'Um- sorry. I don't know why I said that." I start to get off the sink as I feel my stomach drop.

What was I thinking? Of course, he wouldn't love me. After everything I've done, why would he? I'm just being delusional. And now everything's ruined...

He places his arms on either side of my legs. His hand goes under my chin and brings my eyes up to his soft ones.

"I love you too." He whispers out.

I freeze.

He loves me? Scott loves me?

I stare into his eyes. waiting for something to change; his lips to change into a laugh or for him to say he was just kidding.

But it never comes.

He keeps looking me straight in the eyes. His soft brown puppy eyes stare lovingly into my own. Like melted chocolate on a warm day.

love

"You do?" I breathe out.

"To be honest I never thought I would love someone again but then you, Nina Hale, got yourself trapped in a bank vault." He brings his nose to mine. "Thank you for that."

"It was a pleasure." I smile as I stare into his eyes. He puts his hand behind my head before slowly bringing his lips towards mine. My hands find themselves around his neck as I pull him closer to me. His fingers trace my exposed skin, leaving goosebumps, until-

"Ow!" I pull away from him with a start.

"Sorry, forgot about that." He says with a goofy smile, before bringing his lips back to mine.

"The couch. Put him on the couch," Scott exclaims while he and Aiden carry an unconscious Stiles inside. They place him onto the couch as Deaton, Mrs. McCall, Lydia and I stare at him in horror.

"What do we do?" I ask looking at everyone's faces. "Is he okay? Is it him or..." My voice trails off as I stare at Stiles' face.

"This is crazy. He needs to be in the hospital." Mrs. McCall exclaims waving her hands.

"Mom." Scott turns to face her. "Remember what happened last time he went to the hospital?" Deaton kneels down in front of Stiles and opens the split in his shirt further revealing a gaping red slash.

"It doesn't look like it's bleeding." Deaton confirms, but his expression quickly changes to a concerned one. "I think he might actually be healing." Aiden does a double take.

"You mean healing like we heal?"

"That's good, right?" Scott hopes.

"For him, yes." Deaton takes a step back still staring at Stiles' unconscious figure. "Us...I'm not so sure."

I grab Lydia's hand as she stares at Stiles with wides eyes. She gives me a tight smile before looking back at his figure. Deaton grabs a vial and motions to Stiles. Aiden and Scott go towards him and hold his mouth open. He drops more of the mysterious liquid down Stiles' throat.

A familiar pounding feeling returns to my head, making me gasp. Stiles' eyes open and bore into Aiden's before grabbing his wrist that is attached to his face. He moves his hand to Aiden's throat and begins to squeeze. Aiden gasps as he tries to remove his hand without success.

"Get him off of me!" He manages to get out. Scott springs into action and grabs Stiles' hand, pulling back with all his might. Stiles eventually lets go and freezes with his hand still extended where Aiden's neck used to be. He gasps as his body slowly goes back into its resting place like a robot that has run out of power.

"Kanima venom." He glares at Deaton. "Nice touch." Aiden roars stepping towards him. "You know how they say that twins get a feeling when the other one's in pain?" Aiden freezes. "You didn't lose that talent, did you?" A twisted look of concern crosses Stiles' face. "Oh, I hope not. You're gonna need it." Scott and Aiden share a look. But don't do anything. Stiles rolls his eyes. "Okay, I'll give you a little hint. Ethan's at the school."

"Go." Scott earges but Aiden is already on his way out the door. Stiles looks after him with a sick laugh.

"Oh, I hope he gets there in time-"

Scott puts an arm out in front of me and gently pushes me back. "Go." He says barely audible. I nod and slowly begin to take steps backwards.

"-I like the twins." He turns his gaze back to the front. I continue walking backward until I reach the wall next to the arch that leads into the kitchen. "Short-tempered, homicidal compulsions. They're a lot more fun than you Bakemono trying to save the world every day." I shuffle against the wall until I reach the other room only to hear a loud crash. My eyes widen as I look down at the vase on the floor next to my feet. "Speaking of fun... is that you Nina?" I don't say anything. I keep my back against the wall and hold my breath as if he could actually hear my breathing. "Judging by your expression, Scott... I think I already know the answer." I hear a laugh sound from the living room. "How's that headache?" Another laugh."You know your brother really has a lot of anger in him... I hope he'll survive." He mutters the last part.

My heart drops before I'm fueled with anger. "What did you do?" I seeth as I stomp in front of him.  A hand pulls me back away from him.

"Calm down. He's trying to get you angry." Scott holds me.

"Or am I?"

"Doc, you brought something to paralyze his body."Mrs. McCall stares straight at Stiles. "Got anything for his mouth?"

"Yes, I do." He rips the duct tape and firmly plasters it onto his mouth. Stiles stares into our eyes before letting out a gut-retching scream, only to be muffled by the tape.

I waste no time in grabbing my phone out of my pocket and rushing into the kitchen. I scan through my contacts before tapping on his name with shaky fingers. I stare into Scott's eyes as the phone keeps ringing in my ears.

"Come on," I mutter feeling my heart rate pick up. The phone goes straight to voicemail. I dial again as I begin pacing the kitchen. Nothing. "Pick up."

A laugh sounds from the lounge as Stiles' eyes bore into me. I march my way towards him ignoring everyone's protests.

"Now you listen to me." I stop right in front of his eyes. "If you did anything..." He just stares at me, his eyes twinkling with mischief. His eyes move to the duct tape covering his lips. I make a move to remove it only for a hand to stop me.

"Don't. That's what he wants you to do." Scott pulls me away from him.

"What if Derek really is hurt, Scott?" I run a hand through my hair. "I can't lose him too."

"Check the loft. If he's he's not there then head to the school. Maybe he set a trap there or something?" Scott suggests.

"And if he's not at the school?"

"Derek can take care of himself. You know that more than anyone." Scott places a hand on my cheek. "Go, be safe."

"Okay." I enter the lounge and send the biggest glare that I can muster towards Stiles before leaving out the front door. I reach the loft in record time and swing the door open.

"Derek!" My eyes dart around the barren as I walk around the area. "Derek!" No answer. I sigh and begin to leave before a voice sounds behind me.

"Not quite."

I roll my eyes before turning around to face the not-so-mysterious voice. "Is Derek here?"

"Really?" Peter rolls his eyes. "You think he wouldn't have heard you by now?"

"Do you know where Derek is or not?"

"No. I don't" He treks down the stairs taking his dramatic time. "Why do you wanna know?"

"I think he might be in danger."

"Oh... just a regular Tuesday then." He rolls his eyes again. A vibrating sound comes from his pocket. He checks his phone and laughs. "Look here, Scott needs my help."

"Don't do anything stupid, okay." I turn my back to him again.

"I don't know where Derek went but I saw him leave." I turn to him again, folding my arms over my chest. "Well?"

"He was holding the box with your mother's claws. He looked angry- more so than usual." I nod in response before walking out the loft door.

"Not even a 'thank you'?"  I hear from behind me. "Ungrateful child..." I hop on my motorbike.

Why was Derek carrying our mother's claws? Where would he be going with those? Why wasn't he answering his phone?

I let out a breath, at least I know he was fine when he left... wherever he went to.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. My heart rate picks up. Derek?  My heart drops as I see Allison's name appears instead.

"Hello?"

"Nina, I need your help."

"What's up?"

"Something happened to the Twins and Isaac. They're going berserk. They're trying to kill each other."

"What? Why now?"

"We don't know. Kira is here with me. Please come to the school. We're in Coach's office." She rushes out. I listen closely and can hear growling in the background.

"Hang in there I'm coming now."

Stiles mentioned that something happened to Ethan and that Aiden needs to save him. Maybe he did something to Ethan? And if Isaac is also there trying to kill the twins...it's because he's angry. Angry at them for what they did.

This is just like what happened to me... what he did to me. Maybe he did something to them? Peter said Derek was angry when he left maybe he went somewhere to get revenge? Revenge for what...

I put my helmet on and start my bike but freeze.

Our mother's claws...and who killed our mother? Argent's sister...

He's going to kill Argent.

I pull out my phone and send Allison a text before racing down to the Argent's apartment block.

Derek's in danger. I think he's going after your dad. I have to go help them. Stay safe.

I keep repeating the message over in my head until I reach the building. I stand in the elevator and hit the number for their apartment.

"Please be okay..." I keep repeating. "Both of you." The elevator dings. A loud crash sounds from inside the apartment followed by a roar.

"Derek!" I race into the apartment and open the office door. I gasp at what I see in front of me. "Don't do it, please!"

Argent glances at me for less than a second before returning his gaze to Derek. The gun firmly pointed up through Derek's jaw.

"I don't want to!" Argent struggles holding Derek down. Derek doesn't even acknowledge me. He just has his blood-thirsty eyes tuned onto Argent. His fangs blaring.

"Derek, snap out it." I help push Derek against the wall.

"Why are you defending him?" Derek manages to get out. "You know what he did."

"You said it yourself before... it wasn't him."  Argent keeps his gun pointed at Derek. Without making any move to drop the gun. "Don't shoot him please. It's not him." I beg. "It's the nogistune."

"I can't-" He trails off as black goo suddenly leaks from Derek's mouth and coats the gun. Derek's eyes roll back as he falls to the floor unconscious.

"Derek!"

Season 3B

Episode 10 (De-Void)

Part 1/1

State: edited

Hey guys! :D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!

Stay safe and healthy! ❤

Until next time my fellow wolfies!! :D

-Nicole ^.^