YOU SHOULD'VE HEARD HER SCREAMS
PUDDLES began growing as the rainfall over Beacon Hills became heavier by the second. The four teenagers were emerged in the downpour the second the jeep pulled up outside Deaton's animal clinic. The Oni had caught onto the nogitsune's whereabouts, as Kira and Scott hurried to get Aspen and Stiles inside the building, using the mountain ash barrier to their advantage. Kira and Scott fought them off, buying time as the other two ran inside.
In the midst of trying to fend off the Oni, Scott had been impaled straight through the stomach by one of their swords. He winced and grunted in pain as Kira was able to get him away and into the clinic. As they turned their heads towards the door, Aspen and Stiles rushed over to the wounded McCall boy, and lent a helping hand in getting him over to the counter—under the pretences of helping him.
Just as Kira wrapped her fingers around the handle of the sword, and braced herself to pry it out of Scott's flesh, a hand suddenly reached out and engulfed itself over hers, with so much strength and force that she let go of her grip and winced from the pain. It was Stiles—his hand wrapped around Kira's wrist and forcefully pried it away from Scott, feeling zero remorse as she cried out from the pain. With one smug and devious smirk sprawled over his paled lips, the possessed boy forcefully threw Kira's light and delicate frame to the ground, her head hitting the metal table in the midst of it, knocking her out cold. Then, a cold, dark chuckle emersed from the corner of the room.
Scott's face had fallen as all the blood practically escaped the flesh of it. He was more terrified in this moment than he'd ever been before in his entire life. He turned his head to where the dark and devious laugh came from, finding the flesh and bones of Aspen Carter, slowly walking over to where Stiles stood before Scott.
The brunette girl stood right before Scott, her delicate fingers floating around the handle of the Oni's sword, the smirk on her face still firmly there. Her dark locks of hair were soaked from the angry downpour of rain, the damp strands falling before her face as she looked up at Scott through them. She took in the look on his face—pure terror.
"Please don't," Scott begged through a horrified whisper, knowing he wasn't really speaking to his best friends, but the heartless and cruel demons controlling them, "please—please..."
"It's okay, Scott," Aspen whispered with a false sense of comfort, tilting her head slowly to the side as they locked a gaze. Aspen then broke the eye contact by looking up to the side, where Void stood, embodying the hazel-eyed boy, with a smirk on his own face that mirrored hers. Aspen simply nodded her head in Scott's direction while her eyes remained on the other possessed teenager.
Stiles reached out an arm, and planted it firmly on Scott's shoulder. It wasn't a supportive grip, it was harsh and strong, and even painful as his fingers forcefully dug into Scott's skin. It's purpose was to hold him down for what Okami planned next.
She then took a strong hold of the handle with her grip, and slowly and torturously started to turn it, then watched as Scott's eyes squinted in pain as he let out a huge grunt of pain and agony.
"Does that hurt?" Okami tortured him as the sword continued to twist further and deeper into him, ignoring Scott's pained grunts and cries. "Hey, Scott—look at me."
When Scott's eyes remained shut from reflex of the agonising pain, Aspen rolled her darkened eyes and applied more force, smirking when his cries of pain got louder.
"I said look at me, Scott." She repeated with an irritated edge to her tone, and then Scott reluctantly opened his tear-glazed eyes, his own locking with hers.
"You know..." she began, shaking her head teasingly, "you're way too naïve for your own good. You should've done your reading—didn't you know us nogitsunes are tricksters? You've been falling into our carefully laid-out traps all day, Scott. All. Day."
"We feed off of pain," Stiles cut in, making Scott turn his head to look at him, his eyes still glossed over with the tears of pain, "Chaos, strife—and pain. And you've taken a lot of that today... all because you're too damn trusting..."
Okami then let a laugh escape Aspen's lips, a dark and devious chuckle. She somewhat released the harshness of her grip on the impaling sword, but still kept her hand tracing over it.
"If only you could've heard her, Scott." Okami teased, Aspen's paled lips curving into an evil smug smile, "Her screams. Her prayers."
The heavy downpour from outside the clinic filled the silence that washed over for a few seconds. Raindrops continued to fall down Aspen's face as she glared into Scott's eyes. Only, not all of them were rain. Somewhere inside of her, the real Aspen that was being forced to watch as she tortured the boy she cared for more than herself, the boy she'd grown to call a brother—she was crying. Aspen's real tears were mixed up and caught along with the normal rain drops, she just wished that Scott would notice that one of them wasn't rain. She wished Scott could see how sorry she was, how guilty she felt.
"She's been screaming inside her own head all day long," her voice continued through an evil laugh, "Hell, she still is now. She wished she could warn you, Scott. She's been telling you to get away from her—for weeks."
From beside her, dark chuckles came from Stiles' own lips as both nogitsunes took pleasure and amusement in the torture they inflicted.
"You wanna know what it reminds her of?" Okami spoke through Aspen's lips, tilting her head again, "It reminds her of last year, when the poor thing couldn't speak. Do you remember that?"
Scott physically couldn't speak, the pain from being stabbed through the stomach was tearing away all of his energy. But his face fell even more, even if he didn't think that was possible—as he was forced to hear the real Aspen's thoughts. And though he wasn't himself either, Stiles was being forced to listen to it all too. In reality, all three teenagers were experiencing more pain in this moment than ever before, and none of them could say a thing about it, their voices silenced for different reasons.
"It reminds her of those weeks she went unable to utter a word," she continued with a teasing and spiteful edge, "And when she got her voice back, she prayed every day she'd never lose it again..."
"Y-you..." Scott's voice hesitated through a winced whisper, "you're..."
"I'm... what, Scott?" Okami tortured, "Heartless? Cruel? A monster?"
Scott's eyes were narrowed, trying hard to keep them open even though every defeated muscle in his body wanted them to flutter shut. He flicked his gaze between Aspen, and then to Stiles, both of their faces paled as they both wore the same devious and victorious smirk. Scott then gazed back to Aspen, although his words were for Okami, not the innocent soul beneath.
"You're..." he said breathlessly, but full belief in what he was saying, "never... g-going to get... away with this..."
"Don't you see, Scott?" Void cut in through Stiles' voice, and then leant in closer to whisper in Scott's ear,
"we already have."
***
"You're certain this stuff works?" asked a very panicked but determined Ace Carter in a very quiet voice, as he hopped out of Deaton's car, indicating to the syringe in his hand that the man had given him. Ace had been looking for ways to help ever since he stopped by the hospital and made that promise to Scott and Stiles, and luckily he just so happened to find a certain emissary. Deaton had somehow acquired a rare plant—Letharia Vulpina, which apparently had the power to do more than weaken a nogitsune—but temporarily expel it.
"It works," Deaton replied bluntly, carefully closing his own door so as not to make a big noise and warn the possessed teenagers of their presence. "There's only two doses of it, so don't mess it up."
"Trust me, I got this," Ace replied, "I've done something... similar," he added, recalling the time he injected his own little sister with a similar syringe, the one that contained Lupus Venenum Daemonium, that he used to poison the Demon Wolf possessing his sister, but it didn't expel it.
Ace and Deaton quietly and stealthily made their way to the door of the clinic, hearing muffled voices that they quickly recognised to belong to the younger Carter sibling, and the other belonging to Stiles.
***
Unaware of the two new presences outside the door, Okami raised an arm to land on Scott's other shoulder, while Void had Stiles' arm planted on the other, the sword in Scott's stomach yet to be removed.
"You've taken a lot of pain today, Scott," Aspen said in a torturous voice, "this morning—you took it from Isaac."
"And then you took some from Coach..." Void added, lifting his brows up teasingly.
"And finally, from a dying deputy..." Okami finished, then added, "All of that pain—you took it all—every last ounce of it."
Aspen then moved her hand that was planted firmly on Scott's shoulder, and delicately placed it on his cheek, her pale fingers skimming his jaw, and Stiles did the same, mirroring her actions along with the smirk on her face.
"Now," Aspen whispered, "give it to us."
Within a matter of seconds, the veins in both Aspen and Stiles' arms began to run black, the same way Scott's had been all day as he took people's pain. Only this time, it was stronger. Both of the possessed teenagers tilted their head back as they absorbed every ounce of the pain Scott held, their jaws falling open as the power seeped into their blood.
A few moments passed as the demons continued to absorb the pain and power, before they lifted their heads back up and their veins eventually returned to normal, all of the pain from Scott's body having been transferred. Scott felt the shift, the change, and his eyes widened as they landed back on the faces of his two best friends.
"Are you scared yet, Scott?" Stiles said in a devilish whisper, paired with raised brows and an entertained smile,
"Because they are."
"You really have to learn, Scott," Okami let out a low and victorious chuckle from Aspen's lips, "you really have to learn not to trust the Foxes. Mm-mm." she shook her head with a teasing edge, "Cause we're tricksters. We'll fool you.
We'll fool everyone."
Suddenly, the other two people in the room who had just snuck through the door while the nogitsunes were distracted, announced their presence. Deaton stood right behind Stiles; the Void demon unaware of his presence yet. And Ace stood right behind his sister, his jaw clenched with infuritable anger and the determination to fulfil his promise.
"Not everyone." Ace spoke, and before the possessed teenagers could fight back, syringes were being injected in both of their necks, and their jaws fell open as their eyes rolled into the back of their heads, slowly losing consciousness from the poison.
Aspen's limp body fell backwards and her brother was their to catch her, slipping his arms under her own, and gradually pulling her backwards. He then leant down to whisper in her ear,
"There there, little sister..." he said, "I made a promise, you're going to be okay. You hear me? You're going to be just fine..."
Seconds later, both Aspen and Stiles were out cold, the poison having done it's job, temporarily expelling the demons in control of them. Deaton and Ace carefully placed their unconscious bodies to the ground. Ace then gave Scott a look before wrapping his fingers around the sword impaled in his stomach, and ripped it out of him in less than a second. Scott let out a wince from the pain, but seconds later the flesh on his stomach began to work on it's healing process.
"Wh..." Scott stuttered, his eyes darting between the unconscious bodies of Aspen and Stiles, and Ace and Deaton who stood in front of him, "What is that? Is that a cure? Are they—are they both okay?"
"It's not a cure," Ace was quick to dismiss, his jaw still clenched, "It's just a poison. It will expel the foxes inside of them for forty-eight hours."
"Forty-eight hours?" Scott questioned in a panic, "That's all we have?"
"We'll think of something before then," Ace replied, trying to keep his voice calm and believing, "we have to. The foxes aren't dead. Not yet."
***
Aspen and Stiles were passed out in their unconscious states for roughly an hour. Within that time, Scott, Ace, Kira and Deaton had propped them up on the tables in the clinic, laid down on their backs, as they all waited as the clock ticked torturously, knowing that any second now, they were going to be met with the real Aspen, and the real Stiles. To pass the agonising waiting time, Scott had called Allison, knowing she'd want to be here when Aspen wakes up.
Scott would've gone ahead and called everyone, Lydia, Isaac, Derek—but he realised that Aspen was most likely going to be overwhelmed as it is, a massive crowd around her probably wouldn't help. Allison was different though—he knew Aspen would want to see her.
Or so he thought.
Little did he realise; Aspen wasn't going to want to see anyone. There wasn't a single person in her life she felt she'd be able to look in the eye.
And when Aspen's pained and scarred emerald eyes finally did flutter open, at first, she made no sound, no sudden movements. Everyone's eyes were fixated on the ground in waiting, but the first person she laid eyes on, was the unconscious boy laid on the table next to her. It only took seconds for Aspen's eyes to glaze over in forming tears threatening to spill. Aside from the moment in the loft with Derek, this was the first time she'd truly been herself... in months. In Derek's loft, Okami let her take control only for a matter of minutes, but it was only as a part of the demon's plan. Aspen felt herself for once, but not like she did right now. Before, although it was really her, her soul felt like it was being kept on a tight leash by Okami, so she wasn't truly free.
But right now—she didn't feel herself trapped in that tight leash. She didn't feel that blackness swimming around her heart. She felt like she was truly, fully, herself.
She just silently gazed at Stiles for a few seconds. His eyes were still shut, but he was pale. The colour from his skin was being washed away from the fatigue and lack of life. She wondered if she looked in the same state, which she did.
After a few moments of her staring, Stiles' eyes slowly fluttered open. Her eyes landed on the hazel pools of honey flecks in his irises that she'd missed so much. She was surprising herself that she was even able to look him in the eye right now. Stiles mirrored her actions, staying quiet, not making a move. As everyone else in the room remained unaware of the two's regaining consciousness, Aspen and Stiles shared this moment between themselves.
The Carter girl tried her hardest to curl the corners of her lips into a weak smile for him, even though there was nothing genuine about it. Stiles knew that, but he still returned the weak gesture. The look in Stiles' eyes—it was relief. Relief that he was himself, even if only for forty-eight hours. Relief that he could no longer hurt the people he loves, at least not right now.
Aspen didn't feel relief.
She felt dread.
She dreaded the moment she had to look at everyone around her, everyone she'd hurt. She dreaded the way they'd look at her—after all, she felt she was the monster that all of her innocent victims had called her. How was she to know that everyone here wouldn't view her the same way?
But wanting to bite the bullet, she made a small movement in her leg as she tore her eyes off of Stiles, enough to catch everyone's attention, as they all jumped to their feet and watched as she was now conscious. They quickly gazed at Stiles too, seeing they were both awake now. Allison ran to Aspen's side without a hint of hesitation, her hand cupping Aspen's in an attempt of comfort. Scott didn't know who to go to, so he stood between them, unwilling to move. Ace rushed to his sister's side, desperate to see the real version of the soul he felt responsible for corrupting.
He felt it was completely his fault this happened to her—after all, Okami told him himself that it could've been him, and so did the Oni. The only reason the demon went for his sister instead was because of how much pain she held—most of which Ace was responsible for.
"Asp..." Allison whispered under her breath, trying to get her to look her in the eye, but Aspen only kept her eyes on the ceiling, unwilling to look at anyone.
"Hey, Asp," Ace tried, but still, Aspen's gaze didn't budge.
"Stiles?" Scott tried to grab the attention of his best friend, who's head immediately flinched to look him the eye, unlike Aspen. Stiles blinked a few times, looking around the room, still laid down on his back, taking in his surroundings.
Ace and Allison didn't understand that the reason Aspen wouldn't look anywhere except the ceiling was because she couldn't face them. They thought it was something else, like she was comatose or something. They began to panic, and Allison placed a delicate hand to Aspen's cheek, only for the brunette to flinch away from the touch—sending Allison's heart to sink.
"Why..." Allison whispered hastily, looking up at everyone else in the room, "why isn't she looking at anyone? Are you sure it worked? Is she okay—"
Allison cut her own voice off when Aspen willingly turned her head to the side, the side of her face resting against the cold metal, as a tear rolled down her cheek, facing the boy next to her. Everyone fell silent, realising Aspen could actually move, and she was looking right at Stiles, and nobody else.
Stiles caught her gaze, and because he was more agile than her, he scrambled his body off the cold metal table, his feet hitting the floor. He then crouched down next to Aspen's unmoving body, holding his own hand out to cup her cheek—but just like she did to Allison, Aspen flinched away from his touch. Something she'd never done before. Stiles' touch has always brought comfort for her, she'd never rejected it. Until now.
Stiles' face was a mere few inches away from Aspen's, their broken gazes holding onto each other like their lives depended on it.
"Hey, Asp," he whispered softly to her, "It's me, it's us. We're us again..."
And then, for the first time since she'd woken up, Aspen spoke, her broken whisper filling the room,
"I wish you'd never stopped me that night..."
//
'that night'= chapter 12 btw ;(
also I'm gonna try my best to update quickly now as I'm trying to get this book finished before I go back to d school on the 6th, which might be a bit ambitious but oh well
next episode is eichen house so that'll be fun...
not ;(