From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 26: Chapter 26

"Are you sure?"
"Are you serious?"
Allison was taken aback by the question and the incredulous look that her friend gave her. She straightened her spine and pushed herself away from the locker she'd been leaning on. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"Allison," Lydia's eyes narrowed on her friend, "sweetie. It was just a bad day. That's it." Allison could tell that Lydia was becoming more and more defensive each time she brought it up but she couldn't help but be worried for the girl. The past few weeks had been horrifyingly bad no matter her efforts toward the contrary. Even so, she decided to drop it. Before she could start a new conversation topic though, Lydia went on as she closed her locker. "Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about."
The brunette's brow creased and she frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, please. Like it's not obvious." The strawberry blonde rolled her eyes dramatically and glanced over at Allison again, who seemed utterly dumbfounded. Lydia's eyes widened only slightly. "You really don't know, do you?"
Allison's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Know what? Lydia, what's going on?"
A light as air sigh escaped her friend's lips as she nodded for Allison to follow as she walked down the hallway. It took several minutes to get to their destination and Lydia hadn't said one word the whole way there. Before the youngest Argent knew it, she was standing outside the gym doors, which were currently shut but on the other side came the most curious sounds.
Repeated smacking of two things crashing together in no discernible rhythm. Allison looked from the double doors to the girl on her left. Lydia was looking at her expectantly back. Allison slowly glanced back over to the doors and reached for the handle of one, pushing it open carefully. She only slightly did so, as to not alert the person on the other side. The sounds became clearer and were now joined by angry grunts.
Allison peeked inside the large room to find a stand up punching bag being assaulted by a girl with tied up brown hair that threatened to stick her face. Makeup that hadn't been fully removed darkened the bags under her eyes - something that was clear even from there, now that she could tell who it was.
Punch after punch was thrown, some missing here and there - something Allison wouldn't expect from a slayer. Her expression shifted completely from confused to worried as she turned back to her friend. Lydia, of course, wore the same knowing expression. A pang of guilt jolted through Allison as she spoke quietly. "She looks...tired."
There was that incredulous look again. "No, she looked tired a week ago. Now, she looks like an extra from the Walking Dead." Her snippy tone wasn't exactly helping either, Allison noted. Still, she was right. The color had drained from Maddie's face and her form was increasingly sloppy - which seemed telling, in Allison's inexperience. Lydia rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you two but, for the love of god, just work it out. I can only handle so much drama in one day."
Allison looked down at her shoes and breathed a heavy sigh before mustering up the courage to look her best friend in the eye again. Lydia proceeded to gesture towards the gym again, this time more emphatically. Allison struggled quite a bit to convince herself to oblige the request, even as she entered through the double doors.
As the doors slammed shut, Maddie missed the punch and growled to herself. She ran her fingers through her damp hair before letting her arms go limp at her sides. Her hands hurt again; of course, that wasn't the only thing that hurt. She'd had a migraine for at least the past hour as well. Had it been an hour? Maybe it was two, not that it mattered. The more time she spent outside of her head, the better. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option as she heard footsteps pulling her back into reality. She whirled around to meet the person face to face and was a bit shocked to see Allison carefully walking towards her. She was frowning, but not like before. It was more akin to the looks she gave Lydia nearly every day now or whenever Scott went off on his own.
Worry. That's what it was - but it couldn't be. Not for her.
Maddie adjusted her sports tank top slightly and rolled her neck, acting as nonchalant as possible.
Allison swallowed and kept her distance. "Hey."
The look on the slayer's face remained placid and with good reason. It was the first time all day Allison had spoken directly to her and they hadn't been talking much before that. Part of Maddie was angry with her. She had gone through the trouble of agreeing to train Allison the way she had been trained and then had been kept in the dark when the girl had started training with her father. Still, she stood there, working hard to quell the bitterness that had settled in her gut. "What's up?"
Allison made a motion that looked almost like a shrug. "Just...seeing how you are."
"I'm fine," Maddie said, just as she had to Stiles earlier. She was beginning to get sick of saying it.
The taller brunette frowned, taking in the slayer's appearance. The bags under her eyes were dark and puffy while her stare was unfocused. Even her blinks were frequent and unusually long. "Are you sure? You look..."
"I said I'm fine," Maddie snapped, glaring at the girl. This was nonsense. Allison was keeping her from training, which was the only time she didn't have to think. And the more she thought the angrier she could feel herself becoming.
She saw Allison grip the strap of her bag tightly. "Really?"
Maddie shrugged this time and went back to repetitively hitting the 'tapout' logo on the punch bag. "You know me."
She heard the voice from behind her again. "...Do I?"
Her fist had been about to collide again with the rough canvas material when it halted only centimeters away as the answer registered in her brain. Her head snapped over to the girl and she folded her arms indignantly. She was not in the mood for this, or Allison at all for that matter. She was tired of these people always looking at her like she was an animal and turning around and looking to her to help them. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Allison opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and stayed silent for another few seconds. "I know you're a slayer but I barely know what that even means. I know you came here because my family asked you to. But...you don't talk to me. I don't know who you are. What you like. I don't even know if you consider me a friend."
She paused and swallowed, ignoring the shock on Maddie's face.
"Or if you're just putting up with all of us until..."
Madeline clenched her jaw. "You're right. You don't know me."
She shifted back over to the punching bag, hitting it harder and harder until her knuckles turned red.
"And instead of asking, you avoid me and keep secrets."
"Because I tell you and you shut down!" Allison had begun shouting back, now burning a hole though the side of Maddie's head with her gaze. "Whenever we talk, you're just...the slayer! Like you can't be any other way because I'm not on the same level as you!"
"Because you're not!" Maddie had stopped throwing punches and walked past the punching bag to take a threatening step toward Allison. "You can't even fathom what this is like! And you'll never know! Never! You say slayer like it's some title that I picked up! It's what I am! It's all I am!"
Her throat was raw as she kept yelling, as if it was something therapeutic despite the horror of it - like peeling back a scab because it itched, just to find it bleeding again.
"You train because you don't want people to protect you! I never had that choice!"
Allison stood there, stone still but still glaring back. She didn't say a word. Nothing.
"You- you want to know something about me?" Maddie's voice was low and venomous. "A bunch of strangers took me from my family when I was eight. You know why?"
She paused, almost insisting on a response but continued when one didn't come.
"Because living with them could get them killed." She wanted to do this, to hurt someone. To have Allison storm off. Anything to get away from everyone. To relieve the pressure and the pain of all of it. She remembered bodies on the ground, motionless and ghostly when lightning lit up their faces. "I train because I know innocent people who are stupid enough to stick around and I have to make sure they don't end up dead. So, no, you're not on my level."
Maddie whipped her head around and walked further into the gym, hearing Allison finally speak up. "...Well, I'm sorry we're so stupid. But it has nothing to do with you. I don't want my friends to get hurt because they had to focus on keeping me safe. I want to help Scott and protect my best friend. If I were you, I would be using my power to help the people I care about, not as some excuse to push them away."
She wanted to yell again, to fight back but when she turned back around she wasn't face to face with Allison. Her breath caught in her throat. The person's face was sallow and her wild, blonde hair was matted and dirty. There was dried blood and bruises all over her face and her blue eyes...they were empty. Hollow. Maddie's stomach dropped and her mouth went dry as her pulse quickened. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be. The girl that took Allison's place opened her blood-stained mouth.
"You could've helped me."
Maddie wanted to shout that she wasn't real but the words turned to ash on her tongue. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a several, terrifying seconds before opening them again.
There stood Allison, the anger in her eyes ebbing slightly as worry overtook them again. "Maddie? What-"
"I...I have to go." Maddie took a step back and stumble into the standing punch bag before bolting for the locker room. She her Allison call after her once more as the door to the locker room shut. Luckily, she was not followed into the room as she sat on one of the benches, catching her breath. She could feel herself breaking apart, imploding in on herself. Her insides felt heavy and her lungs constricted.
It hadn't been enough time. Going to Beacon Hills and agreeing to this mission had been far, far too soon. There was so much she hadn't even allowed herself to feel yet.
It had been a year and it felt raw still. She couldn't allow herself to care because even considering it would be tearing open a wound that had barely even begun to heal. It was then that she heard a buzzing next to her on the bench. Her eyes darted over to find her phone.
2 MISSED CALLS
4 MESSAGES
Her eyebrows furrowed as she reached for the device and tapped on the screen.
Stiles『yo I tried calling we think the third wolf might be this guy named Boyd 』
Stiles『call me back asap we gotta leave like now 』
Stiles『answer your stupid phone 』
Stiles『omw I'll send the address meet me there 』
Eyes wide, she dropped her phone immediately and began getting changed. Her stomach churned more and her thoughts chastised her as she grabbed her things and rushed for the door.
It was too late and she knew it; the wound had been torn open already. Of course she cared.
After receiving the address, Maddie had sprinted out of the school as fast as she possibly could. Even when the ground felt unsteady beneath her feet or she had to look at the directions on her phone, she did her best to keep running. She felt utterly stupid for forgetting about her deal with Stiles and guilty on top of that for how she shouted at Allison. It's not my fault, she tried to convince herself. She could've easily talked to me about this weeks ago. Which she would've taken terribly and she knew it. She didn't want a friend; all they ever caused was trouble and pain. Besides, she calling made friends more of an on-the-job hazard than anything. Her mind flashed the sight of Marie, frail and bloodied, in the gym earlier and Maddie's jaw tightened. No, friends weren't worth it.
Her feet carried her as fast as they could as her mind snapped back to reality and the old, blue jeep came into view. Her vision then moved from the car to the house it was parked in front of. It was a bit blurry but she managed to lock on to one figure. Long, blonde waves and black clothing. Something in their hand. Someone on the floor, not moving. Maddie cursed under her breath and stopped as she reached the girl still standing.
The blonde whirled around almost immediately and looked at her curiously. Erica stood there, smirking as she looked Maddie once over and narrowed her gaze, examining her closely. "Isn't this interesting."
Something caught Maddie's attention after another second; something was shining slightly in the beta's hand. The slayer looked down and caught a glimpse of not only something mechanical (possibly something from a car if her bad feeling was right), but the person on the ground. There laid an unconscious Stiles in a crumpled heap and Maddie felt another jolt of alarm surge through her. Her head snapped up to meet Erica's eyes, the very same eyes she'd seen so much sadness and fear in only days before. This, though...it wasn't the girl she had saved from a group of bullies.
Something in Maddie suddenly felt drained. Not sad, not angry, just...empty. Hollow. She gave the girl a softer look. "...I'm sorry."
"Oh my god. You know already." Erica's smirk stretched into a grin. "Why be sorry then? This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"
"No," Maddie said, her voice even and calm. "I don't care about your idiotic choices. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
The smile vanished from Erica's lips as she barely caught the full-force punch Maddie had thrown at her. She squeezed the brunette's fist tightly, causing Maddie's hand to feel like all the bones in it were being crushed. Without a second though, Maddie crashed her forehead with Erica's in a head butt. Her head sufficiently in throbbing pain, Maddie shook it off and noted the beta wolf's momentary distraction, grabbing her arm that was still attached to Maddie's fist. In a last ditch effort, she threw Erica like a rag doll across the lawn where she landed on her back, writhing in pain.
Maddie strode over as Erica attempted to get up, kicked the car part from her reach, and landed a heavy boot on her shoulder to force her back down. Maddie leaned in, her stare narrowed and murderous as she ground Erica's shoulder into the dirt. "Go run back to Derek. Tell him the slayer sent you."
Maddie finally backed off as Erica growled and stood again. She was visibly shaken but it took her a long moment to start backing up; once she finally did, she clutched her shoulder and ran out of sight. Maddie felt so detached that she wasn't sure that she had even said any of that out loud. To Erica.
She shook her head furiously and turned back to Stiles' unconscious form. She exhaled loudly as she walked over with the car part now safely in her bag and knelt down next to the boy. She put a hand as gently as she could on his shoulder and shook him a bit. "Stiles?"
Nothing. She checked his pulse out of sheer paranoia.
"Well, at least you're alive. That's something."
With no other options that she could think of, she places her arms under him and hoisted him up and decided to take him back to his car.
An hour. A full hour of sitting in the passenger side of the jeep as the sun set, waiting for Stiles to wake up and Scott to text her back. She felt like a guard dog, just sitting there for something to happen. It was terrible - and her seat was beginning to get comfortable. It was then, of course, that Stiles began to stir.
"Mmrphm," came his incoherent voice from the backseat. He tried to open his eyes but then he winced and clutched the side of his head. He then managed to somewhat clearly mumble, "...bitch."
"Excuse me?" Maddie responded as she sent him a glare.
He tried to focus on the slayer in the front passenger seat and only seemed to look even more confused as his eyebrows knitted together and he squinted. "Maddie? What're you doing here?"
"Saving your ass," she shot back. "Again."
He ignored the comment and looked around. "Wh...what time is it?"
Maddie looked over at her phone. "Quarter past six."
"Where are we?"
"I'm assuming in front of Boyd's house." She looked back at him briefly. "Your car won't start."
Stiles was completely upright now but still grabbing at his head.
"That's because freaking Erica ripped out the starter." His eyes grew wider suddenly. "Have you heard from Scott?"
"A little bit ago. It didn't go well but he's alive." She sunk lower into her seat and sighed. "I called a tow truck by the way. You're welcome."
His eyes settled on her for a second or two before darting away again. "Thanks. You know, I'm, uh... surprised you stayed."
"The sun's down and you were unconscious. I wouldn't just leave."
"Right! Yeah. Fair point. Didn't think of it that way, I guess."
Maddie rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat. She could feel her eyes droop more and more. Thanks to Stiles, she had to sit and keep still with nothing to occupy her time, really. She thought about Allison, grimacing at what she said earlier. Marie popped into her head as well, if only for the briefest of moments before she forced her thoughts elsewhere. She'd even been unnecessarily rough with Erica.
She knew how to make someone leave without violence but today...rage just came so easy. Get it together, Hayes.
"Ever think about taking a night off from the whole slayer thing? For good behavior?"
Good behavior. She grimaced and shook her head. "Not an option."
"Why not?"
Her eyes veered away and out the window as she shrugged slightly. "That's not how things work. There's no off time."
"Maybe there should be." The way he said it was so nonchalant that she was almost in awe of how flippant he was being about it.
Maddie sent him a sideways glance and quirked an eyebrow. "You know I can't just stop being a slayer, right?"
"But you can stop taking responsibility for everyone for a little while." He must've noticed the frown forming on her lips because he went on. "Okay, hear me out: I don't know much about you but I do know that you want to protect everyone all the time. And you can't."
"Thanks for that."
"Look, all I'm saying is we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We don't need a guardian; we need an ally." As Stiles went on, Maddie threw him a side glance and noted that he still had his gaze on her intently. "I mean, Allison's an archery pro, Scott's got his wolf powers, and I'm..."
He trailed off, his stare suddenly far off.
"I'm..." he tried again.
"Their Watcher," Maddie supplied, clearly not in the right frame of mind.
"Their what?"
She took a deep breath, wishing she hadn't said that but not having much control over her words as of late.
"...A watcher's the person who trains a slayer," she said, awake enough to explain mostly because her Watcher was one of the few bright spots in her memory. "They don't have super powers but they know, like...everything there is to know. They're the ones researching and they're always around to help, even when it's inconvenient."
She turned back to him for a split second to find a wide grin spreading across his face.
"Stop that." Maddie glared at him and his grin grew wider. "I said stop! I was just pointing out the obvious."
"Fine! Okay!" The smile did not go away in the slightest though.
Maddie huffed and folded her arms as the tow truck approached from the distance.