From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

He hummed.
It was a low, hypnotic tune that hung in the air and echoed from the bare, windowless walls for hours upon hours. Bodies would pass the threshold, but, upon hearing this, moved on quickly. Some even stumbled over themselves as they attempted to scramble away. They knew better than to disturb him.
A thick, dirt-encrusted finger drew in the thick layer of dirt atop the floorboards. It had been a solid day and night since he had returned from his journey to the faceless deity he and his children called 'the mother'. He had beckoned her for guidance. He had sought her out for the answer to a most dangerous question: was there really a Slayer, a murderer of their kind, mere miles away from their home, in the Beacon?
The moment he had returned, he had been muttering to himself so quickly and so softly that no one could catch a word of it. His dark hair became a curtain over his round face and he paced for the first several hours. Sometimes, he would begin shouting as his followers cowered away from him.
Now, his unsteady, plump finger glided through the dirt and his eyes widened so large that his bright blue irises seemed to shine in the dark. He knew. He knew what he was being shown
The hummed broke in his throat, gurgling out into soft laughter. A grin stretched across his face, showing yellowed teeth. His laugher only became louder as it bounced off of the walls and tumbled through the halls, mimmicking his glee.
A small, thin boy with a mangled face poked his head through the open doorway and the interruption was caught in the very next second. The large mass of a man stood, his tattooed arms and black slacks caked with dirt. "Brother Mathias, bring to me...Sister Lilith." The boy had already sprinted away as he muttered out, "...it seems that we've finally been shown the way."
Once they finally stopped came to an abrupt halt, Maddie found herself in a dark office, surrounded by Scott, Stiles, and Allison who all looked panicked and jittery. The slayer's eyes scanned the three faced in front of her, her own concern spiking. "What? What's going on?"
There was a prolonged silence that passed between all four of them. Allison was keeping her vision focused on the desk to her right while Stiles looked as if he had the words on the tip of his tongue but couldn't seem to saying even one. Scott was the one who finally looked over at Maddie and muttered, "She passed Derek's test."
Maddie's jaw clenched and she exhaled a deep breath. That was when Stiles finally managed to speak again. "But we don't even know if the test proved anything, okay?"
"Right," Allison agreed, although her voice wavered. "It's just a theory he came up with. It doesn't mean anything."
"I know, okay?" She narrowed her gaze on Scott, then on Stiles. "I know. God, it wasn't like I was just going to go with Derek's word on it..."
"Look, we don't have time to argue." Scott looked from Maddie to Allison. "Derek's waiting for Lydia outside."
"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked.
Scott nodded and slumped his shoulders. "If he thinks she's the kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool."
The youngest Argent released a long, apprehensive breath. Stiles wore the same expression as before - still stubborn and resolute. "It's not her."
This time, Scott seemed to be the one that needed convincing. "Stiles, she didn't pass the test, man. Nothing happened."
Stiles shook his head and he muttered, "...it can't be her."
Maddie frowned deeply at Stiles' withdrawn form and directed her attention back to Scott. "It was a made up test, okay? So, unless we see her transform into a giant snake-lizard-thing, it's not proof."
"It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her," Allison interjected. She glanced over at Maddie and back to Scott. "So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."
Scott shook his head. "Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school."
"What about after school?" Allison's tone was becoming panicked again and she sighed. "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"
"What, by three o'clock?" Stiles asked.
"Maddie."
Her head snapped up and she shot a glance over to Allison. "What?"
"What have your people sent on the kanima so far?"
She shook her head and looked down. "Nothing we don't already know."
"Then...there could be something in the bestiary," Allison, although her voice made it sound as if she was simply grasping at straws.
Stiles gave her a deadpan expression. "Oh, you mean the 900 - page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that."
Allison's eyes glazed over for a moment before her stare met Scott's again. "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."
Scott paused for a moment before speaking up again. "Uh, I can talk to Derek, maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her." His eyes softened a bit suddenly as he continued to look at Allison. "But if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"
"You mean us," Maddie corrected. Scott's eyes shot over to her and she raised an eyebrow, pointing to herself. "Um, hello? Slayer over here. You're not the only supernatural creature in the room."
Scott opened his mouth like he was about to argue but then closed it again and nodded. "Uh, right. Yeah. Us. Maddie and I will handle it."
Allison gave them both an incredulous stare. "What does that mean?"
"That you can't heal like we do," was Scott's point-blank reasoning. There in Allison's eyes, was a familiar hurt. Maddie looked away as Scott continued. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Allison rolled her eyes and stood, pulling something out of her bag. Out came a black, compact crossbow, its bowed sides springing to full size. She raised the weapon, giving Maddie a side glance before looking straight at Scott. "I can protect myself."
Maddie folded her arms and withheld a sigh. She knew there was nothing she could possibly say that could make the situation better. If anything, by speaking, she would just make Allison angry with her - something that she didn't have the capacity to deal with at the moment.
All the while, Scott looked progressively more and more worried. This must've gotten to Allison, who put her weapon down. "What? Did something else happen?"
"I just don't want you getting hurt." Scott's voice had softened as Allison walked closer to him. It wasn't often than Maddie felt at all uncomfortable around the two - mostly she would find it endearing. It wasn't often that she saw someone care so deeply for another person. Something, though, was different; something in her stomach had shifted. Her eyes hit the floor almost instantaneously. In the back of her head, there was an inkling of what it might be, but it was just far enough away and out of focus to be ignored. Maybe, it's was just envy. No, that didn't seem right. "Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you call me, okay? I - I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until 3:00."
Allison remained silent but gave a nod in return. Scott turned to leave and made it to the door when, suddenly, he spun back around. He caught something that turned out to be a crossbow bolt that had sliced through the air towards him. It was certainly enough to catch everyone's attention as Scott, Allison, and Maddie turned around to find a shocked Stiles holding the crossbow. Allison rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders, taking the weapon away from the boy.
"Ah...sorry," Stiles began, then pointed at the crossbow. "...sensitive trigger on that."
Maddie released a frustrated sigh as her fist collided with his arm.
Stiles winced and rubbed his arm gently. "Yeah, probably deserved that one."
Allison turned to Maddie as Scott left and, after giving her a disapproving look, spoke again. "Can you two intercept Lydia before she leaves the school? I'll meet you on the way out."
"Yeah, sure." Maddie nodded and grabbed Stiles by his shirt collar, dragging him out of the room. "Come on, before you accidentally kill someone else."
"...a study group?"
That was just about the reaction Madeline thought that Lydia would have. Still, she nodded fervently as Stiles replied. "Yeah! Just for a few hours."
Lydia quirked an eyebrow. "And what's this a study group for?"
The was a hesitant pause from Stiles before he blurted out, "Chemistry, b-because you're so good at it and...y'know, Maddie and Scott...aren't."
Maddie's head snapped in Stiles' direction and she gaped at him for a second. He completely just threw her under the bus and simply expected her to go along with it. Not to mention that including her in his lie only forced her to lie even more - something she was already terrible at. She blinked, coming back to reality and the current situation. Getting Lydia out of there in one piece was far more important. Her head turned back to Lydia and she forced a smile, nodding again. "So, you'll help, right?"
Her scrutinizing green stare narrowed on the two for a moment that seemed to drag on forever, even as Maddie's and Stiles' desperately tried to plead with her. Maddie knew she would practically force the girl out of there regardless - but this way seemed conflict-free and far less suspicious. After another second, Lydia rolled her eyes dramatically. "Fine."
Maddie's shoulders relaxed, although she had been unaware that she was so tense over something so small. After Stiles thanked Lydia, they immediately guided her down the hall to meet with Allison. As they were doing so, out of the corner of the slayer's eye, she caught sight of the blonde girl from earlier that day. The girl seemed to spot her as well and beamed at Maddie, waving. The brunette scowled and continued to push Lydia toward the library while the girl's arm fell to her side.
Lydia looked back at Maddie with a curious stare. "Who was that?"
"No idea," she said without a second thought.
Daylight was waning as Madeline paced back and forth while Allison held her crossbow at her side and Stiles kept peeking through the curtains. Getting out of the school seemed to be the easy part, but now they were stuck waiting for some sign of the four wolves. Maddie had finally stopped grumbling over the amount of people were in one place at one time after Allison chided her a third time. Still, she didn't like the idea of so many potential victims if the worst did happen. It didn't help that Jackson had more or less volunteered to go with them, probably for his own selfish motives. Still, it was someone to keep Lydia occupied while the rest of them kept watch.
"Has anything else, like anything at all, come through about the kanima on your end?" Allison asked, her concerned gaze meeting Maddie's.
The slayer shook her head. "Like I said before, nothing. There was a half-page that told us the basics we already knew and where to find more info in the Watchers' diaries."
"And?"
She rolled her eyes. "And nothing. The volume was burnt to a crisp in a huge explosion, like, a decade ago. The only copy left is being guarded in some alternate dimension by Wolfram and Hart."
Allison quirked an eyebrow. "Wolfram and Hart? The law firm?"
"You've heard of them?"
"Er, yeah. Sort of." Allison caught the curious looks of Maddie and Stiles and looked out the window. "I just, I dunno...found a business card of theirs a while back."
"Where?" Maddie asked.
"...it's not important," she mumbled.
"Awesome. Supernatural lawyers," Stiles deadpanned, "Lemme guess - they're evil."
Maddie scoffed, "Understatement." She sighed and shook her head ferociously. "Not the point. We have no info aside from the whole 'seeks a friend' thing and that doesn't really get Lydia off the hook."
"She's not the kanima," Stiles shot back, only mildly irate this time. Allison stayed silent, almost as if she wasn't even sure of that anymore but with a look that was cast downward in guilt.
Maddie glared at him only for a moment. "Well, she's something."
"What if she's just immune?" Allison asked, her arms crossed. "Maybe it's possible that..."
Maddie could hear the words die in her friend's throat. There was a silence that stretched for at least a full minute and, for just a moment of that, the slayer could hear arguing above her head. A few faint sobs muffled through walls accompanied the sound and it felt like a large stone had dropped into her stomach. It was only then that Stiles broke the silence. "If she's more than that, then what?"
Maddie's stare redirected to the boy who was looking back at her and then to the tall brunette at the other window who did the same. Both stares were expectant but solemn, perhaps dreading what she might say. Sure, there were a plethora of common demons she was taught, thing that lurked in the same shadows as the vampires. None of them inherently kind or gentle; none of them any better than a kanima. Some maybe even worse. "I don't know, okay? There's probably a whole list of humanoid things out there that are immune to the bite."
"Like slayers?" Stiles asked.
Maddie's eyes narrowed on him. "No. Not slayers." This seemed to make the boy shrink back a little and his eyes redirect to the window once again. She sighed, pushing forward. "Like...Mok'tagar demons and Gnarol demons and Vengeance Demons..."
"...Could she actually be any of those?" Allison interjected.
Maddie raised an eyebrow at the girl. "I'm not really sure about the other two, but she's definitely not a Vengeance Demon. We'd know by now if she was a Vengeance Demon, believe me."
Allison's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, but how would we know..."
"Guys," Stiles said, "Now's not the time."
Both sets of eyes darted over to Stiles, who was looking out the window with a wide stare. The girls looked at eachother suddenly and Allison almost didn't notice when Stiles passed her his phone with Scott's number already pulled up. She swallowed and tapped the call button as Maddie rushed over to her bag that was settled in the corner of the room, pulling out the small, silver axe.
"It's me," she heard Allison say, her voice stern but shaking, "You need to get here now...Right now."
Once the call had ended time seemed to move much more rapidly. The sun had nearly finished setting and Maddie found her pacing had sped up as well. It was almost like her first patrol - the first real one, at least. The one when she first held her axe and stood side by side with those who were much better than her in the pouring rain. The one she didn't think she'd come back from.
Allison pulled out her own phone and looked down at it for some time. She was still shaking. Stiles seemed to notice this as well and spoke up. "What're you doing?"
"I think..." she started, looking at Stiles then at Maddie. It was only a short look before it went back to her phone, as if she was ashamed of something. "I think I have to call my dad."
"You can't," said Maddie as she stopped in her tracks, without a moment's hesitation. She stared at the girl in diselief, mind racing with possibilities, of what harm such a move could do - and not even realizing quite how abrasive and accusatory her words had been. It wouldn't just be Allison and Scott who would be found out; the girl's father would place a large part of the blame on the slayer who swore to keep the two apart. Not to mention, if Chris and Victoria found out, so would Gerard - he was the one she was worried about. There was no telling what the consequences would be.
Stiles appeared to be be just as panicked. "If he finds you here, you and Scott-"
"I know," she cut him off with a withdrawn look and a slightly harder one at Maddie. "...I know. But what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us. They're here to kill Lydia."
"They won't, okay?" Maddie tried, easing the frustration in her own voice and gripping her weapon tighter. "They'll have to get through the front line first."
"There's four of them." Allison's voice was becoming harsher and her stare became a mixture of helplessness and anger. "There's no way you can fight all of them at once! They will tear you apart."
Maddie looked down at her weapon, feeling the sting of anger in her own chest now. Of course she couldn't take on all of them and that terrified her. That wasn't the point though. She sucked in a breath and looked back up at the girl only a few feet away. "Probably, but someone should play the distraction. I can hold off a beta or two - at least until Scott turns up."
"That's not a plan!" Stiles added in, throwing Maddie a horrified stare. "That's not even sort of a plan!"
Maddie rolled her eyes and began pacing again. "Do you have a better idea?"
He glanced out the window again, fidgeting slightly, and then looked down at Allison's crossbow. "Yeah, I think I do." As Allison turned to him, he looked up at her as well. "Shoot one of them!"
Allison's gaze widened in horror. "Are you serious?!"
"We told Scott we could protect ourselves," Stiles replied. "So let's do it. We'll at least give it a shot, right?"
Allison turned back to the window. "...Okay."
"You're both insane," Maddie found herself muttering. They continued whispering back and forth, ignoring the comment. The slayer groaned and took another deep breath, attempting to calm her frayed nerves. It wasn't until a question was posed that she knew that'd be impossible.
"Where's Isaac?"
She felt her adrenaline spike as a hand wrapped around her throat from behind and she was sent flying into the living room. It was a hard fall but not harsh enough to keep her down for more than a second or two. The slayer scrambled to her feet, finding Allison on the floor and the leather clad beta wolf hovering over Stiles and growling. Blood boiling, she grabbed Isaac by the collar of his jacket and yanked him across the room and to the floor. Quickly, Madeline placed herself between the boys and glowered at the wolf she was now facing as she took a defensive stance. She had thrown her axe to the side, knowing she wouldn't need it this time and instead balled her fists. "I warned you not to touch my people."
Isaac jumped to his feet, eyes glowing a bright yellow as he bared his teeth. "I suck at instructions."
As Maddie noted the shadowed form of Allison running up the stairs, she charged forward. Punches and kicks flew in every direction before a backhand hit her cheek so hard, it almost dislocated her jaw. In a flash, she gripped the hand that had struck her with both of her own hands and tossed him into a wall. Ignoring the portraits that had fallen around the boy, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and allowed a full force punch to connect with his face. "You suck at fighting, too."
Isaac was breathing heavily and coughing a bit as he laughed at the comment. He laughed. There was nothing more infuriating. Although, in that moment of hesitation, he pushed her away with both of his feet. The petite brunette found herself stumbling back and, in less than a second, there was a hand wrapped around her throat again. Isaac was grinning as he pinned her to the wall behind her. "Time's up."
She was horror-struck. The words echoed through her as they had for many nights, but something was off. It was the same words she had heard over and over again, but they weren't right. It sounded all wrong. Snapping herself out of her momentary trance, she saw something out of the corner of her eye moving. Focusing, she grinned, realizing it wasn't Stiles she had seen. Her eyes went back to Isaac's and she wrapped both of her hands around his wrist, slowing prying it off with her last ounce of adrenaline. The self-satisfied look on the wolf's face faded into a shocked frown. In the temporary distraction, she did the one thing she still had left - she sent a swift kick between his legs.
In seconds, the boy crumpled to the ground and was yanked away from Maddie by a yellow-eyed Scott into the opposite wall so hard, that it shook the house. Isaac's head slumped over and, in seconds, Scott had rushed upstairs. Maddie rolled her neck and gently rubbed it, although it stung a bit. Turning the corner into the dining room, she found a mildly concerned Stiles looking up at her. Still, as the house became quieter, his concern faded into a half-smile. "So, I'm one of your people?"
She let out a short, quiet laugh as she held out her hand to him. "Shut up, Stiles."
As Stiles grabbed her hand and she pulled him to his feet, Scott bound back downstairs with the limp body of Erica over his shoulder as Allison followed him down. He grabbed Isaac as well and threw a glance over at Maddie, nodding at the door. Taking the hint, she obliged the request and opened the front door. As Scott threw both betas out onto the sidewalk at Derek's feet, all four of the remaining teenagers stepped outside to the porch.
"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott." A mildly intrigued yet irritated Derek looked over at the four. "You're not an omega, you're already an Alpha...of your own pack."
And for a moment, Maddie looked over at Scott, then to Allison, and finally to Stiles. There was something natural about standing there with them. There was even something she hadn't felt among the girls she spent years along side. For the first time, she wasn't a soldier in an army. She didn't know what she was yet, but the sound of being in a pack maybe wasn't so bad.
"But you know you can't beat me."
"I can hold you off til the cops get here," Scott shot back.
As sirens sounded in the distance, Derek's smug smile disappeared from his face. Although, a siren wasn't the only thing they heard in the distance. Hissing sounded above their heads and Maddie's eyes darted upwards as they ran out to the lawn to see the roof. Lydia. There, on the roof, the kanima slithered out through the window and crawled across the roof tiles. It turned to them, its slitted eyes cold and menacing as the creature screeched. Something rang in Maddie's head though; its scream didn't make her double over, it didn't pierce through her like Lydia's had on two separate occasions. Sure, it was deafening, but not painful.
As it ran off, she heard Derek mutter a command to Boyd but didn't bother to pay it any mind. Of course, if they moved-
That's when something came running out of the house, terrified. There, on the porch, stood Lydia, wide eyed and pale. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!"
"Snake's a pretty apt description of him."
She'd never felt so betrayed by her own words as she stood there, frozen and Scott echoed her own thoughts.
...Jackson.