From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

May 2003
There weren't many things thirteen year old Jack Hayes did not enjoy. Like, seriously, the list of things he loved would've taken him the rest of the school year - given that was only a few days - to write down. Things like girls, his amateur wrestling team, Monday night football, and making his sister watch him play video games. In fact, there was a good chance he would've blathered on about all of those things to his sister. She'd sock him in the arm at the 'video games' thing, probably because he never wanted to play fighting games that was all she was good at. He was older so there was very little he got away with and their parents babied her anyway, so he didn't feel too bad about playing GTA: Vice City a million times.
Oh, but not today. Not after what he heard.
He walked in the door and Mom was crying like he had never heard in his life, worse than before Maddie was around. Dad's voice was thunderous. He ran upstairs without being noticed and Maddie, his baby sister, was huddled in the corner of the room they shared, on the furthest and darkest edge of the bottom bunk. Little eight year old Madeline, still dirty and her knuckles a little red, sobbing and hyperventilating as she hugged her knees.
This...this was something Jack did not enjoy. He loathed it. It made him seethe with rage - at just about everyone and everything. At the bully who spat hateful, venomous words at her and threw her around like a ragdoll. At the principal that didn't believe her for months and now had the gall to expel her for defending herself. At their parents for blaming a freaking eight year old for this mess. At the school district for making middle-schoolers get out of class way later than the elementary school kids. At himself for not being there to protect her in the first place.
Sure, Jack was good at school and stuff. For instance, he liked World History class and the reading part of English but he didn't have a mind for logical things like math and science. Maddie, though, was so good at those things. She was so smart and liked learning in a way he couldn't understand. She deserved to be in school.
"Elizabeth, she put a girl in the god damn ICU! This is not what we signed up for!"
The whole shitty situation made him want to scream. Instead, he hugged his little sister and held her tight as she choked out another sob, tears spilling onto his gray and white hoodie.
All of this seemed to go on forever and longer, but it was only another two weeks. A whole two weeks of Dad avoiding her and of Mom pretending everything was okay. Two weeks of hearing them fight. Two weeks of Maddie accidentally breaking things and crumbling into wails. Two weeks of her being afraid because their parents were afraid of her. Two weeks of her crying herself to sleep.
That's when they came. Two women, a blonde and a redhead.
There was a commotion outside when the sun went down, the sounds of a fight just beyond their window.
Dad slammed their door shut as if it would somehow shield them. As if Jack didn't know where they lived and how they lived.
That was when Maddie and Jack hid in their room and clung to each other for dear life. That was when Mom cried harder; it sounded like she couldn't do anything else, not even breathe. Jack wanted to listen, but Maddie was so afraid and he was her big brother. He promised his parents that he'd protect her, for all that was worth. More importantly, he promised her. He'd never leave her. He'd never hurt her. He'd always come running when she called.
That's the whole point of being a big brother, right?
"Take her. We can't do this anymore," Dad's voice was firm and jarring.
"No!" Their mother's voice was shrill through her weeping. "Not my baby! You can't! Please! I won't let you! God, please!"
The word 'god' was a shriek, a prayer so desperate that Jack felt the ache of it in every bone. Mom always wanted a baby girl. It was no surprise that Maddie was coddled and sheltered in a way Jack never was. He wished there was a lock on the door suddenly.
"Liz. We can't handle this. She can't control it! We...we have to!"
Jack wondered how far they could get, just the two of them. How fast they could run.
"This is NOT worth their lives. Our son's life."
Wasn't it? What did Jack even want to do? He never thought about it. He was never treated like he could be anything and he was even mediocre on his wrestling team. The only thing he was sure of was his family. What would his life amount to if he was alone, hating his parents?
Mom just kept crying.
The rest was a blur. Their dad entering with the blonde woman, who looked pretty but shaken and solemn as she sucked in a breath. It took all of Dad's strength to pull the siblings apart, to pull Jack from his screaming and crying little sister. It took him a moment to realize that he was screaming too. His father held him tightly around the waist and Jack flailed viciously, hitting his dad in the arms and head. Maddie was calling for him but it came out as a shriek.
He had to protect her. It was his job. Why wouldn't they let him protect her?
Dad held him back as the blonde led Maddie into the hallway, knelt down, and very calmly spoke to he like it was normal. Like it was planned. Like it was always going to happen just like this. It was almost like they knew a language that Jack couldn't understand. They were still speaking English but the words didn't make sense. Maybe it was because Jack was thrashing for so long that he tired himself out after a while and couldn't focus on the words.
He picked up a few at the end.
Monsters.
Heroes.
Maddie was still crying but it was silent. He didn't understand why she wasn't running back to her family.
"You gotta learn to protect them first, okay?" the woman said. It was like his sister was in a trance or something, because she nodded at the request.
"I don't wanna go," she said.
The blonde almost looked like she was about to cry too as she nodded. "I know."
"Th-the monsters won't get them if I'm not here?"
The blonde nodded again and a tear streaked down her cheek. "They'll be safe until you get back. I promise."
Maybe he was tired but the way she said it made it sound like a lie. Her voice wobbled. She couldn't quite smile. Her green gaze looked so horribly sad. Still, she held out a hand to Maddie. The little girl with messy brown hair and big brown eyes looked back over at Jack, who felt helpless. He'd gone limp in his father's arms and stared at his sister, hoping with his last ounce of hope that he could will her back. His voice was sore and his eyes were blurry.
She ran to them, stretching her short arms as far as she could around both him and their father, who would not loosen his grip on Jack. He knew though - he knew that if Jack could hug her back that he wouldn't let her go. He knew as much as Jack knew that this was it. Maddie wouldn't be coming back.
Even through his scratchy voice, Jack whispered to her. "I'll find you. I swear, I'll find you. We'll fight the monsters together."
Monsters weren't real, not that it mattered.
"Just you and me, kid," Jack said, swallowing the lump in his throat. Maddie cried a little harder but nodded slightly.
She didn't want to bring her things. She didn't say another word. The last he saw of her was when she turned the corner and disappeared with the mysterious blonde down the hallway. He heard the front door close gently after what seemed like an eternity. Mom couldn't scream anymore; she just cried quietly until Jack finally lost consciousness in his weeping father's arms.
☽ † ☾
Maddie didn't wait for Allison that morning, partly because she still didn't understand what the hell was going on with the girl and partly because she distinctly recalled Allison making absurd presumptions about her and Stiles months ago with no backing whatsoever. The last thing Maddie was will to give her was the inkling that she might've been right.
Allison was in no way right.
That stupid dream Maddie had was just her brain reacting to extreme stress. Stress everywhere, at every angle, crushing her for weeks. It did not imply that she had romantic feelings for Stiles and it certainly didn't imply that she was in any way attracted to him. She barely gave any thought to him in the...aesthetic sense.
Barely, her brain echoed. She grimaced as she crossed the lacrosse field, freshly mowed grass and dew sticking to her glossy black boots.
Her head was so jumbled from the night before that she didn't even think to ask Xander - about the Allison thing, obviously. It wasn't like she had the ability after the fight in the library, what with her sudden case of paralysis. She would take the time to text him everything before first period, she lamely resolved as she continued to walk past the bleachers to the school entrance, not in the mood to even look at her phone.
The text message light was blinking even before she unplugged it that morning.
It was probably Stiles.
Or Scott, she rationalized, hyper-aware of the light still blinking despite her phone being out of sight.
Maybe she could go without speaking to both of them for a while, but she already knew that wasn't an option after yesterday. The last thing she could even remember was something about Jackson and a rave, according to Stiles, just as he was dropping her off. Jackson was going to kill again and that couldn't be ignored, even with all the other threats looming over her.
While not grandiose or apocalyptic, Scott's main problems were almost always immediate and involved certain death so, naturally, his problems became hers.
Even after spotting that damned blue jeep from halfway across the parking lot, Maddie's gaze kept going and found two familiar faces just beyond the vehicle. Scott and Stiles were talking to that other kid that was in detention with them yesterday - Matt, I think? -  and Stiles seemed particularly frustrated with him, gesturing animatedly.
Maddie stopped a few feet away from them, trying to navigate a path to the entrance without calling their attention. What if she looked at Stiles and, somehow, he knew something was wrong? What if she said something or did something strange that held some sort of inclination of her dream?
What if she turned into some dead-eyed, bleeding heart girl with no life outside of her misguided crush in a matter of seconds like that one from that movie Em made them watch a million times - the one about the pretty vampire family or whatever?
Well, okay, that wasn't going to happen - mostly because she physically cringed at the word 'crush' as it flashed in her head.
Maddie gripped the strap of her leather messenger bag tightly as her stomach flopped. She was sincerely hoping it was just the mcgriddle sandwich from earlier not agreeing with her but something was telling her that probably wasn't the case. She squared her shoulders and moved towards the boys, just as Matt walked off and her eyes narrowed on him as he sidestepped her, his stare darting away.
"...last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job, so what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott asked in a poor attempt at a hushed voice, but Maddie gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed it was just her enhanced hearing.
"Be there to make sure it happens," Stiles said, defeated. They both turned to head into the school and stopped almost immediately when they saw Maddie coming towards them. "Hey."
Maddie didn't answer but gave a tight smile, her eyes avoiding Stiles completely and instead redirecting to Scott.
Scott gave a tense nod. A moment later, he glanced around, confused. "Hey, don't you usually ride to school with Allison?"
"If I did, would you think we would walk side by side up to you with her psycho grandpa and all of the cameras around?" Maddie chastised herself for sounding snippy, but it was no different than how she normally talked and they were probably used to it by now. She folded her arms tight over her her chest, her nerves snapping like pop rocks. "And, no, I didn't. I felt like walking. So, what's this about Jackson?"
Scott and Stiles glanced at each other, mildly confused, before Scott answered, "Oh, um...we're still trying to get into that rave. Jackson's next target should be there, but we can't find tickets."
She shrugged. "I'll find some."
Stiles looked at Scott and gestured to Maddie. She preferred when her ability to intimidate her way out of tough spots used to horrify him. "See? Problem solved!"
"Without violence?" Scott asked. Maddie opened her mouth to defend herself. "Or threats of violence?"
Maddie raised an eyebrow, turning childish. "I don't see you with a better plan."
"Or an inexpensive one," Stiles said. The look Scott threw Stiles was one that screamed 'you're not helping' and Stiles put up his hands defensively. "What? I'm just saying, I don't really keep an 'in case of rave' fund on hand - and I'm pretty sure you don't either."
"We'll think of something. We always do, right?" Scott said, although the tone in his voice was just short of defeated. He sighed and looked between Stiles and Maddie. "I mean...we have to. Between this and the Argents and the vampires-"
Maddie's eyes widened in shock as a few students passed and Stiles loudly and absurdly cleared his throat. All three looked around suspiciously before huddling closer together and she swatted Scott's arm. "If you're going to bring up the supernatural in public, at least learn how to whisper."
Scott blinked before his eyes grew larger, as if he hadn't even thought about it. "Right, yeah. Sorry."
"Whatever." Maddie shook away the prickle of guilt. "Just...think of something. And quick, okay?"
Scott nodded and gave a half-hearted, grateful smile, acknowledging that she had begrudgingly conceded to his request. Maddie took a step back without a second glance to either boy before spinning on her heel and walking towards the entrance of the school.
"Mads, wait up!" Stiles called and Maddie halted her steps, tense from the neck down. She barely turned her head and hoped she wouldn't catch a glimpse of him. "We've all got English. Might as well head there together. Y'know, discuss possible plans?"
Maddie forced herself to shake her head slightly, only enough that they must've noticed. "Can't. I, um...I gotta call my watcher. Get him up to speed."
She could hear the slight hesitation in Stiles' voice when he spoke. "...Oh. Okay, yeah. See you in class then?"
"Yeah." She didn't wait any longer before speed walking to the building, although the tension in her muscles still had a tight grip on her.
☽ † ☾
"I did my job."
Sadie told herself that for days, firmly in her motel bathroom mirror or mumbled in her expensive car, especially after seeing her handy work - and, boy, was it ever a ten car pile-up. The universe felt like it had shifted all around her within seconds of granting Allison's wish. The wind seemed to skew, like she was living in a snow globe and someone kept shaking it constantly. Everything was shaking. Everything was vibrating with such violent energy that she could even feel an unease among the mortals. Maybe that was just because midterms were coming.
Even then, never would she believe that she would sense unease where she stood, peering into the stoic, and black eyes of D'Hoffryn. Even in the shadowed, circular room, lit only in the dim light of five or six long-wicked candles, he was completely illuminated. His lilac skin was wrinkled around the four horns atop his head, perhaps from age or from (the more likely reason) on the job stress. His clawed hands were folded in front of him. He still didn't speak.
"By order of you, D'Hoffryn, lord of Arash'Maharr, and the Lower Beings, I was given the power of the wish to avenge scorned women. Was that not what you asked of me?" Sadie's arms were crossed over her chest as she glared. She felt small and so young, as if the shadows were the town elders and she was still a little girl caught sneaking out of church.
"What scorn do you speak of, Sadira?" he asked, his pupil-less gaze narrowing. It was the first thing he said since summoning her and the boom of his voice made Sadie tense up. "You gave unwarranted power to a jealous teenager. You made this tiny human into our enemy, literally. The chaos that you have thrown the mortal realm into-"
"Gee, sorry," she said, sarcasm slicing through her tone as she waved her arms almost mockingly. "Thought that was the point. Y'know, chaos, destruction? Is that not our thing now? Should I change my title from justice demon to slight discomfort demon?"
"The point, my dear, is that you have no idea what you are dealing with!" His voice bellowed with an unnatural amount of bass. "The Lower Beings that you had the audacity to mention want to see you burn for this. This mortal you deemed worthy of assistance, this...Allison Argent, was to lead a short - if not insignificant - life. Do you know why that is?"
Sadie frowned. "No, but you look like you're going to tell me."
"Because. She. Had. Power." He took a step closer, baring his teeth as he spoke to her but she stood there still, stiff as a board. "The Argent name, although cursed, has survived centuries with the same two traits that already belong to the slayer - power and death. Their reality is still adjusting and balancing itself after what the Summers girl did. Now, it has to compensate for possibly something worse - a mortal who didn't need that power."
"So she's super O.P. now." There didn't seem to be an answer for this and she huffed. "O.P., y'know? Overpowered?"
This managed to break the ominous tension as D'Hoffryn sighed. "Oh, by the Old Ones, I don't care about your Twenty-First Century slang. Yes, she is overpowered. But power isn't just created out of thin air. It's traded, or in this unfortunate instance, stolen. It would like taking a block out of a Jenga tower and you just managed to take one from the very bottom of the stack. Do you know what that means?"
"Really? A Jenga metaphor?" He didn't answer and she rolled her eyes. "Well, if I take one from the bottom-center, not really anything."
"Bottom right."
"How big's the tower?"
"Very. Big."
"Which side is it top heavy on?"
"Really? You use ridiculous, contemporary metaphors daily that we're all supposed to understand and I make a Jenga reference one time."
"Okay, grandpa. You're the one that wants me to buy that the whole freaking universe is a Jenga tower."
"Meaning that everything has the very real potential to fall apart for all of us without warning. Do you understand that?" He sounded more annoyed than angry now, but there was still a severity in his tone until he spoke again. "And you made me break down my entire metaphor. You know how much I hate doing that."
She barely caught the tail-end of what he had said because, in her head, she saw it all toppling - an impossibly large tower of wooden bricks. She couldn't help but wonder if one of them was her. "Okay then. Undo it."
"It's not that simple. You, more than anyone, know the consequences for reversing a wish. It takes more power than we have at the moment." D'Hoffryn smiled and it was in no way pleasant. All sharp teeth and wrinkles. "That's where you come in."
She shuffled a half step back.
"In one fell swoop, you've exhausted our magicks and we need to replenish that power. That being said..." He glided across the floor towards her, eyeing her throat like he was about to slice it open.
It took her a moment to realize what he was really examining was her long, bronze necklace and the deep burgundy of the gem attached to it when his pale hand lightly touched the chain. He yanked the jewelry off of Sadie's neck and she gasped, less at the slight stinging of the necklace being torn at the base of her neck and more at the sudden loss of it.
Over the centuries, Sadie watched girls lose their amulets and some even had theirs destroyed in one way or another, but D'Hoffryn never took an amulet away. Her nonchalant attitude broke into panic and she reached to grab it back but he kept it out of her grasp. "There have been whispers from a reliable source that the little town you found happens to have an excellent power source but we can't seem to find it. Your stay in Beacon Hills has been extended until you do. We'll be keeping this to make sure you don't make any more insufferably idiotic decisions."
Sadie's jaw hit the floor. She desperately wanted to reach for her amulet again but feared what would happen to her if she did. Still, in her panic, she found herself arguing. "No. No way. You can't do this! After everything I've-... This isn't-"
"Fair?" D'Hoffryn's icy tone made her hold her tongue. "Let me remind you that life isn't fair, my child. The Lower Beings would prefer I kill you and take your power, but, what can I say? I'm sentimental. Instead, you get what even my favorites didn't get: a lesson."
Her jaw clenched at the words 'my child' and pulsed at the word 'favorite'. She knew she wasn't one of the favorites; if anything that meant she could fly under the radar in almost every situation until today. There was no flying under the radar when the Lower Beings had their eyes open and Sadie might've been the first thing they saw in years. D'Hoffryn was the only thing standing between her and a bloody, agonizing death, which he seemed to enjoy immensely. There was still so much more she had to do. Wrongs she needed to right. People she needed to torture.
Now was no time to die. Not yet.
She swallowed. "What do you need me to do?"
"Nothing too terribly difficult, Sadira. Find the mystical centre of that town and give us a call. If you can do that, we'll make things right and you can go back to doing what you do best. Oh, and do try to avoid those slayers." He backed slowly into the shadows, smirking. "I'd hate lose you like I lost Anyanka."
Sadie flooded with rage and glowered at the space where her boss had been standing long after he'd gone. As she blinked and found herself at the edge of the woods by the lacrosse field of Beacon Hills High School, she still stood there, staring and wishing to burn every god, old and new.
She adjusted the strap of her backpack and stomped over to the school, powerless and swearing on every unholy deity that she would never end up like Anyanka.
☽ † ☾
The day had wound down to an end and Madeline felt particularly on edge, perhaps even more than she was that morning. She made a check list in her head of the things that already went wrong that day and it seemed to be growing by the second. As she dragged her feet down the hallway to the front entrance of the school, she caught sight of Allison, who unfortunately saw her first and darted around the corner. This led her to the first item on her list.
1. Allison was avoiding her - and doing a damn good job of it.
She would get to the classes they shared before Maddie and sit in the most crowded parts of the room, then proceed to be the first person out when the bell rang. She was MIA during lunch and in between classes. She wasn't answering texts. They still hadn't talked about what happened yesterday and Maddie was starting to believe that they might never.
It was all too suspicious and was verging on irritating. It was like Allison was hiding something and it was starting to feel like she would sooner tell her grandfather than Maddie.
Meanwhile, Maddie tried to call and inform Xander of the whole situation all day, between every class. There were even a few times she would excuse herself and call from the girls' bathroom. This, unfortunately, led to the next problem.
2. Xander wasn't answering and neither was Dawn.
She even tried Willow, but she hardly ever paid attention to her phone anyway. The odds of no one at HQ picking up their phones was highly unlikely, unless it was an 'end of the world'-type emergency - which only managed to compound upon Maddie's ever-growing panic. What if there was some impending apocalypse on the horizon? That was certainly explain the since unexplainable unease she suffered from the past several days.
Still, wouldn't they tell her if that was the case?
She pulled out her phone again. No messages since she cleared her notifications. When she stuffed it back in her jacket pocket, she sighed.
"You okay there, Mads?"
Her sigh transformed into a groan as she looked to her side and found Stiles walking beside her, his backpack slung over his shoulder and worry in his light brown eyes.
Why was she suddenly acknowledging the color?
She always loathed brown eyes, as dark as hers were. When she was angry or sad, they were pitch black and looked like they devoured souls which, with her makeup, added to her whole intimidation tactic so she grew to tolerate it. Stiles didn't seem to have that problem though. Even when he was weighed down by worry or anger or (the most familiar) suspicion, there was still color there. His irises would reflect gold to copper and it almost made her stop and appreciate the color.
No. That would be weird. Don't be weird.
She found herself frowning at him, like she always did, before shifting her gaze forward. "I'm fine."
3. She couldn't seem to avoid Stiles.
Unlike Allison, she found herself running into him more than when she actively tracked him. Maddie never really considered how much she would see him in one day. It wasn't even like he was following her; he just seemed to be in almost every class and even when he forgot to save her a seat, Scott would always remember and she ended up right next to Stiles every time. In between classes, she managed to get away and lunch was easy enough - she had the option of training in the gym and no one would tell her otherwise.
She ran into him five whole times just today. It was like she wasn't even trying to get away.
Maybe she wasn't. That was a topic for another time, though.
"See, now I know something's wrong." He was struggling to keep pace with her and she could tell from her periphery that he glanced her way again. "Anyone who says 'I'm fine' is never actually fine."
"Could you not psycho-analyze me right now?"
"Okay. Calm down, Diana," he said, with a grin. "You see the reference there? Because Wonder-"
"Yes, I got the reference, Stiles." Maddie could certainly do without the nicknames. Not that she didn't enjoy that comic or being compared to Wonder Woman of all fictional people, but she could feel the back of her ears getting warm and immediately wanted the subject changed.
Her tone seemed to put a damper on his mood though, which she found herself regretting. Still, she noticed him pull out something from his pocket. "Maybe this'll cheer you up a little."
He handed her a brightly colored ticket and she studied it before side-eyeing Stiles. "Do I want to know how you got this?"
"You're probably not gonna like the answer." At her expectant stare, he rolled his eyes. "Isaac. He, ah...roughed up some guys and took the tickets."
She narrowed her eyes on him. "But when I do the same thing, it's a problem."
He raised his hands up defensively. "Hey! It's not like he gave us an option! Before I knew it, there were a couple of unconscious guys and we had three tickets."
"Just like that?"
"Well...sort of." He shrugged his shoulders as high as they could go at her scrutinizing stare. "What? They'll be fine!"
She tucked away the ticket and grumbled, "Whatever, it's fine. What's the next step?"
"We head to Scott's job. Scott's boss, Deaton, wanted us to meet up there."
She nodded, giving in for no other reason than stopping Jackson. By that point, they had almost made it to the door and Stiles only just asked if she needed a ride, when she stopped in her tracks as if something had tethered her to the school. Like her gut filled up with stones and made her too heavy to move.
"Maddie?"
She ignored him as she stared at the door. Her unease had increased tenfold almost instantly and flooded her brain. It felt more familiar than before, though. The feeling that coursed through her the same way almost nine years ago.
Nine years ago, her parents were fighting downstairs. Her brother was holding her tightly. She was crying so hard that she couldn't breathe.
Nine years ago, there was a knock at the door.
It changed her whole life.
Panic and rage was filling her up so much that it felt like her eyes were floating in it. She was nudged back to reality and she turned back to Stiles, who looked worried again. "Maddie? What is it? Is something happening?"
"Yeah." Her eyes shifted back to the door and then back to him. "And I think it's something bad."
She shoved the door open, Stiles in tow.
She stared, empty-eyed, at the bottom of the concrete steps, where two women stood. A blonde and a redhead.
They both stared at her with concern as Maddie slowly walked down the steps, never breaking eye contact. She could hear Stiles talking but couldn't decipher the words.
She stopped in front of the blonde, whose tired, green stare almost seemed a bit relieved. Maddie knew that her own stare was black and guarded as she folded her arms. It took all of her willpower to control her emotions as she spoke. "What are you doing here?"
The worry in those green irises seemed to triple.
Finally, Buffy spoke. "We have a problem."