From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Maddie never really cared about clothes before Elliott and, by all counts, she still didn't. If anything, she cared about the way she looked vicariously through other people. She didn't feel like she had any concept of 'hot' or 'sexy' because the words did nothing but make her feel uncomfortable. She missed actual cold winters where she spent every day wearing hand-me-down pull-over sweatshirts that hid her boobs and her ass. She missed being tiny and scrawny - not tiny height-wise, but outwardly. She especially missed being more intimidating.
She grimaced at the memory of a man cat-calling her in broad daylight with people moving around like he'd done nothing at all but the crowd running off when she punched him in the face. He screamed and Marie laughed as they ran, not particularly interested in being caught by the cops.
The clothes she stared at now weren't even clothes she wanted, really. Pastel colored lace and short, flouncy skirts - gods, she hated the skirts - with thick tights and heeled shoes that pinched her toes unlike her broken-in boots. She even owned a varsity jacket - she didn't even go to an actual high school and she owned a varsity jacket. It was probably better than her old hoodies, as far as actually keeping warm during the winter but it still made no sense.
Sure, it all worked for Charlie and Nora but it felt an actual conscious choice for them and the easy confidence they exuded while wearing stuff like that made them seem more like the idealized versions of teenagers from tv shows.
Or they used to. Nora was gone, thirty-four days gone. The kind without a body to bury. The kind where everyone was still looking, but Maddie thought better of it. She imagined Nora got out, maybe went home. It was a nice thought.
Charlie seemed to handle it well in person, but she never met anyone's eyes and her smile remained close-lipped. They all noticed and said nothing about it.
She used to listen to them - Charlie and Nora - talk about clothes and going on shopping trips and, while it didn't make any sense to Maddie, it made them happy the same way trips to Cafe Cognito for iced americanos and salted caramel ice cream made her and Marie happy.
Used to, she chastised. That used to make Marie happy. Or maybe it never did.
The shorts were far too short, especially for an early spring night. They were black and too tight against her legs, even when she bought a size larger than what she'd normally buy. Sure, she also refused to wear them without leggings and the ones she'd picked out were thicker than normal, but everything felt cinched and pressed in while also making her feel like there was too much revealed.
She changed from a tank top to a black sweater that was much too large for her frame and hid everything but her legs. Once she pulled on her boots, she made a mental note to start her makeup routine when the third level north bathroom was free since it was the closest and would automatically mean the least amount of people would see her agonizing over all of this.
The bunks, while not necessarily tidy, were quiet in the room she shared with the rest of her team and it was one of the many things she was grateful for at the moment. Three twin size beds lined the wall and were mirrored by three more beds on the opposite side, although that was where the similarities ended. Em, Terra, and Charlie kept their space uncluttered while Maddie, Marie, and Nora were known to pile things wherever they could. The nightstand she shared with Marie was cluttered with cheap jewelry and coiled cell phone charging cords. Glow in the dark rubber bracelets were beginning to overflow onto Maddie's side, circling around the small lamp in between.
It was actually one of the nicer rooms, considering six girls had to share it. Then again, that never bothered Maddie; she'd never had her own room anyway. Before she was chosen, she shared a room with her brother, whose face she could hardly picture anymore. In Scotland, she shared a room with about thirty other girls on thin, hardly identifiable mattresses.
When they moved headquarters back to the states, she was shocked at the enormity of the building they moved into - despite the abandoned storefronts on the ground floor. It was shabby on the outside but the inside was pristine like it had been waiting for them. The kitchen, which was located on the main level, was in what used to be a restaurant but on the second level were old offices that were completely redone and had mini break rooms to store snacks. Maddie wondered where the money came from but never asked - she wasn't even sure who to ask, honestly.
Still, she was beginning to find comfort in the tiny space now. She didn't like the city but at least she could always come back here.
Maddie was nearly done tugging her boots over her feet when she heard the door open, a voice following. "Finally! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Alarm flooded Maddie as she tried to kick off her boots as discreetly as possible. She stood up and turned to the door, huffing. "And you didn't check the place with all my stuff first?"
It was an honest question. Marie always said things that embellished the truth and Maddie was typically right there to ram cannonball-sized holes through it.
Maddie's eyes focused on the girl, who was still dressed in her pajamas - albeit different pajamas than she woke up in which at least signified she showered. Marie was like this for weeks, actually. She hadn't gone to a party for at least a month - thirty three days  at most -  and would hardly leave the building unless she wanted candy or caffeine (both of which she'd drastically lowered her standards on). She had a 7-11 coffee cup in her hand which she'd just taken a sip out of while scowling. Once she lowered it, she said, "I could do without the sass, young lady."
"I'm only two years younger than you."
"Twenty-five months. A lot of life can be lived in twenty-five months. That's, like, at least five adult years - or something," Marie said with a smile and a wave of her hand. She'd made these kinds of comments ever since Willow told them how teenagers perceive time slower than adults, in which Willow has since only been around to correct her on these inaccuracies twice. She paused and stared at Maddie for a second longer, quirking an eyebrow. "Weird pajamas you got there, Mads."
Maddie looked down at her black top that ended mid-thigh and her gray leggings covering everything below that. She frowned, shoulders suddenly tight as she fought not to shrink into herself. "They're not pajamas."
"Please tell me you're going to a sweater convention," Marie replied in her flattest voice, "to get more sweaters to go with your sweaters."
Maddie hesitated, about to say something about her plans for the night - about the party and Elliott and being the one to go out while Marie stayed in. She wanted to as something bitter in her chest opened wide. Marie had hardly been around when they began spending their less busy nights at raves and high school parties with people neither of them knew. Marie was always the one to follow the wind wherever it took her but it seemed as though the wind had died and she, for the first time since Maddie had known her, was stagnant. Maybe that was why Maddie couldn't say what she wanted to say; Marie looked so small and the wildness that made her the life of the party became something anxious and erratic.
She wondered if this was just what it was like to watch someone grow up but that didn't seem right. It didn't even make sense that this was what it was like to grow up as a slayer. Terra, Em, and Charlie weren't like this at all; as they got older, they seemed to grow into someone that felt like them but more - regardless if that was for better or worse. Marie's new attitude grated against her personality like she was forcing it.
Maddie sighed. "Sweaters are comfortable, okay? It's not like I'm going out like this."
She tried to remain stone-faced, inwardly wincing at her own words. Now, the party wasn't just a secret - she just lied about it. It hurt her even more when she saw Marie's blue eyes go from murky to bright. "You're not going out tonight?"
Maddie gave a tight smile and shook her head, panicking as the lies kept coming. "Nope. Staying in."
"Oh," Marie said, her voice a forced sort of smooth, like it'd been steamrolled into the way she needed it to sound. "Is Idiot busy?"
"Elliot. And no." Maddie was shooting Marie a look. It was the fourth or fifth time Marie had used her not so subtle or clever jab at Elliott, clearly not seeing the need to play nice. Marie wouldn't even acknowledge him whenever she saw him, not that he liked her either. Maddie could feel the shift in the air these days just by bringing up Elliott like the room had filled with gasoline and every word she said was an attempt to avoid a landmine. "I just wanted to hang out here."
"Really?" Marie's answer sounded less incredulous and more childlike than Maddie expected and guilt flooded her. Marie cleared her throat, maybe trying to regain some semblance of her natural, self-involved demeanor. "You're in luck. I was just about to put on a movie."
"If it's Black Swan again, I'm out." Maddie shuddered at the idea. "I had nightmares for a month."
"Fine, but we are not watching The Crow again. Gothic revenge movies are banned for, like, ever." Marie crossed her arms and smiled that same old smile that Maddie remembered. She couldn't help but smile too.
Maddie rolled her eyes and strolled past her. "Okay, yeah. No good movies."
Marie laughed and, for once, was the one to follow behind. Maddie kept her phone from Marie's view and typed up, Might not make it tonight. Sorry.
All she got back was, k.
This, for some reason, made her even more guilty. Sure, he was just a boy but something about him was intoxicating, maybe in the same way Marie was for a while. The more she was around him, the more she wanted to be around him. When she spent the days in between on her phone, waiting for some indicator that he didn't forget about her, it was torture. She didn't understand why it was like this or if this was normal.
All she knew was that if she paid him the right amount of attention without being needy or clingy (which was a struggle), she could get him to talk to her all night. It was the most common thing that he and Marie had in common.
The talking, of course, was in between the kissing which she was pretty sure she'd gotten better at since the beginning of all this. She'd become self-conscious about it since the time when he made fun of her for having her eyes open. He said she thought too much and maybe he was right. She wasn't sure and now, she was worried she'd ruined everything.
She swallowed her worry down and pocketed her phone. They ended up deciding on a movie neither of them had ever seen because it was about to start on the first channel they flipped to. Pleasantville.
They told dumb jokes about the nineties and about forty-five minutes in, Marie shouted through her laughter, "Okay, but for real! If this started happening while I'm watching, like, Leave It to Beaver or whatever, that'd be must see tv."
"Because you'd organize a rave."
"Mads, you don't organize a rave. You have a party. The vibe people bring makes it a rave."
Maddie teared up halfway through and, by the end, Marie had fallen asleep. Before that, they shared popcorn and laughed loudly at the jokes and talked for at least twenty minutes about how glad they were that they didn't have to wear poodle skirts all the time. Maddie couldn't remember being that happy, ever.
Still, when the movie ended and Maddie wiped her eyes, she wondered if this was the life that she worked so hard to be just right. A life where she was happy but not quite living. It felt like there was no way to know which was which or which world she needed more right now. She had to find out. She covered Marie with the blanket they'd been sharing and smiled at the girl with a sadness that she didn't even know was inside of her. Something inside her told her to stay, to nudge Marie and ask to watch something else. Maybe Harry Potter, now that they had the whole collection. But she didn't.
When she tiptoed out of the room, it was only ten.
She could still meet Elliott if she ran fast enough.
When she got there at 10:28, all dolled up in clothes she hated and makeup made her look shiny, she found him almost immediately - with his hand up another girl's shirt. She didn't remember what she said but she remembered going up to him. She bit her lip to keep in a strangled sound and her makeup ran in a single streak on one side
The red head he was practically fondling a moment ago made a joke about her making a scene. About a little girl who didn't have a clue. Even then, Elliot pulled her aside to what she thought would be an apology.
"Holy shit. You didn't think this was serious, did you?" he said it with so much pity that she wanted something else to take over. Rage, most likely. Yeah, she wanted to punch his stupid, holier than thou face. He called her 'baby' and she hated it; it made her feel small. "It's not a big deal. You know I still like you around, right?"
She gave an infinitesimal nod, caught between a need to go backwards to the last good part of her night and the guilt of wanting to give in.
"You and I can still have fun."
He edged forward, touched her thigh like he owned it. She had the urge to hit him and she didn't. She didn't move immediately and something about that made her want to cry.
And the worst part was she thought about saying yes. She wanted to give in to the consolation. She thought that she could use it to change his mind and then she thought of Marie, who she left on the couch in front of the tv playing that same movie all over again. Marie, who wasn't perfect or even all that nice, but wanted to spend time with her. Maddie lied and left anyway - for this. Still, there was a weak yes trying to form in her throat.
His grip tightened and muffled shriek came out, her jaw quivering in a maddening mixture of fury and disgust.
She wrenched back and punched him right at the point of his jaw. Probably shattered it, which brought forth a giddiness and terror.
She didn't even say a word, stumbling back, tripping over herself as he wailed in pain. The redhead stood her up just to slap her and it felt like nothing. Everything felt like nothing.
Maddie walked silently home, punching whatever wall she walked along until her knuckles were raw.
By the time Maddie got back to Headquarters, there was less than a murmur of noise.
By the time she got back to the rec room, all that was left was the blue glow of the tv as an infomercial played and a toll free number flashed on the screen. The light played on the couch where she laughed with her friend a few hours ago, blankets rumpled on empty cushions.
Low voices rumbled from the speakers, impossibly enthused as Maddie's numb frame filled with ice.
Marie was gone.
☽ † ☾
Maddie never in her life thought that seeing the Beacon Hills sign as they entered town would be such a relief. A flash of a memory took her by surprise - her in the back of a nearly empty bus just half a year ago, grimacing at that exact sign, still tired from arguing with the cab driver that took her to the bus depot. She leaned her head against the window that was still cool from the early morning spring air and allowed Lydia to rest against her left side, maybe because she was grateful to not be alone or maybe it reminded her of another time. Everyone else aside from Stiles was asleep; even she had been asleep for most of the ride, beyond exhausted from everything they experienced in such a short time.
It felt like a day or maybe even two days but they spent only three hours at most in the pit known as Sunnydale. Most of it lost its sense of reality, even when they had proof of its existence. She had a stake from a girl she didn't know the name of and Buffy's cross in her pocket and her shoes were buried in vampire ash, but even then it felt distant and dreamlike. The rising sun became a tide carrying it all away.
There was something that stayed, though - the feeling. The feeling of something dark and sticky coating her from the inside out. Something more than flesh. Something that wouldn't let her forget the shadows reaching for her in empty hallways. Something alive.
They didn't have a place to put the ashes; they'd dug out what was left in the driver's seat and headed back, none of them wanting to spend more than a second longer around that crater. The car ran fine - for Stiles' car, at least - even when Maddie was sure it shouldn't. It toppled on the road last night and it was fine now. There was no explanation but they took it as a sign to get the hell outta dodge while they still could.
She glanced down at her phone. She called Xander the moment they hit the road and, when he didn't answer, left an almost manic message.
"Hi. Um, it's me. It's Maddie. Just checking in, letting you know I'm okay. No need to worry. Call me back, I..." I went to Sunnydale? I almost died? She swallowed and sighed, unable to find the right thing to say. "Just...call me back."
It must've only been a handful of minutes before she found herself passed out in the back seat, leaning against the window and listening to the hiccuping hum of the jeep speeding down the interstate. Part of her felt bad because when she woke up, everyone else aside from Stiles slept. Still, her body needed the few short hours while her brain fought to hold onto Buffy's memories and the power they allowed her for a brief moment. She really did remember being strong; she only wished it was her own strength.
Maddie didn't speak up, not wanting to wake everyone else - even Sadie, who was rested on the other side of Lydia. Sadie, who confused the hell out of her. It wasn't so long ago that Sadie threw her across a room like a rag doll, cracking her ribs and saying the word 'slayer' like it was an expletive. Transposed over that was when she saved Maddie from Allison nearly killing her and fighting evil preachers with them like she was part of the pack.
Sadie nodded to her like it was a tip of the hat. Like she understood Maddie more than Maddie thought was possible. "It's kill or be killed out there, father. All we're doing is dying 'til there's nothing left to kill."
Was that really what her life amounted to? Little deaths chipping her away? If she was being honest with herself, probably. She thought back to the expression on Sadie's face when she saw her ghost, whoever it was. She was stricken, pale and gaping as if someone reached in her chest and pulled out her heart to show her. Now, Sadie's face was blank and soft - no smirks nor sneers, just a girl before the thing that took away the softness on her brow and placed a wall of ice in her eyes. Sadie, before choosing this life, before the descent to hell. Maddie wondered briefly about that fall but didn't find it very hard to imagine why she would turn to vengeance. Everyone had a breaking point. At the end of the day, it was none of her business and Maddie allowed herself to be almost disappointed at the realization of never knowing the girl beyond this.
She glanced away from Sadie and found her gaze on Stiles again, briefly wondering what happened to him and Lydia and where they ended up. She remembered the all-encompassing fear of never seeing them again. The name 'Angel' came for her again and she could still hear that sound in Buffy's voice when she said it, the sound that felt like flying and falling.
When Maddie blinked out of the memory, she found she was still staring at Stiles - more specifically his hands as his fingers tapped on the steering wheel to an indiscernible rhythm.
It dawned on her, gently, how often she found herself focusing on Stiles' hands. Like before, back when the thought of staring just made her angry but less as a passing thought and more in a way she wasn't used to at the moment. It was hard not to though; he avidly gestured with his hands every time he spoke, be it a conversation about a new bit of trouble in town or getting on Scott's case for missing whatever point he was making or anything in between.
A day ago, it would've been easy to pass this off as just a way to get her mind off of literally everything else. It was a pattern to focus on, just like the repetition of hitting a punching bag. Patterns helped push other things out.
The car was quiet and there was nothing but fragments of Buffy's memories still clinging to hers. They weren't quite as vibrant and she couldn't recall much detail, but she felt them. They made her own clearer, like a hand wiping condensation off a window on a rainy day. Nothing was completely clear, people began to look more like people instead of dark blurs in her periphery.
Maddie found her thoughts circling around the memory of cleaning the wounds on his palm and the surprising electric hum the moment they touched. In fact, the whole moment played out in her head, first in pieces but then as a whole, slower than before. The third time was a fast forward of events and her memory shot from the moment to the night of the rave as if she was watching a reel of disconnected events she needed reanalyzed and reevaluated, searching for the common thread.
She'd hugged him that night. She practically fell into his arms - but it wasn't falling, not really. If anything, it was crashing. Not only was everything crashing around her but that she was crashing with it all, collapsing and hanging on for dear life to the only world she ever knew, and every bone in her body at that moment told her that it was too much. Her emotions weighed too heavy to hold up and she was exhausted.
Maddie always sort of felt like she attracted more gravity than everyone else; she always felt over-encumbered with the weight of everything - even when it wasn't hers to carry, like it was a chore to hold her head up and lift one foot after the other to keep moving. She relied on him to carry that weight for just a moment because it was the only gesture she had in her. And he actually did.
Maddie only went through that one once because, if she was being honest, somehow it felt more personal than the other memory. Maybe because she couldn't remember the last time she made human contact without it resulting in some sort of pain.
Stop staring, you weirdo, she caught herself thinking.
Did she hyper-focus on Elliott's hands? Or his anything? Did she like his eyes or his slightly crooked nose? Did she enjoy watching him smile that blindingly perfect smile? Did she just like the way he was shaped - all lean muscled and broad shouldered? Was it maybe his voice, low and rough and lazy? Maybe it was because he sounded like Jim Morrison from The Doors and it reminded her of a fragment of a memory of her dad - her actual dad - who would always shut himself off into her parent's room on the weekends and tune his guitar to the melody of "This Is the End", specifically the opening chords. It was a good memory to have and she liked that she could still hear the music in her head, how it sounded like the ebb and flow of a tide coming in and going back out. Maybe Elliott just reminded her that it was still okay to remember things like that, until it wasn't.
She didn't like remembering that now. She didn't like remembering that she gave Elliott more room than he should've been allotted in her brain and on her skin because she wouldn't have done what she did if he hadn't snaked his way into her head.
Elliott was...pretty. Ridiculously pretty. Gorgeous, even. Practically a rockstar. Maybe she never really gave any thought toward it, considering she was in shock that someone like that gave her the time of day - not because she wasn't up to snuff but because boys like that always seemed too absorbed in themselves to notice anyone else unless it was a 5 minute quickie in a dirty club bathroom stall. Maddie enjoyed the attention and the flirting (even if she was horrible at it) and the kissing especially, but...it ended there. She didn't even really like him, and she certainly didn't take anything he did for her into account. Mostly because he never did anything for her at all.
Focusing on the rhythm Stiles' hands were tapping to not only steadied her and brought her back to the present, they sent her through an ever-growing list of moments that both infuriated her and made her cheeks warm if she looked a second too long or spaced out thinking about all of this. Thinking about Stiles.
To answer Erica's question from weeks ago, yes - she did remember their last conversation as friends because it was about Stiles. She understood the implication that was being made.
"It's not that big of a stretch. You guys spend tons of time together."
"Believe me. The only physical contact I'll ever make with Stiles Stilinski is punching him for doing something dumb."
That wasn't even true now. It wasn't true for a while now. Besides, didn't Erica ask about that just minutes after Maddie thought about how grateful she was that Lydia had someone like Stiles to care about her? Maddie remembered that part perfectly; she remembered standing there in the parking lot watching Stiles and Lydia and feeling more uncomfortable than she was willing to admit.
Maddie wanted to say something, to ask him where he and Lydia ended up or how they got away. She was still grateful, even now with all of these confusing thoughts. She was grateful they had each other through this whole ordeal and that they got out alive. Still, she stayed quiet, listening to the rumbling and coughing of the engine.
There was a nudge to her side and she looked down to where Lydia's head rested on Maddie's shoulder. Hair far from perfect and face slightly puffy from sleep, Lydia was looking at her with a knowing smile. She glanced briefly at Stiles and back to Maddie, tilting her head with an amused spark in her green irises.
Maddie huffed quietly and rolled her eyes, turning back to the window.
"Holy sh-" she heard Stiles begin. The car jerked violently and the brakes squealed as the jeep swerved into the middle of the road. Maddie felt her whole body shoot forward and snap back against the seatbelt before her head collided with the back of Scott's seat. Lydia had braced herself on the sides of both front seats while Sadie looked like a terrified cat with her nails digging into her seat and the edge of the window she'd been snoring against seconds before.
The moment the car came to a stop, quiet enveloped all five of them as they all seemed to be gathering their bearings. Stiles was still gripping the steering wheel, his arms tense and knuckles white. Scott spun around first and asked, "Is everyone alright?"
Maddie nodded and so did Lydia just after breathing out a long breath and letting go of the seats in front of her. Sadie was still wide-eyed and clinging to the jeep for dear life, wearing an expression that was somewhere between fear and resisting the urge to kill.
"What's going on?" Maddie asked, looking from Scott to Stiles to her window. Outside was a sleek, black sports car in the dead center of the road, parked on the double yellow line. The car was familiar but Maddie couldn't place where she'd seen it until the door opened on the driver's side and Derek Hale strode out with a bit of a limp while a much sprier Peter Hale got out on the other side, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
Scott was already out of the car and Maddie pushed his seat up to stumble onto the blacktop as well. Stiles fumbled a bit, visibly enraged as he got out of the jeep. He attempted to slam the door shut but Sadie had already pushed the driver's seat up and held up a hand to stop it. "Do it and risk losing all of your parts."
Stiles huffed and walked up to Derek and Peter as well, joining Scott and Maddie. Scott had his eyes narrowed on Derek when they finally met in the center of the street. "What the hell are you doing here? You nearly killed us!"
"Well, seeing as you clearly survived your scenic trip through hell, what's one more near-death experience?" Peter answered in place of Derek. A flare of anger ignited in Maddie's stomach, surprising her mostly but also urging her to take a step forward and bring her fist across Peter's jaw. A hand grabbed her arm before she could take that step.
It was Scott, she realized as she turned to the boy who wore a pleading expression. It would've been a dumb decision but it would've been satisfying for at least a handful of seconds, which made it seem worth it. Still, she swallowed, jaw set, and stayed back.
She glanced back at Peter, who watched the whole scene and smiled. The anger in her gut burned hot but, instead of throwing an empty threat his way (empty not just because of her lack of power but for her overwhelming fatigue), she blinked once, eyes locked on the man, and spit out, "Peter."
"A joy as always, Madeline," Peter said.
"Derek," Stiles said in a way that nearly mimicked Maddie's.
Derek shot an annoyed look to Stiles, his thick, dark eyebrows set in a line low on his forehead. Stiles nodded once at this and took a half step back. Derek looked at Scott. "We caught your scent the moment you got back to town."
To which, Stiles muttered, "Never gets any less creepy."
"Why in god's name are all of you covered in dirt?" Peter asked.
"Well, I don't know about you," Sadie began, her tone light but with a thick layer of venom, "but nothing says 'best ending to my day' like rolling around in the ashes of your enemies."
"You got the ashes?" Derek asked.
Maddie meant to answer but Stiles was already busy putting his foot in his mouth and she wasn't even a little surprised. If anything, his shenanigans were a return to normalcy.
"Yeah, we did. In fact, we got a whole lotta ashes, buddy. You're not the one who's gonna be inhaling vampire for the next calendar year." His eyes went back and forth between Derek and Peter, who were both glaring - not out of anger but, more likely, annoyance. He looked over at Maddie, who was wincing mostly due to secondhand embarrassment and cleared his throat. "Shutting up."
"That's not all we have," Derek said and nodded to his car.
Maddie saw a girl climb out of the car with a sour expression - an expression that, as a child, she attempted over and over again until it became part of her short list of expressions - and she didn't allow herself to believe who she was seeing.
The woman's jet black hair was short - shorter than she remembered, cropped to her soft jawline - and her dark eye makeup wasn't as heavy as Maddie remembered but much sharper and cleaner around her large eyes. An army green bomber jacket that frayed at the edges hid an old black tee with probably some exclusionist 2005 catchphrase that just seemed mean now and her very new-looking skinny jeans already had specks of something dark at the knees - probably blood and most likely not hers. The real give away that there'd been a fight was what it always was: there were streaks of red on the white rubber toe of her low top converses.
Anyone else would've taken one look at the girl and probably wouldn't have thought she was an intern at the San Francisco District Attorney's office. At least, that's what Maddie last heard; she wasn't all that close with any of her team anymore, not after Nora went missing and especially not after Marie's death. She wasn't sure if it was because they blamed Maddie or if she was just a constant reminder.
"...Terra?" Maddie asked, her voice distant. She hadn't said the name in what felt like years. Terra's face was stony and her eyes didn't quite meet Maddie's. "What...why are you..."
She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when another woman shrugged her way out of the back seat of Derek's car, stumbling a bit. Her pulled back brown hair was everywhere and her messy bun was lopsided even though her dress and thick, black tights were virtually unscathed aside from a couple patches of dirty. She looked at Maddie and whispered to Terra in a voice that wasn't nearly as low as the girl probably thought with an accent that was distinctly British. "Is that her?"
Terra nodded and Maddie frowned.
The girl - or woman, Maddie wasn't sure which considering how small and wide-eyed she was - sighed and her shoulders relaxed. She strode over to Maddie, her mucked up shoes clip-clopping on the asphalt and the strap of an overpacked messenger bag in her tight grasp. She looked like a very lost librarian as she stuck out a hand and smiled a big, dimpled smile - one that she nearly recognized but couldn't quite place. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Maddie looked at the girl's hand, then analyzed the bag slung over her shoulder. "Who are you?"
The girl's hand was still between them, waiting. Maddie thought about the accent again, wondering why Terra would bring this strange girl here now, of all times. The girl spoke, her voice both painfully positive and almost endearing like she was a kindergarten teacher. "That's actually a harrowing tale. An associate of yours propositioned me regarding your case but a few days ago at the behest of Miss Buffy Summers. I'm -"
"New Watcher?" Maddie asked, only vaguely hearing what the girl was saying. It was a shot in the dark, and somewhat discriminatory from the stranger's posture and lack of scuffs on her clothes.
Terra sighed. "New Watcher."
Irritation and disappointment bloomed in Maddie's chest. She thought back to the message she left Xander and felt the dark, gaping hole in her chest open up.
"Um, question!" Lydia said somewhere behind them. "Can we not have this conversation in the middle of the road? Please and thank you."
☽ † ☾
Several Hours Earlier
Max hadn't left the car. Terra had.
Terra, who crawled in between the two front seats and pulled open the latch above the back seats for access to the trunk. Terra, who had unsheathed what looked like a sword on the end of a thick wooden pole, sharpened at the end. Unlike the Slayer Scythe, which she only studied in books, the blade was thin like a sword instead of an ax head. Either way, when it passed by Max's face, she flinched even when it wasn't close enough to slice her.
A glaive, she thought, her studies on ancient weaponry rising through the fog in her brain. Thirteenth century, European origins. Impractical in modern battle, even against the supernatural.
Terra spun it around quickly once like it was a baton. She could see a vampire smiling in the headlights, her lips dark from either smeared lipstick or blood or both. A girl, with hair as pale as her skin in an extremely loose-fitting white dress. Fear grasped at Max. As Terra fought off vampire after vampire, a swarm of them, one stood in front of the car, smiling at Max.
Move, you coward, Max thought, heart hammering in her chest. She could hardly remember the last time she'd even seen a real vampire and she knew for a fact she had never seen one this close. She was never able to see the eyes staring back at her. The girl's expression made her seem all the more monstrous without her demonic features even showing. Her smile widened and Max realized that it was a laugh, the girl's teeth gleaming in the headlights.
Max was clinging to the strap of her bag, wondering if she could calculate how quickly the vampire girl could be at the passenger side door and how much force it would take to take the door off its hinge or shatter the window. She was afraid to look away, to see if Terra was still alive or if Max was completely on her own. Slowly, she hoisted her bag into her lap and, without looking away, searched with her hands for the pockets.
This wouldn't have been an issue if not for her scattered nerves. Her knowledge of even the most basic spells escaped her, words jumbling and rearranging in her head, and she worried that one wrong word could only make things worse. She hoped that the book she was looking for had made it to her messenger bag instead of her duffel that was stowed in the trunk. When she felt the soft leather of the cover with the tips of her fingers, she let out a sigh of relief and pulled it out, allowing her eyes to flick over to it for a second to confirm she'd grabbed the spell book and not her journal.
She opened the cover and glanced back up in front of her. It'd only been a second. Max jumped in her seat when she saw the girl was no longer in the glow of the headlights some several feet away, but cast in shadow as the light shone behind her and she stood a couple of feet away from the hood of the car. Max could hardly see her face but the shadows around her eyes were deeper as if her brow overshadowed them. She wondered briefly if she would still see the girl if the shadows didn't hide her face or if she would find a demon.
Max could feel her pulse in her throat and wondered if the girl staring back at her could hear the furious pump of blood in her veins. The girl raised a hand, placing an index finger to her lips. Max was breathing harder, mustering up bravery from practically nothing. She knew that the vampire toying with her could simply break the glass and kill her in seconds but she wanted to make her afraid first. No trouble there.
All Max had to do was find the right page, somewhere near the front, of emergency spells. Quick incantations that focused on elements, to slow down an enemy. Without glancing down, she searched her memory for what page she needed and found nothing. It'd be a guessing game, a stroke of dumb luck if she found anything at all that she could use.
She flipped through one page, then two, and three. The first was a message from Mr. Giles that included a quotation and an original passage from the oath she took just a day ago. She knew that much because she'd went back over it several times on the plane to San Francisco.
"By wise council, you shall make your war," Grandfather told her once, but she didn't like to think about that day. She certainly didn't have time to now.
Knowledge be my torch, clarity be my sword, and compassion be my shield. By the will of those who came before me, I swear to carry them all as I guide the Slayer through the darkness. So it was, so it is, so it will be, until my last breath.
She cried as she said it, swelling with pride as she imagined herself huddled over a pile of books and beside her wards. Now, it'd be a miracle if she even got into Beacon Hills alive. Suddenly her thoughts were bleeding together, the bright future she imagined with the horrible reality warring with each other in her head. She knew that it didn't necessarily come down to whether or not she looked away again; she knew that the vampire watching her could've killed her by now. It isn't television and she isn't a damned weeping angel. Come off it and do something.
Shaking, she raised her chin in what she meant as a look of defiance but probably looked more like something in the car smelled bad. She released the breath she didn't know she was holding in and ducked down to look at the page she'd turned to. Her eyes were met with a list of Latin words and brief explanations for each series of them, all in her tiny cursive handwriting. She didn't get why people didn't like cursive; she loved it but only used it for notes or reminders to herself. Anyone could type a letter to another person but reading script was nearly always intimidating to most people aside from the writer. It was like a secret language. A comfort when everything else was new and unfamiliar.
excudo - energy blast, concussive.
incurso - disrupt attack
vincire - basic, binding magic (pg. 5 for adv.)
solutum - anti-binding. (pg. 7 for adv.)
flamma frigus. escudo. - lightning attack
librum incendere - fire attack
She nearly kept reading down the list, but felt a small wave of confidence at the word 'fire' and nearly shouted a 'ha!' in the direction of the monster but looked up at the vampire and gaped when she found the girl was no longer there. The space in front of the car now hosted the fight Terra was having with three shadowed figures, moving too quickly for Max to comprehend who was winning.
There were three slow knocks immediately to her right and Max stiffened. She turned only slightly, seeing pale skin and white fabric. She didn't want to see the girl's face and jumped when the knocking turned to a loud pound on the glass and the low sound of cracks spidering from the impact point.
She had to look at the vampire to do the spell, to focus on a singular target. She had to mean the words for them to work properly. It wasn't like floating a stack of books or pushing in a chair across the room. This was something bigger and darker than anything asked of her. This was actively attempting to kill something.
Librum Incendere. She looked directly at the girl's porcelain face and muffled a yelp. The demon's eyes were an old, rotting yellow, shining even underneath her ridged, extended brow but not as bright as her bared canines that were whiter than her skin and sharp as ice picks.
Librum Incendere. Where was the emphasis supposed to be again? Where was Terra? Was she alive?
Librum Incendere. She was speeding through the words under her breath, trying them out on her tongue and feeling no spark in them at all. The demon reared her bloodied fist back again and Max knew what would happen. The glass would break and that was it.
The smile on the vampire's face twisted into a snarl and Max's heart was hammering in her chest so hard that she swore she could hear it. She raised a hand, palm facing the creature.
"Librum Incendere!" came the shaky bellow and it took Max an extra moment to realize it'd been her own voice. Something as hot as fire buzzed and burned through her veins. A spark followed by the glow of orange light flared and the vampire, startled and stumbled a few steps back.
It was only then that Max realized that, while she could see the fire, the flames were only in her peripheral vision. The vampire wasn't even touched by it. Max turned to the windshield and her jaw dropped.
The hood was on fire. Smoke began to crawl out from under the hood and the silver paint curled away from the flames. "Oh. Oh, that is not good."
She shot a look over at the vampire again, who was only just starting to refocus on Max. Max's eyes widened as she stuffed her book back in her bag and gripped the shoulder strap as she crawled over the cup holders and gearshift, squeezing between the steering wheel and the driver's seat and fumbling to open the door. Once she pushed open the door, Max scrambled out, tripping over her own feet but catching herself. She was in the middle of the street, the burning car behind her and the only light for what she assumed were miles.
Once she was again steady on her feet, she moved to run but stopped almost immediately. The pale blonde vampire was inches from her, smiling that deep red smile as blue eyes stared into hers. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?"
Her voice was soft and a little deeper than expected. Melodic. Max took a step back and the vampire took a bigger step towards her.
"Got another spell for me, sweetheart?" the girl practically sang. Her eyes danced with mischief and delight.
Had there ever been a Watcher that never made it to their charge? Could that happen? What would grandfather have thought?
Eyes glowed just behind the vampire and Max was startled so badly that she forgot to exhale for an extra beat. They were a blazing, electric red like the neon signs she read as they drove through downtown San Francisco just hours ago. The eyes were inside a shadow, something large that loomed above the vampire girl. It was at that point that Max realized that this was just not her day.
She meant to be witty. She meant to say something clever like she would to her fellow Watchers in Training. If you must know, I've got something better, would've been alright. Or, I would turn around if I were you.
"Wolf," was the only word she could say and it came out a mumble. The vampire didn't seem to catch it though, as the deep, unearthly rumble of a growl filled her ears. A clawed hand gripped the vampire from behind and hoisted her into the air as she flailed like a fish on a hook. Max took a step back again, eyes wide as the demon was tossed into a tree. Aside from the initial awe of watching anything remotely the size of a human being thrown that far, she found eyes darting back to the creature that had done it. Its eyes were on her now, glowering as it loomed over by at least a foot. "Oh dear god."
Its massive frame turned away and, in a blink, whipped another vampire into a broken branch that jutted out from the side of a different tree. The branch stuck out of the vampire's chest for only a moment before the creature turned to ash.
Max turned back to where the blonde vampire that had attacked her had fallen, finding the space empty again.
"What the... Why the hell is my car on fire?!" Max heard the shout from a few feet away and turned to see Terra piercing the chest of a scrawny vampire with the end of her glaive and it's ashes scattered to the grass.
The field beside the road was clear of vampires when moments before they were swarmed by them. The girl from before was gone but Max wasn't sure if it was because she was dead or, worse, she escaped. Despite that, the panic in Max's chest ebbed for just a second and she breathed a sigh.
Once again, a shadow appeared behind Terra, it's glowing red eyes bright against the darkness.
Fear gripped Max again but it was a different kind. The type of fear she had before was the fear of dying, the fear of pain. The kind that held her in place. The kind she was experiencing now was different; it made her run to where Terra was standing. This thing hadn't attacked her - that could mean that it could be reasoned with. It was a spark of confidence that she didn't have before. "Wait! Stop!"
"What?!" Terra was turning around.
Max extended her hand, fingers splayed as she felt something growing inside her chest. It felt like an expanding bubble, filling up with something warm and light. It grew quickly and when she felt it pop, the warmth shot through her limbs and the creature shot into the air, hoisted several feet up.
It released a horrible roar which made her shrink slightly and he wobbled up in the air. He. It was a man, pale in the glow of the moon with short black hair and a layer of clean-cut scruff on a defined jaw. He wasn't even a shadow at all; he was just dressed in all black. He was handsome, even if the red eyes made him slightly less handsome - very slightly - but that wasn't the point. Thick, dark eyebrows lowered on his forehead in a scowl.
"Holy sh..." Terra trailed off, seeing the wolf hovering above her. She looked at Max, gawking. "You're doing that?"
"Well, yes, obviously," Max said between breaths. She wasn't one to like running - as she was not all that great at it - and did her best to avoid situations where running was required. Of course, it was just now dawning on her that she would most likely be running a lot in the near future. An ache was just starting to pulse on her side like a tightening vice and she gripped it with her free hand. "It...it actually doesn't take all that much effort - levitation, I mean. According to Mister Giles, most first-tier magic users can use a basic levitation spell within months. It's all about emotional contro-"
"Oh my god, shut up," Terra said, no longer facing Max and instead pointing the blade at the end of her staff in the man's direction.
Max faltered slightly and directed her attention back to him, only to find that he was wobbling in the air like he was balancing on the center of a moving seesaw. She outstretched both of her hands and took a slow breath, fully aware that she looked as though she was ready to catch him if the spell failed. Not going to happen. Focus.
He struggled and flailed slightly and Max couldn't help but think he looked like a pinata.
"Um... hello!" she shouted.
"Let me down!" the stranger bellowed. She flinched and he wavered in the air. Alright then, angry pinata.
Max looked from his red eyes to his hands hanging at his sides, swallowing. "I would, really, but... Could you put away the claws?"
"I just saved your life."
That was most definitely a no.
"Right! Yes, thank you. I'm actually very grateful for that." Max's free hand was extended again as her concentration on the spell waned. She had no real intention of harming anyone, especially someone who helped her, but it was a good practice to let anyone who wasn't particularly on her side know that she had the ability. In fact, this large and fairly threatening man whom she was using the little magic she had to keep suspended in the air was still assuming he'd done her a service. He did, if she was being honest - and her arms were getting tired - but she didn't set him back on the ground. "Of course, considering you're only the second supernatural creature that's given me that troubling 'murder' stare, I'm sure you understand why I can't do that."
"If I was going to kill you, you'd already be dead," he said, growling. This was certainly not the response she was hoping for. "Put me down."
"That is neither a confirmation nor a denial of murder."
"Put. Me. Down." Every syllable sounded like a threat. Max frowned, wondering why he thought he could be rude and get what he wanted. She was honestly beginning to think that he only saved her to be the one to kill her, based solely on his answers. She wanted to give him another chance though, mostly for the fact that she wasn't entirely sure if she and Terra could beat an alpha werewolf at that moment.
"'Put me down, what?" she added with full sincerity, although cringing inwardly at how much she sounded like her grandmother.
"Put me down now." She could hear the growl in his voice again and battled her fatigue to funnel her energy to her hands.
"Oh, honestly, I ask for a 'please' and you growl at me?" she asked as her brow creased. "Are you a child?"
"Put me down or we're all dead!" he shouted, eyes no longer glowing. The rage was still there but it wasn't alone; Max could see panic there as well. "They're coming!"
There had been, for a second, the feeling that the real danger had passed, that this part was just grandstanding and procedure to make both the stranger and Terra think that she had control of the situation. Instead, she felt small and clueless and, worst of all, frightened. She was beginning to think that she should let the man down and asked, "Who's coming?"
The horrible fear of the unknown gripped her so tight that she let him go all at once and he slammed to the ground, face down. Max winced at that impact, scolding herself silently for the mistake. He started to push himself up and looked up at Max and Terra, who was still pointing her weapon in his direction.
"Sorry!" Max knelt down and reached out a hand to him. "Honestly, I didn't mean to do that."
He narrowed his eyes on her, not even acknowledging her hand and she noticed that while they weren't glowing, they were still bright even though the dim light washed out the color. He was still glaring and she offered an apologetic smile. His head snapped quickly in a different direction, somewhere slightly behind Max, his expression changing immediately to alarm.
In a blink, he was standing again and looking between Terra and Max. When his eyes landed on Terra again, he spoke. "If you're going to stay, you'll need to fight."
"Fight what?!" Terra shouted.
The man didn't answer her but instead turned to Max. "You need to run."
Max's whole face screwed up in disbelief and annoyance. "You want me to run? What, because I don't have super strength or claws or...or...very large arms?" The more she talked the less control she had over her words. She'd gestured to him at that 'large arms' part and crossed her own. "I stopped you!"
"I wasn't attacking you!" He seemed exasperated and rushed. "They have firearms. They can still shoot you if they're up in the air!"
Max took an extra second to repeat what he said in her brain. "Wait...you're not talking about vampires?"
"There are hunters coming. And they're not big on Vampire Slayers at the moment." He was looking right at Terra, who looked both irritated and taken aback as her brows furrowed.
"But I could talk to them!" Max said it like it was the best idea she had all day. The moment she heard the word 'hunter', she knew she could reason with them. It was a well known fact that the council had allied themselves with hunters centuries ago - whether or not that was to keep out of each other's way wasn't the point - and if Allison Argent was the girl she was looking for, then there were familial ties there. She'd just have to talk to her Aunt Victoria. "I'm sure they wouldn't just-"
A high whistling noise cut her off abruptly as a small rush of air flew by her. She looked around for the disruption to find something new jutting from the tree to her left. A black, thin piece of wood protruded from the bark at eye level with Max and her previous thoughts became muddled in her sudden panic. Terra's stance became defensive, her weapon pointed in the direction the arrow came from.
There was something that came over Max, beyond the panic and confusion. The memory of a tall red-haired woman shouting at her grandfather on a gray afternoon and a toddler who cried in the woman's arms. A seven-year-old Max staring up at the red, splotchy face of the little girl and the sobbing ebbing for just a second as big brown irises looked back at hers. Max had smiled and waved while a tiny bit of wonder came over the two-year-old's face before shouting adults and more sobbing overtook it. It was the first, last, and only time she'd ever met Allison Argent - and she wouldn't even remember Max.
In the distance, taking form in the moonlight and striding through the trees, were human beings dressed all in black as their weapons raised again. Ahead of four men, who all stood a whole head above her, was a girl with dark hair smoothed up into a knot. From a distance, she looked like the first slayer Max was told about - Madeline. The likeness to the description she was given was uncanny.
When the girl came into focus, Max could nearly feel the blood drain from her face. "Allison?"
It came out as a whisper but it gained the man's attention as she noticed his head jerk in her direction momentarily.
It happened in a second.
The high whistle of an arrow cutting through the air.
Max's senses flew into overdrive at the sound and found her hand outstretched before she could comprehend what she was doing. The tension in the air was so thick and electrified that she didn't dare move but something had caught in the denseness. It felt as though a fishing line had come from her wrist and hooked something - which was a painful pulling sensation that felt akin to meat and bone attempting to tear its way out of her skin.
Still, inches from her hand was an arrow spinning in mid-air as if suspended there. Max's eyes moved to its target, a hare's breadth from the stranger and just above his heart. His frame tensed, the man appeared to expect the bolt to hit him and more than likely prepared to pull it out like it was nothing and keep moving.
Max swallowed, her arm muscle searing in pain. "Pax."
The bolt fell. She heard the stranger say, "They're going to make you pay for that."
"You're welcome," she said, half bitter and half sincere. She stood slightly behind Terra and her magnificently oversized weapon, hoping those across the way couldn't see her clearly. She wanted a chance to talk to Allison as family before she was recognized as an enemy. She peeked from the other side of the halberd blade and saw the girl's face now; her skin was shockingly pale and her dark whipped behind her as a group of men followed. She didn't look like the girl in the photo any longer; she looked like what Max could only think to describe as Melinoe, goddess of ghosts and daughter to Hades and Persephone. A girl of darkness and light, beautiful but hollow.
She thought in a jolt, If she sees me and I get the chance to explain, would it matter?
Allison had stopped at the top of the hill and already had a bow in hand, the arrow pointed at the man beside them. Terra seemed ready to strike and the stranger looked as though he were about to launch himself at the hunters as well.
"Madeline Hayes!" Max said in a hoarse whisper, her voice fluctuating in her panic. The man turned to her the second she said it, recognition in his eyes. "You said the word 'slayer'. Do you know Madeline Hayes?"
He nodded but it was more like a minuscule jerk of the head. "I can take you to her but we have to go now!"
An arrow narrowly missed his head and, in the very next second, they ran.
☽ † ☾
"Allison's from a family of hunters...and watchers?" Scott asked, looking over at Max.
"And here I assumed it was Derek with the poor taste in women," Peter said with a tight grin at Derek.
Max went on for what felt like forever but paused at this, mouth open. She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, um...Our family, the Travers', we've been Watchers for generations. Longer than most. My Grandfather, Quentin Travers, was Senior Watcher and both of his children were to take their oaths. My father, George Travers, took his but my aunt, Allison's mother, never did."
Maddie felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Victoria Argent and not understanding why the woman turned so eerily somber that last day. It hit her even harder how Max spoke of her - like she wasn't dead. Maddie wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to say it and the looks on her friends' faces said the same. She was surprised that Derek didn't say anything but maybe he knew better than to alienate a potential ally (or, more likely, Peter convinced him of it).
"It makes sense," Stiles said with a shrug. "I mean, if I needed to keep an emotionally compromised super being from spiraling off the edge, might as well bring in family."
"It's got nothing to do with that," said Max, her tone spiking and the outburst calling everyone's attention back to her. "...I was the most qualified. I had the best scores, the best credentials, and the most experience. My name couldn't get me anywhere, even if I wanted it to."
Terra shrugged. "Can't argue there."
"Look, this isn't the point!" Max cut in again and took a breath.
"Then what is?" Maddie finally spoke, as irritated as Max panicked. "Why did they send you? Both of you?"
There was an edge in her voice that she wasn't able to keep out and she received a dark look from Terra which she sent right back. Terra used to frighten her. She was the smartest and the most intimidating of her squad, but while Marie was off partying her cares away, Maddie clung to Terra like a baby duckling stranded and mistaking anyone who showed her an act of kindness as her new mom. She didn't  realize she was doing that until Terra told her so in an angry, biting remark before Marie's funeral.
"We're not your family! Not me. Not Em or Charlie or Marie or even Xander - and sure as hell not Buffy. Grow up."
The words stuck, clung to her. Even if they were in anger, Maddie succumbed to the truth in them. That was the moment Terra stopped being scary, when she became just another person in Maddie's peripheral. That was the moment Maddie knew she had no one left. Her mission to Beacon Hills came as a relief.
Maddie met Terra's glare head on with her own, unable to remember what it was like to be afraid of her.
Max cut in, sounding unsure but gaining her voice again. "Honestly? We're here to retrieve Allison with her family's consent and make sure both of you get home safely."
The word 'home' seemed to hit her squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Terra looked away finally as Max said it, staring off into nothing. Maddie's glare turned to Max and she almost felt guilty for the way Max winced. "No."
There was an uncomfortable silence that filled the room. Max's expression dropped into shock. "What?"
"I'm telling you the same thing I told your general," Maddie said, her tone hard and cold. "I'm not going back to headquarters until my mission is over."
"The mission is null and void," Max said, disbelieving. "Your objectives no longer exist. Allison Argent needs more than protection and we're standing in the very same room with what I assume are the wolves you were tracking!"
Peter lifted an index finger, amused. "That's actually a funny story-"
"Shut up," Derek said.
"She can't leave. Not yet," a voice said and it took Maddie a moment to realize it was Lydia. "I'm not exactly an advocate for Beacon Hills at the moment, but this is our home. Our families are here. If nothing gets done, we're all dead."
Max looked confused and taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
"We're talking about being under siege by a cult of vampires if we don't finish what we started," Stiles said. "And we're talking about it happening literally any day now."
"We need to reinforce the barrier Derek's family cast to protect the town. We would've never known without Maddie," Scott continued as Maddie shot him a surprised but appreciative look. "She's risked her life to get us this far. If we stop now, it was all for nothing."
Max's face crumpled slightly and she looked down for a moment. "I...I didn't know-"
"I get why you're both here. I get it. I understand that what's happening to Allison is bigger than just Beacon Hills, but I'm not going back." Maddie stood, eyes softer but still full of resolve as she stared at Max. "You can take her to HQ but I'm not leaving this town until the barrier keeping out the vampires is impenetrable and the hunters threatening my friends are gone."
Her glare went to Terra and there was a fury in her gut, a betrayal. Terra wasn't looking at her, the same way she hadn't looked at her when Xander told the rest of her team that Marie was dead. Terra always said that she didn't like Marie; in fact, they did nothing but argue for as long as Maddie knew either of them. Even then, Terra and Em hadn't spoken to Maddie after all this time. It only made Maddie bitter to see Terra again, like this - acting like they were never actually friends for anything other than convenience.
Maddie felt the words in her throat but had to force them out. "This is my mission and I'm not going anywhere until I've completed it."
Max's open mouth went slack and Terra's eyes stayed trained to a broken window on the opposite side of the room. In her pocket, Maddie squeezed the cross, straining her memory to find the bits and pieces of Buffy's life before all of this madness. She needed to remember the girl Buffy was, the teenager who wanted out of this life, this horror, and stayed to face it.
"And tell Buffy that if anyone should understand what it means to put the lives of their friends before their own, it should be her," Maddie said, an anger still threading through her words. Maybe that was all she had to keep them together anymore. "This is my fight."
Max looked wounded but like she wanted to say something more. Maddie couldn't imagine that there was anything left to say, but she might've been angrier if Max said nothing at all. She wasn't sure yet but she heard the mousy woman clear her throat quietly. She stood and took a careful step towards Maddie.
"Madeline, please...There has to be something we can do. A way we can both accomplish our missions. If I go back without either of you..." she trailed off, pursing her lips and taking a breath. "I can't go back without a slayer."
"You're in luck. There's one right there," Maddie said, gesturing to Terra. Max seemed to shrink back and sit down again, unable to look back at Maddie, who felt guilt needle at her thoughts again. Maddie looked from Scott to Lydia before gesturing to Stiles. "We should go."
Silently, the four walked out of the decrepit house with Maddie closing the front door softly behind them. The forest was becoming greener and greener by the day as the cool spring air swept away the rot to reveal brand new grass poking through. The ground didn't crunch as much under her feet and the air seemed to have weight. Everything looked and felt and smelled new. It was the only thing Maddie had at the moment to keep her moving forward and away from the last bit of her previous life. It would be easy to go back and forget all of this, to let the Council handle Allison and the vampires. Does that make it right?
Her coat pocket buzzed, pulling her out of her head.
Maddie looked down at her phone and, in a dizzying moment, her attention switched all too fast and the fear in her chest opened it's razored mouth again. Chris Argent. She tapped the little green button on the screen and lifted the phone to her ear. "Argent? Hello?"
"Madeline, there's not much time. Listen carefully," Chris began, the edge Maddie was used to increasing tenfold. "Do not come back to the house. Do not go to school. Gerard knows you've been weakened. I have reason to believe he and his group of hunters were looking for more than just the wolves last night."
Maddie swallowed, still alarmed by his tone and the command.
"I know, I..." she paused and looked to Scott first, who was most likely using his advanced hearing to listen in. His eyes were wide and he shook his head, mouthing 'I don't know'. She turned to Stiles who looked bewildered and panicked, then to Lydia, who was very clearly listening as well and dramatically mouthing one word: 'Lie'. "I heard the commotion. You know, last night. When it was happening."
Maddie rubbed her temple as both Stiles and Scott gave thumbs up but looked uneasy. Lydia, who must've heard, closed her eyes and grimaced as if she were awaiting the first shot from a firing squad.
"It's worse than that," Argent said, the words seizing Maddie entirely just before she made it to the jeep. "Are you familiar with the term Cruciamentum?"
The word left her frozen in her place as it settled in her head and in her stomach, ringing with familiarity and curiosity. She'd only heard it once before, from a woman who was now dead. A woman from a family of Watchers. A woman willing to kill her daughter's friends but was disgusted by that word to the extent that she disavowed the entire council.
"I..." She didn't want to bring up how she knew. She didn't understand what this meant or why it was happening now. Her voice was distant, like she couldn't remember how to reel it back in to make herself sound grounded and whole again. "Once, but... I'm fuzzy on the specifics. It was a test, right? For slayers?"
"Is that what your Council told you?"
The anger from earlier hadn't completely left her before she answered the phone and it pushed the words up her throat until she had no choice but to spit them out. "It's what your wife told me."
There was a long silence. It was cruel to bring up Victoria to him and she knew that, but she couldn't take the way he'd talked about things he couldn't possibly understand. Xander was her Watcher and he'd never been anything but kind to her. Even Max didn't seem like a horrible person. If anything, she seemed like she wanted to find a way to make everyone happy, even if that option wasn't available. No slayer or watcher Maddie ever knew personally talked about any test they had to take.
When Argent spoke again, the words were careful and deliberate but layered on top of what sounded like rage. "Cruciamentum translates in Latin to 'torture of'. It's poison - to weed out any Slayer the old council deemed unfit."
The words sounded far away as confusion and fear warred in her head. Torture of. Her thoughts veered to the slayers before her and she wondered how many of them made it even that far to take the test only to die because someone found them unfit for combat.
"I wanted no part of it once I saw this box."
She remembered the tiny thing, intricately carved with ancient symbols. Something old and ugly, that should've burned up when the old council did. It was barbaric to think about. It was enough to make anyone leave.
She wondered if Buffy took it. She had to have taken it. She was in her twenties by the time the Council was killed. Maddie wondered what it must've been like, to have something that massive ripped from you slowly, brick by brick. To be what they are, which meant so many sacrifices, and to have her power drained from her by men who could never have it or truly know it.
"On her eighteenth birthday, they would have the Slayer ingest a cocktail muscle relaxants and adrenaline suppressors without her knowledge or consent for weeks at a time before locking her in close quarters with a vampire - typically one more dangerous than the run of the mill. It was a challenge to see if she could survive a legitimate threat without her power, speed, or reflexes. I have reason to believe it's already in your system."
Static filled her head all at once, a high pitched buzzing that flooded everything.
She looked at her hand and moved her fingers slightly.
It was like finding the last piece in a puzzle she never wanted to put together and seeing the whole ugly picture. The world fell away and the singularity in her chest began to pull her apart slowly. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt. Not betrayal; she hadn't been betrayed considering she never trusted Gerard. It was something else entirely and there were no words for it.
Why was everything so bright? The sun felt blinding aside from the shadows that formed a circle around her. She'd almost forgotten that she wasn't alone.
Stiles, Scott, and Lydia were still surrounding Maddie but they could've left and she might not have noticed. The cold she felt when Caleb talked about Xander was coursing through her but there was something more to her at the moment. She couldn't focus on what Argent was saying anymore as she kept going back through the first part of his explanation. It's poison. Muscle relaxants. Adrenaline suppressors. Without her knowledge or consent.
This couldn't have been it. It couldn't have been why. No human being could do that. Nothing with a soul would do that to someone. It was a violation she couldn't fathom.
It's poison.
She looked down at her free hand again, noticing it shaking. When did she start shaking so badly? She clenched and unclenched her hand. How long had it been? How long ago was it that she first noticed she wasn't quite herself?
She didn't want to think about it. She had to think about it. It was a tunnel caving in behind her and all she could do was move towards the answers she didn't want to see.
It was like a whisper. What had Victoria said? "The key went missing months ago..."
It's poison.
"Fantastic reflexes! And that strength and prowess in battle...it's certainly a sight to see." Gerard's words became bile in her throat. "I expect the same from you."
The words felt like they were tightening around her limbs, her chest, her throat. They were squeezing around her head. Her thoughts were caving in on themselves.
Even in the darkest moments when she hadn't wanted them, when this life came with nothing but burden, no one else had the right to make that decision. No one had the right to steal her choice, but this disgusting, evil man managed to anyway. Her power, speed, and reflexes. Suffocated, snuffed out.
Torture.
Something touched her arm and Maddie jumped away like it had hurt. It took her a moment to realize that Lydia was beside her, hand extended towards her. A memory exploded to life in her brain, taking up any remaining space that wasn't dense with memories or disjointed as they continued to collapse.
"They're going to take it." The boy, the message sent by the vampires, had said that but that wasn't the first or last time she'd heard it. She dreamt it. She dreamt that Lydia had said it. When Maddie had repeated it to Lydia days later, the girl knew the words already. She knew them.
"What are they going to take?"
It wasn't Allison. It wasn't Sadie. It wasn't even magic at all. It was something pitiful. It was an old man who probably couldn't stand the idea of not being the most powerful person in the room. He took the only thing she had left - the only thing there was to take.
"What you are."
The static left all at once and she felt physically ill as the words wouldn't stop repeating. Finally, she spoke into the phone, pushing down the urge to vomit. "How...how is it ingested?"
Argent paused, probably realizing she stopped listening, but his tone changed. It sounded like pity had softened the edges of his words but only if she listened closely. "In the modern day practices, it was injected directly into a vein with a syringe."
Maddie's hand flew to her neck, disbelieving but remembering the pinch of what she thought was a bug bite. When would Gerard Argent have time to stick her with a needle without her noticing?
"Before that, it was typically put in food in small doses over time."
She was going to throw up. She was going to scream. She was going to fall apart completely until what resided in her body was no longer her. Until she was gone. She wanted to be gone.
Which had Gerard done: drugged her with a syringe or her own food? Maybe both? And for how long? Weeks? Months? Derek had warned her about them, but how could Maddie know? How could anyone?
She wanted to accuse the man on the phone. She wanted to accuse his wife. If she hadn't died, would anyone have known? For a split second, it made Maddie glad that Victoria was dead and that made her stomach turn again.
She was full of grief and rage and a hollowness that overpowered all of it, that swallowed up everything.
"How long does it last?" the question came and it took her a moment to realize she had said it.
"In normal cases, a few weeks. From the little information left on the ritual, it's given daily over the course of two weeks. Enough to empty one vial. Any more than that could..."
Maddie's eyes couldn't focus as she said, "Normal cases?"
"You have to understand, Madeline. My wife took this box with the idea to stop the procedure. All it's ever contained were the instructions and four empty vials. Most of the drugs listed are near impossible to find now. Some might not even exist."
Might. They might not.
"Argent," Maddie began, her voice faint. "What was missing from the box?"
She knew something had to be gone or else there was no point in telling her. Maddie never knew Allison's dad to misspeak.
"The ritual itself and three vials."
How much did it take to kill her? Did he mean to kill her - with a drug, slowly? Was he making sure she'd stay weak enough for him to hunt her down?
She couldn't think. She couldn't do anything.
"I need to go," she said, the words coming from somewhere she couldn't identify. She felt like she had no more words left.
"Madeline-"
"I need to go," she repeated softly and hung up, her gaze focusing ahead of her at the three worried faces. They were all staring at her and, suddenly, she felt exposed. It wasn't like she'd ever felt it, though - it was as if everything on the surface of her was gone. Skin and muscle stripped from bone. Nothing. She folded her arms in front of her stomach as if it would shield her.
Gerard Argent, an old man with only the power that those around him allowed him to have, had taken hers with man-made drugs. He had taken the one thing she had for so long, the consolation for every horrible moment in the last nine years. Her power, the thing that ruined her life, hadn't been siphoned out but smothered inside of her, leaving her only with the ruin. What was she without it?
Dead. That was the only word she thought of now. She would be dead. They weren't just looking for the wolves.
She didn't look Scott in the eye and she certainly didn't look Stiles in the eye. Instead, she turned to Lydia, whose green eyes were softer and more bewildered than Maddie had ever seen them. What did she look like to them? A girl who was not only frail but homeless? On the run? She'd only just told Max and Terra that she wouldn't leave and now she had nowhere to go at all. Maddie opened her mouth to speak, forcing something out ever as her throat closed up. "Lydia..."
Lydia pursed her lips before they stretched into something that was half grimace and half smile. Pity. "Don't worry about it."
"What? What's happening?" Stiles piped in, looking from Maddie to Lydia, then to Scott. "Did I miss something?"
Maddie had expected the next voice she heard to be Lydia, which was why she was startled to hear Scott. "I think we all need some rest. We can meet up again tomorrow night."
Stiles' eyebrows furrowed. "Or at school-"
Maddie shot him a look, too many emotions flooding her all at the same time. Too much was happening. She didn't say another word but looked at Lydia, hoping her stare was more pleading than distant.
Lydia nodded slightly and turned to Stiles. "Could you drop us off at my house?"
There was a pause before Maddie heard Stiles' voice, concerned and defeated. "...yeah, of course."
☽ † ☾
A day passed slowly and, when sleep had finally come for Maddie, it was the kind that wouldn't let go.
On Sunday, she slipped into Lydia's room easily and without having to climb into a second story window. Instead, she followed Lydia through the front door and when Lydia's mother called for her from the study, Lydia nodded silently to Maddie and then to the stairs. It was all incredibly lonely in retrospect - the house was so large and so empty. She didn't quite understand what the point of such an extravagance was at the time and decided not to ask Lydia. It was probably a stupid question and Maddie was tired of asking. She just wanted to understand everything the way the people around her did.
She just wanted to understand, in general.
She fell asleep at five in the afternoon, having laid down at noon.
Maddie first woke up at five the next morning to silence and darkness, in a bed that was too soft. The curtains were drawn on the windows and the door was closed. She had only enough bearings to look at the time on her phone. Lydia was probably sleeping still. The green light on the screen blinked every few seconds and she wondered how many messages she had.
The next time she woke up was at ten and the room was only slightly less dark as light slipped through the cracks between the curtains and the wall. The color in the room was still drowned out, which she was grateful for. She looked at her phone again and found a plethora of texts with one from Lydia at the top.
Went to school. Mom's subbing today so the house is empty til 4. Eat something. Shower.
It sounded more commanding than friendly but Maddie appreciated it. She didn't think that she could handle friendly right now. Friendly would sound too close to pity. Maybe that was why she connected more with Lydia than Allison, even from the very beginning. Then again, she had a worry that her connection with Lydia was based more in something supernatural than in actual friendship.
She was unsure of everything, honestly.
Maddie got up to stretch and go to the bathroom, in which she completely avoided the mirror both times she passed it. She probably wouldn't have eaten if not for the headache pounding behind her eyes - and, even then, she grabbed the bulk-sized peanut butter and scooped out a single, large spoonful. She didn't shower after that; instead, she went back to Lydia's room and collapsed onto the bed.
Sleep didn't come to her a third time, though. She simply laid there, on top of the bunched up comforter and her head barely on the pillow she'd been using. In the quiet, she thought about all of it. Everything.
She thought about how long it would be until the drug wore off. Weeks, maybe longer. They were regularly being put into her system as far back as perhaps even the night Gerard arrived, at least as far as she knew. There was no telling how in depth this went or how much she wasn't paying attention to the signs. She thought about her insomnia in those few weeks after Peter attacked Lydia, how if she paid attention and took care of herself, this wouldn't have happened.
The air in the room pressed in on her limbs and her chest. Her head hurt too much to lift. It wasn't falling, but sinking. She was sinking down just far enough that there was no way back up. It was Marie's voice telling her that she deserved this and then realizing at the same time that it wasn't. Then it was just her own voice in her head, growling and hissing and spitting curses. She imagined herself the shadowed monster she saw at Lydia's party and wondered if that's what she looked like with everything else stripped away.
Around noon, her phone vibrated again and it took her another few minutes or so to find the energy to grab it.
5 MISSED CALLS
2 VOICEMAILS
8 NEW MESSAGES
She didn't quite know which to go for first, tapping on the top notification out of habit.
Xander
Xander
Terra
Xander
Stiles
None of those were particularly surprising. Both voicemails were from Xander as well, the first one, a short "give me a call back when you can". The second was much longer.
"Hey, it's me. It's Xander. I just wanted to let you know that I got your call last night and I'm sorry...for not picking up. I'm really sorry, Maddie. I, ah, got a call from Terra, too. She told me there's something big you needed to let us know about. I'll have my phone on me all day today. Ringer'll be turned up real loud, just in case. You take care of yourself. We're here if you need us. All of us."
Yesterday, she'd wanted so badly to talk to Xander - and, by the transitive property, to Buffy. It was supposed to be the way to tell her what was going on without all the baggage of actually speaking to her. Maddie would've tried to drop hints to the things she saw and would hope Buffy would understand what happened. Now, she wasn't entirely sure what telling them about Sunnydale would do. She was even less sure that they wouldn't try and go get her again if she called back.
You need their help, the voice in the far reaches of her brain bit back. You can't do this.
Her finger hovered above the message icon for what felt like minutes when it was probably seconds before she tapped it. The three from Xander looked a lot like what he said over his voicemail and she quickly selected them and backed out of them to clear them from her notifications. She went to Stiles' next, thinking of doing the same thing and assuming she'd only find more pity from another person who couldn't possibly understand.
Stiles ➔『What did you see』
Stiles ➔『Down in Sunnydale I mean』
Stiles ➔『I'm assuming you saw something too』
Stiles ➔『Lydia and Sadie and I all did and it was insane. Like a room peeling away into literally nothing kind of insane』
Stiles ➔『Scott said something about an evil preacher and seriously ugly vampires.』
Under any other circumstances, Maddie might've laughed at that. She wanted to, somewhere deep in her stomach. The corner of her lip twitched. She couldn't explain how glad she was that he didn't bring up what was wrong with her. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to think about it. She wanted to go back to the relief and that jolt of happiness and shock at being alive. At surviving something impossible. The stake and the cross were still in her bag, safe and away from any Argents.
She fought to remember the other night, in Sunnydale. She wished she'd written it down somewhere.
I think I saw a slayer, she typed, seeing Miss Morell in her head but younger and rougher with a gash across her neck. She wondered who did it, who killed a slayer with one cut. She knew the girl had been a slayer even before being presented with a stake. She knew it in a way she couldn't explain, like it was in her bones.
She didn't get another text but, within minutes, he called her. After the third ring, she picked up.
"Yeah?" she said as a greeting instead of 'hello'.
"A dead slayer? Like there were other slayers in Sunnydale besides Buffy?"
Even through the horrible weight on her bones and the static in her head, she smiled when she heard his voice, curious and manic. She remembered his constant phone calls during spring break and surprised herself at the thought that maybe she liked hearing his voice. There was a moment, when the car toppled on the road, that she thought she'd never hear it again and found herself relieved every time she heard him speak since then. It wasn't a confusing feeling; it was more like something inside her finally made sense.
"Yeah, but that's not the crazy part," she replied as coming back to the present felt like surfacing after swimming in dark water. "She looked like the school therapist."
"Miss Morrell?" There was a pause. "But that would mean she was dead, right? Or else you wouldn't have seen her."
Maddie swallowed, shuddering at the memory. "She was definitely dead. Her throat was slit."
"What the-" There was shuffling and static on the other line. "God! Eating lunch here, Mads. Could we maybe leave out the gory parts til later?"
She found herself smiling again, despite herself, despite...everything. The world was spinning too fast and taking too much and she couldn't quite fathom how in the world she was smiling right now. "You're telling me you didn't see anything particularly gory? Where did you even end up?"
She didn't expect an exact answer - maybe some defining traits of the area that she could cross reference later - so when she got one, it caught her completely off guard. "I don't know for sure but I think it was Buffy's house."
"Her house? Wait, how could you tell?" Something in the far reaches of Maddie's brain was sprinting to the forefront. Reality, maybe. Critical thinking, probably.
"I mean there were signs. I found a picture of her, your watcher, and her witch friend...but the big giveaway was talking to her mom."
There was a hesitation there, like maybe he wasn't sure he was allowed to bring it up, like it did a disservice to Buffy or her mom. There was a moment where Maddie stopped. She never even thought about Buffy's parents or Buffy having parents. Never. Not once. She knew about Dawn, obviously. She talked to Dawn here and there over the years. Never once did either of them bring up their parents, not that they had a reason to. It's not like Maddie brought up her mom and dad or Jack. It's not like it was anyone's business.
"How did you know it was her mom?"
"Lydia could hear her, I guess? She kept saying that Dawn was important and Buffy would be home soon. We're pretty sure that...I guess she was stuck in a loop. Like, her last moments or something."
Maddie felt an ache in her chest at the idea. She didn't know Buffy's relationship with her mother, but... Even after all this time, if someone said that about Maddie's mom, it might've broken her.
"Wow. Um," Maddie started and restarted. "I can't even imagine."
"Yeah," Stiles said but his voice sounded resigned but more than that. There was something untouchable there, something she couldn't reach or even begin to understand. "It was, ah...It was pretty rough."
Maddie forced a scoff. "And here I was worrying about memories..."
"Wait, what?"
The shortness of his answer caught her off guard and she reeled herself back into her last thought. "Caleb...evil preacher guy, I mean. He told us something about memories. Like, if an event had a lot of energy attached to it, they would pull you in, I guess? I kind of ran into one - or it ran into me."
There was silence on the other line for well past the standard beat.
Maddie let out a self-conscious laugh. "Gods, that sounded insane! This whole thing is crazy."
"No!" Stiles sounded like his mouth was full. A moment later, after sounding like he was choking, he added, "I mean, yeah, the whole thing was crazy. But no. I get what you're saying." After another second or two, he lowered his voice. "It happened to me, too. The memory thing. I think it did, at least. It was like I wasn't me."
"Exactly!" she said in hushed excitement. "Like I was seeing it through someone else while it was happening! Like, I dunno...it felt like I lived it."
"Okay, I feel moderately less crazy."
Maddie laughed again. "We survived a whole night in a Hellmouth that wasn't just active, but obviously wanted us dead. Crazy doesn't begin to cover it."
"Okay, yeah, true. So..." She could hear that dopey grin in his voice and she wanted to stay wherever this was, somewhere outside of the reality she was living. Somewhere outside the horrible events of yesterday, where she could still see them unfolding but, for a moment, she didn't have to live in it. They would come for her soon, just beyond this conversation. They would drag her back down to hell, but that wasn't right now. She wanted to live in right now a little bit longer. "Wanna compare notes?"
Something about the way he said that seemed almost a bit flirtatious and the first thought that came to mind was, Since when does Stiles Stilinski know how to flirt? This, of course, didn't stop her stomach from doing that funny somersault thing that it did in that dream she had. And how warped was it that her idea of flirting was comparing traumatic experiences? Even so, it didn't infuriate her anymore. She didn't have the time or energy to be angry or to deny whatever was happening. Instead, she gave herself a moment and settled into it in her head.
Maddie knew she could die any day now and it felt too childish to be angry instead of just letting herself like him. She liked him. It wasn't a revelation, not exactly. Maybe it was a decision, even if it really wasn't. It was a quiet thing, like realizing your favorite movie was no longer some gothic, artsy revenge flick because a newer indie romcom just understood you better or had more heart - even if you weren't ready to admit the switch had happened at all.
It wasn't what Erica said either, though. She wasn't madly in love. She wasn't sure what that even meant or if she'd get that at all, no matter her lifespan. This was something good, though. She was convinced that it had to be something good. Maybe if she kept quiet about it, it wouldn't have to be anything else.
She heard the school bell ring on the other end of the phone and it deflated her instantaneously, despite it being just the warning bell. "Maybe after school."
"I don't have to go, you know."
Maddie wondered vaguely if that was a dangerous thing to say to her at that moment. "You actually do. You're at school. Be at school."
"Are you sure? I can swing by early or-"
"I'm fine, Stiles. No need to worry." Maddie was kind of done with people worrying about her. There was only so much pity she could take and she wasn't sure if she could take any of it from him.
"I'm not worried. It's just kinda weird with you not being here." There was a pause as the ambient sound of distant chatter became even more distant. "There's no one glaring at me for making dumb jokes between classes."
"I doubt that," she said instinctively, wincing at her own honesty and frustrated by her unwarranted embarrassment.
"Fine, yeah, that might've been a slight understatement." There was a pause and loud shuffling, followed by muffled voices. Maddie held her breath, the realization that Gerard Argent could easily find and hurt any of her friends sneaking up on her, as did the reminder that she couldn't do anything about it. It was almost a full minute before Stiles spoke into the phone again. "Hey, I gotta go. You'll never guess who just roped me into a heart to heart ."
"Gerard? Allison?" She named the first people that came to mind. "Jackson?"
"Miss Morrell. It's a mandatory counseling session. Probably about 'the healing process' after the whole Matt situation. Looks like I'm missing that Econ test on Thursday." As he answered sourly, a shot of panic ran through Maddie, remembering the dead girl that gave her, of all things, a stake. "I'll see you after school."
"Right. Yeah." The good feeling that was coursing through her just a minute ago had completely drained as she mumbled, "Later."
Her phone beeped and she looked down at the words 'call ended'. She got dressed and silently wondered where the week would take them all.
☽ † ☾
The ashes took up about three full trash bags. Sadie was just glad she wasn't the one to clean any of them up.
Scott was the one to track her down, despite the fact that she quickly checked out of her room at the Motel 6 down the street and started squatting in one of the nicer foreclosures in the center of town. He and a wolf she wasn't familiar with dragged her all the way back to what she assumed was Scott's house.
On a whim, Sadie managed a civil visit with Allison just outside school earlier that same day. It caught her moderately off guard when Allison seemed relieved to see her. Her family wound her all up with ridiculous notions on being a hunter, so much so that Sadie felt a bit uncomfortable hearing it. All it sounded like was toxic, paranoid drivel probably spouted out from her grandpa. Still, there were bits of the girl she met that first day shining through the cracks. Slayer or not, there was hope for her yet.
It was no question why she wanted to find the power source in Beacon Hills, but there was something tiny in Sadie's gut that actually liked Allison and didn't want to see her cursed. It'd be a side effect from getting her amulet back, but still a nice going away present to herself.
She didn't bring any of this up with Maddie or her group of wannabe heroes. It was bad enough keeping up the ruse, aside from the hilarity that they bought into it so easily. She just wanted to get this slayer to that weird, hillbilly vamp as soon as possible.
Sadie eyed Maddie from across the room noting that she looked visibly shaken. Weak. It probably had something to do with her mysterious lack of power. Sadie knew it wasn't anything that she did, although the chance to mock her for that was an extra treat.
"So, everyone good with the plan?" Scott asked.
Sadie quirked an eyebrow. "The one where we all risk our lives again to perform a spell from the least trustworthy source?"
"Is hypocrisy a normal demon trait?" Stiles asked her. "I wanna know what to look out for."
The new one, Isaac, looked around slowly at all of them and raised his hand like he was being called on in class. "Am I the only one who's deeply confused about all of this?"
"We need to reinforce the weak spot in a barrier that's protecting our already monster-filled town from vampires by consecrating three trash bags full of ashes," Stiles said quickly, clearly annoyed. "What's not to understand?"
Maddie stood up from the edge of Scott's bed. "Don't worry about the ashes. Scott already talked to Deaton about that. The problem is that there's a pretty good chance of vampires attacking us while we do the spell. We need strength in numbers."
Isaac looked at her curiously but nodded and shifted his gaze away. The painfully hetero melodrama was too much to bear, so Sadie narrowed her gaze at Maddie. "Any reason for that? Maybe a weak link?"
Maddie's stare turned murderous and Sadie would know, seeing as it was a look she used frequently.
"So," Lydia spoke loudly enough to break the tension. "We meet at the edge of town on Thursday before nightfall with the ashes and do the spell. This should give us enough time to consecrate the ashes and learn the spell. Everyone clear?"
Everyone nodded and Sadie smiled at Maddie and then at Lydia, ready to have one less vampire slayer standing between her and her one way trip out of Beacon Hills. "Crystal."