From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

An Alpha.
An Alpha werewolf on her first day. Oh, but not just any alpha, an alpha that looked like it stepped directly out of a monster movie.
As soon as Maddie was far enough away, she pulled out a compact crossbow. As she loaded a bolt, she began walking softly and swiftly down the empty corridor, accompanied by nothing but the silence. It was strange; she was sure by that point she could have been able to hear something. She'd headed the right way, didn't she? The slayer stopped in her tracks, pressing close to the lockers that lined the hallway as she listened.
Nothing. The corners of her lips tugged downward in a small frown.
She nearly moved to walk forward again when a noise finally caught her attention. Footsteps? No. It was a clicking - several tiny clicks over and over again. Almost like... Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. It sounded almost like paws on the linoleum tiles. As the clicks grew louder, something else joined it - heavy breathing. Maddie's index finger twitched slightly on the trigger of the crossbow.
The sounds were now loud enough for the creature to be right around the corner when the clicking on the tiles stopped altogether. It was sniffing; she heard it. It would find her if she didn't move, if she didn't do something. Steeling herself, she quickly turned the corner and pointed her weapon straight ahead.
Again, nothing.
The hall in front of her was vacant, like all the others. It had vanished - or perhaps it hadn't been there at all. No. No, I heard it! She spun around, her weapon at the ready but still she found nothing. It hadn't passed by; she would've seen it. The only logical answer left her frozen where she stood in fear. It knew she had been there. Doing her best to ward off the uneasy feeling in her stomach, she lowered her weapon back to her side and continued on in silence.
Maddie had only started walking again when she heard something that made her go slightly paler than seeing the wolf; she heard a voice.
"Scott?!"
It wasn't just any voice either; it was a voice she'd been hearing for a decent chunk of the day. She took a deep breath and put away her crossbow, running in the direction of the voice as quickly as she could. She bounded around another corner and withheld a groan as she was met with the sight of the somewhat familiar brunette. "Allison?!"
Allison turned in Maddie's direction with an equally shocked expression on her face.
"Maddie! What are you doing here? Were you the one who left the door open?" Panic rose in her voice as she spoke and tightly clutched her phone in her hand. "Have you seen Scott?"
"Stop! Just take a breath!" Maddie's nails pressed into her palm, wishing for a monster and her weapon back. Allison looked slightly taken aback but something inside Maddie snapped and she held nothing back. "I was in the area and heard a noise, decided to check it out! No, I didn't leave the door open! And yes, he's here too - but you shouldn't be!"
"What? What do you mean?" Allison asked, her eyes wide with confusion. "What's going on? Is this about the text? I don't - "
"Allison!" Maddie shouted, sending the girl a hardened gaze. "It's not safe here! You need to get out! Now!"
The youngest Argent opened her mouth to speak, shock etched in her features. "...I just...please, Maddie...I need to know what's happening. Where is Scott?"
That look on the girl's face - she knew that look. Disjointed horror. A plead full of fear. Please understand.
"Mads..."
She didn't take it well these days.
The scar on her stomach itched and Maddie glanced down at the floor, more shaken by the expression on Allison's face than the beast wandering the school halls.
"I don't know." Her stare found Allison's again and she swallowed despite the lump in her throat. "Sorry I snapped. I'm just...freaked out too. Um, we should just...find Scott and get out of here, okay?"
Allison's stare was still unsure and even a bit afraid, but she gave a shaky nod all the same.
☽ † ☾
Madeline ruined her good first impression with the Allison in one fell swoop.
How in the hell did anyone expect slayers to attend school? It was no wonder Buffy never brought up her own high school experience - not that Maddie asked or had the opportunity to ask. If nothing else, it'd probably make her feel better.
She walked ahead of Allison, her insides contorting uncomfortably at the prospect of anything popping out at them. Not so much because she wasn't itching for a fight, but she'd now have to fight in front of literally the one person who wasn't supposed to see it. As long as she was there though, she'd take the brunt of any attack and clean up the even bigger mess it would make of her life later.
As they entered another room, they both clearly noted the pools on either side of them as they walked. Madeline especially noted them as she nearly fell into one as Allison's phone began going off. Maddie gathered herself again and stopped as the other girl answered the device.
"Hey...we can't seem to find them."
Maddie glanced around the room, keeping her guard up.
"Oh, um...I ran into Maddie," Allison said, giving Maddie an unsure look. "The girl from earlier? She sat with us at lunch."
It must've been her friend who looked almost offended when she sat with them - the girl that she couldn't remember the name of. I gotta get better with names.
"Okay, give me a second, I'll be right there." She hung up and sighed, stuffing her phone back in her pocket.
"Everything good?" Maddie asked, although her tone didn't hold all that much sincerity.
Allison nodded slightly. "Yeah, but, um...I need to meet back up with Lydia and Jackson. I don't think Scott's here anymore."
He's got to be here. Unless he's that stupid. Regardless, it was generally a better idea to get Allison out of harm's way. "Yeah, okay. Lead the way."
"Actually - " Allison began but was cut off by her phone again. Her eyebrows furrowed as she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. She tapped the screen and raised it to her ear. "Stiles?"
Damn it. She absentmindedly adjusted the strap of her messenger bag.
"I'm in the school looking for you, why weren't you at my place?" the girl beside her said, an edge in her voice and understandably so. "On the first floor. I found - "
Maddie gave Allison a look, noticing the unease on the girl's face. Her alarm seemed to go up quite a bit which made panic to seep back into Maddie's head.
"The swimming pools. Okay, okay, we're coming." Allison hung up the phone, eyes holding a sense of urgency. "The lobby."
Without another word, Allison began running out of the room, leaving Madeline to grumble and catch up.
☽ † ☾
Maddie forgot long ago how tough it was to match her pace to someone who wasn't as fast as her, but the last thing she needed was for someone to see her do anything out of the ordinary - least of all, Allison. It took them longer than it could've but in a matter of minutes, they were slamming through the doors to the lobby, finding Scott and Stiles across from them. Scott rushed over to Allison immediately. "Why did you come? What are you doing here?"
"Because you asked me to," Allison said, giving him a confused look.
Scott's eyebrows knitted together, his expression very nearly matching his girlfriend's. "I asked you to?"
Allison pulled out her cellphone and tapped on it to bring it back to life, turning it to face Scott.
"Why do I get the feeling you didn't send me this message?" Allison asked.
Scott, on the other hand, wore a worried look. "Because I didn't."
"Did you drive here?" said Stiles, calling everyone's attention.
"Jackson did," Allison said.
The panic on Scott's face increased. "Jackson's here too?!"
"And Lydia! What's going on?!" Allison seemed to be talking to the whole room at that point as she looked at the three who seemed to know much more than they were letting on. In that instant, her phone rung and she immediately answered. "Where are you?"
In what seemed like less than a second later, the other girl from earlier that day and a boy Maddie didn't seem to recognize burst into the room.
Oh, god damn it. Maddie counted each person in the room and suddenly had the urge to yell at all of them. How in the world was anyone supposed to have a secret identity around here? She held her tongue though, not wanting another outburst like she had with Allison.
"Finally," Lydia breathed. "Can we go now?"
Allison nodded but no one had even a moment to move before the ceiling began groaning as if something very heavy was walking just above all of their heads. Everyone looked up at once and paused for a second or so. Scott then muttered, "Run."
The five of them ran, all but Maddie who made motion to run but instead turned around and took a few steps back as the ceiling collapsed in front of her. The wolf stood, towering over her and she took a breath, balling her fists as she took a defensive stance.
The inhuman noise the Alpha made at the sight of the girl sounded almost like a laugh.
"You want a fresh kill?" Maddie asked, eyes dark as they narrowed on the creature. She dropped her bag, knowing she'd lose her chance if she stopped to dig out a weapon. It dwarfed her, a child staring up the monster every parent told their kids wasn't real. She squared her shoulders and something inside tore its way out, hungry for violence as it always was. "Do it!"
She wasn't even sure what she meant by that and she had no time to think it over. That was probably for the best.
The sound of something hitting metal caught her attention for a second and she looked back in horror, only to see a shadow disappear behind a row of lockers and hear the quick, stumbling pounding of footfalls fade away.
The Alpha growled before letting out a deafening roar and swinging his arm towards her. She caught it as it hit her side like a slingshot tree trunk, knocking the wind out of her. She locked the massive clawed hand between her own arm and her side, not allowing him to move her from her position.
Digging its claws further into her skin and curled into taut muscle, it looked down at its arm and back up to Maddie's face. She was breathing heavy, trying not to cry out from the pain which would only suggest a sort of unraveling, like a mask falling.
How would everyone at HQ react if this was it? For the span of a blink, she imagined a bizarre sort of calm if she let this thing win.
There it was again, the flash of a face in the rain and the horrible wet crunch of bone.
Not yet. Not today.
She grinned, a cornered animal baring its teeth. With every ounce of strength she had and the shot of adrenaline from the pain, she heaved her entire body weight shoulder first into the caught off guard werewolf and tackled it through the lobby doors that exploded into splinters of wood.
As she laid there for a beat, blinding pain opened wide in her stomach and warm blood soaked the bottom of her shirt. Several tiny pins shoved their way into her shoulder as her arm lolled at her side.
Madeline kipped up rather unsteadily, catching her breath and stumbling backwards as she grabbed her shoulder with the opposite and rolled it, spots filling her vision as she whimpered. Her side throbbed as she choked out a breath.
Looking up, she noticed the only slightly dazed wolf beginning to stand again. Horrified and in almost debilitating pain, she backed up as she grabbed her bag from the floor, and finally ran.
Follow their voices. There's five of them. One's bound to say something!
Her breathing was ragged as she quickened her pace and turned a corner, finding the group of teenagers headed straight for the double doors of the cafeteria. Willing herself to move just a bit faster, she found herself a few paces behind them as they went through the doors.
Almost immediately, Allison, Scott, Lydia, and who Maddie presumed was Jackson began rushing to barricade the doors with anything in sight. Maddie took a moment to catch her breath, doubling over and placing a hand on her knee. In that moment though, she felt someone's eyes on her.
She looked up to find Stiles several feet away, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. She glared at him. "What?! What is your problem?!"
Whatever Stiles was thinking, he seemed to snap out of it.
There seemed to be quite of bit of commotion in the room as four of the six people there were still building a wall of chairs and tables. Do they really think that'll keep it out?
Maddie seethed over how she barely hurt the monster while her body was one giant open wound, everything aching and stinging all at once.
Voices sounded off in the room in a mixture of fear, anger, and annoyance. The last one was of course because Stiles seemed to be trying to tell the room something. Everyone, including Madeline seemed to tune him out until he yelled, "HELLO!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and even Maddie managed to stand up straight.
"Okay, nice work. Really beautiful job, everyone," he started, his tone already exasperated. "Now what should we do about the twenty foot wall of windows?"
He gestured to the windows dramatically and everyone by the doors seemed to stop and look at each other.
"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on because I'm freaking out here and I would like to know why!" Allison began abruptly, still catching her breath as she turned to her boyfriend. "Scott?"
Suddenly, everything Maddie had told HQ in her voicemail became null and void. This girl had no idea, not even an inkling of the real danger. There was a fear in her voice that absolutely no one could fake.
If anything, the people panicking the least are... She slowly turned to Scott and Stiles. Scott had walked away from his girlfriend without saying a word.
Stiles looked toward the group. "Somebody killed the janitor."
Any pride and resolve drained from Maddie in that instant.
Someone was dead. Someone. Was. Dead.
Lydia found her voice first. "What?"
Stiles walked over to them. "Yeah, the janitor's dead."
A nervous, disbelieving laugh passed Allison's lips as she turned to Scott. "What's he talking about? Is this a joke?"
Madeline backed into the far reaches of the cafeteria. Discretely, she set her bag on the floor and lifted up the side of her torn shirt to check her side. To no surprise, she found five deep claw marks already starting to clot. She sighed and tugged her shirt back down.
"It was Derek!" That's what she heard Scott say.
Who in the hell is Derek? Whoever it was, everyone else in the room seemed to recognize the name.
The last thing she remembered hearing was the distinct sound of someone being punched before she decided this was the best time to fix her shoulder issue. She struggled to roll her shoulder again as pain exploded there again and again. Great. Dislocated.
She grabbed her shoulder tightly with her opposite hand and shrugged into it with all the force she could muster. The girl let out a short and quiet cry as the bone popped back into place. It was enough to turn everyone's attention to her for a moment.
"Maddie?" one of them asked. Scott.
Madeline turned to them and hugged her coat closer to her to cover the shredded side of her shirt and the bloody wound under it. "Hm?"
Three of them gave her a strange look - but Scott and Stiles seemed to have different reactions. Scott looked confused, as if he'd just found something that didn't make any sense whereas Stiles looked mildly suspicious of her as he stood there on the phone, speaking quietly.
"You okay?" Scott asked.
She nodded slightly. "Uh, yeah. I think I just hit my shoulder in the doorway when we came in."
Before anyone else could say anything, the door moved. Something was furiously pounding against it, causing everyone to begin back away from it.
"We're at the school. Dad, we're at the school," Stiles repeated before hanging up his phone. The pressure on the door continued to get worse as more screws came loose and chair began to fall. "The kitchen. The door out of the kitchen next to the stairwell."
"Which only goes up!" Scott yelled as he held Allison close.
Stiles shrugged. "Up is better than here."