From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

The weekend left just as soon as it came and, before she knew it, Madeline found herself in the halls of Beacon Hills High School. The day had hardly even begun when she had been begrudgingly excused from her Chemistry class during their test. Instead, he'd ordered her to sit in the hall outside of the room to read the next chapter in their textbook and take notes – something he assured her that she would indeed be graded for.
This would've been a completely uninteresting turn of events if not for the fact that she nearly jumped out of her skin when Scott came bursting out of the room and down the hall, dropping his bag and nearly tripping over her. Stiles - who followed only seconds later - actually did trip over her though, just barely regaining his footing. He quickly looked over at her, revealing the very distraught expression clearly on his face. His eyes widened when he saw her and he looked like he was about to explain – explain what, she had no idea. Instead he looked forward again, finding his friend's bag. He then ran off in Scott's direction and out of sight - and that was only that morning.
By lunch, in which she ended up sitting with Allison and – of all people – Jackson, listening quietly and nodding when she had to. Jackson somehow managed to be kind and charming while still cutting her out of the conversation whenever she did manage to say something. It was quite the skill. It wasn't that she didn't like him, really – no, wait, it actually was. Something about how he carried himself and spoke to people was unnerving. There was a smooth, confident quality to his voice  – which is what she assumed drew in the girls fawning over him. Or maybe all those high school movies were right?
Either way, that would at least explain the awkward touching with him and Allison. It was uncomfortable to watch, to say the least. Like watching a predator stalk its prey.
That wasn't the weirdest part of the day though. The weirdest part began after school after she saw Allison leave with her aunt. It was even after she followed a group of kids down to the lacrosse field. She watched in shock and curiosity as Scott proceeded to almost immediately kip up after what looked like a fairly bad injury, following this up with taking out the goalie.
Now, she had no idea how lacrosse was played – team sports in general weren't a common topic at HQ  – but she was sure that was not part of it.
It was a bit odd to say the least, having seen this same person storming out of class and now injuring a fellow student – who, according to the whispering girls in front of her was one of the nicest people in school. Maybe this was about Allison breaking up with him; maybe it was connected to why he'd been in a school at night. Either way, she was beginning to think that this Scott McCall guy needed to be watched closely.
Tonight was going to be hell. This was the one single, solitary fact that stood out in Stiles' head. Tonight was going to be pure hell. He found himself packing a long, heavy chain into his black duffel bag that evening while he bitterly talked out loud in his empty house. "...help him with everything! Every freaking little thing! What does he do?..."
He'd been prepared for a lot since discovering his best friend was a werewolf but Scott making out with his crush – with the girl of his dreams – was never on that list. As he roughly tossed more of the chain into his bag, he tried to erase the image in his head. Although he hadn't actually seen it, his mind continued to wander against his will as he pictured them together and made himself angrier every second. He had to convince himself that it was the moon. This was all happening because of the full moon. Scott – the Scott he knew – would never do this to him. It had to be the moon. It has to be.
The doorbell rang then, just as Stiles finished packing his bag. His head shot up and he quickly stood. He knew his dad was working tonight and he wasn't expecting anyone. The pale teenager left his room and made his way downstairs before the doorbell rang once more. It could always be Scott. He sighed and turned the deadbolt before grabbing the doorknob and swinging the door open.
"Hey, Sco..." His voice trailed off and his mouth hung open as he was met with nothing. No one seemed to be around at all as he looked left and right, his heart now thumping quickly in his chest. Silence enveloped the entire block, leaving only the sound of crickets chirping and cars passing off in the distance. The sun was almost completely gone now, making it increasingly hard to see and leaving Stiles with a throttling fear in his chest.
Stiles was about to quickly close the door when he glanced down to find a black bag set on the scrubby welcome mat. He looked closer, analyzed it with a frown. "What the hell..."
A memory flashed in his head. A similar bag thrown on top of a desk an annoyed girl hissing a harsh "what?" his way just days ago - the same girl that happened to be missing a bag.
His breathing hitched in his throat as he grabbed for it before stopping and glancing all around the empty porch and sidewalk. Maybe he'd be just that unlucky and see a massive shadow with red eyes watching Stiles take the obvious bait.
He closed the door quickly and locked it. Once on the other side, he examined the bag in the light. This was hers, he knew it - or more like he hoped and prayed that he wasn't wrong. It had to be Madeline's bag. His eyes were met with a familiar leather bag, which he did not wait even a little while to open as he unzipped the inside, leaning it in the direction of the light coming from the living room to look further.
His eyes widened and he reached a hand in carefully, drawing in a deep breath. The first thing he managed to pull out was the largest of the few items in the bag. It was strange piece of equipment with mini hinges on either side and a trigger like a gun. On the side of the trigger handle was a button that he pressed with a hesitating thumb, causing the sides to spring out like wings, showing him that he was holding a small, compact crossbow.
Stiles struggled to put the sides back down before setting it down next to him and carefully extracting another item, like a morbid game of Operation. This one proved to be almost stranger than the last, as he found a fairly short and thick stick, sharpened to one end. His eyebrows furrowed as he inspected it warily and dropped it next to the crossbow, more paranoid questions coming to mind. Then, his hand reached in the bag once more, feeling the bottom of it for anything else and his fingers brushing past a piece of paper or card stock. He frowned and gingerly picked it up, extracting this last item from the messenger bag. His breath caught in his throat and his mouth fell open again as he laid eyes on it. It wasn't a piece of paper though – well, okay, it was paper but there was a picture printed on the front.
A picture of Allison and her parents.
Before Stiles could process anything else, he stuffed the picture back in the bag followed by the rest of the items. He then grabbed bag itself and rushed upstairs to get his duffel. He needed to talk to Scott about this as soon as possible but first both he and Scott needed to survive the night. They had to survive the full moon.
"...No! Not one!" Madeline said in a hushed voice. She leaned idly against a nearby tree as she looked through the bushes she had decided to use as cover. On the other side of them was a parking lot outside the sporting goods store she'd followed Allison to that evening. She'd received a text from an unknown number that afternoon to keep a close eye on the girl and, after a lengthy conversation with her watcher, discovered to her own relief that it was only Allison's dad.
The phone was still practically attached to her ear as Xander began to speak. "Hey, maybe they heard you were coming."
She exhaled in frustration. "Through what? The vampire grapevine?"
"Or, I dunno, facebook." There was a pause. "Hey, do you think vampires have their own version of facebook? And do the newer ones ever log into their old accounts to freak out their friends?"
Maddie rolled her eyes. "Xander..."
"I know, I know, no vampires. You want my honest opinion though?"
She shrugged as if he could hear it and gruffly muttered, "Sure."
"Don't worry about it. You're not there to slay vampires, Mads."
"Then why am I here? I mean, I'm a vampire slayer," she snapped, the stress of the week surfacing a bit through her tone. These people are werewolf hunters. They don't need my help.
"Because sometimes there are worse things out there than vampires, trust me on this – and we needed someone we knew could handle the job."
She wanted to question the 'we' part, but decided against it.
To be fair, Maddie needed the job. She needed something new to focus on.
She glanced over, back to the SUV Allison and Jackson were sitting in. Regardless of her mission, she didn't feel right sneaking around and spying on people. She was about to say something about it when she noticed something on one of the cars farther away. A shadow. Something moving, crouched over on all fours on top of the vehicle. Madeline's eyebrows furrowed and she squinted to see it better with no luck. "...I have to call you back."
"Wha-" was all she heard before she hung up and moved forward. It wasn't the Alpha; it was much too small to be the Alpha. The outline was much more human but it's stance didn't reflect that.
That was when whatever it was let out a thunderous roar and started rushing toward the SUV at full speed. Maddie was already running before the thought entered her head, already speeding to intercept it. The creature jumped on the roof of the car and began lift a hand, exceedingly normal but with five claws like knives. Madeline was almost there - a good leap away - when another hand shoved her down, spiking her like a volleyball.
The second shadowed figure pushed the first and larger one out of sight. As if it was hardly more than a gust of wind, she jumped to her feet, ignored the three shredded claw marks on her shirt, and ran in their direction.
The two were fighting and the larger one had seemed to get the better of the other. Maddie found herself rushing down the grassy hill with a momentum like she couldn't stop without tripping, her backup crossbow tightly in hand. She stopped between the two, shifting the aim of the loaded weapon from one to the other. The dark shrouded the beasts and Madeline found herself focusing her sight to get a good look at either.
The larger of the two bellowed out its own roar in her direction, the blue of its eyes glowing furiously as it took a few steps toward her, slapping the crossbow from her hands. As it fell out of her grasp, Maddie decided against rushing for it again and instead used her now free hand to punch monster across the jaw as hard as she could. It – or rather he, she noted – was taken off his feet for only a few seconds before shaking off the shock of the force.
A rush of adrenaline and confidence coursed through her, also making note of how much bigger than her he was.
He got to his feet and slashed his claws at her which she dodged, only narrowly escaping the damage. She attempted a spinning heel kick, intending to connect with his face again but he also moved out of the way. Missed hit after missed hit continued between both of them, mirrors of brute force and a rapid strikes, until the werewolf was able gain a fraction of speed over her.
She didn't realize this until he tackled her into a nearby tree, crushing her ribs.
Maddie tried to breathe in despite the ache like her whole midsection was being flattened by a trash compactor and her attempt to block him failed and he grabbed her by the throat. She grabbed his wrist and kneed his stomach as she tried with all of the strength she had left to pry his hand away. He doubled over only slightly and rag dolled her into the tree again by the neck as her head rang like a bell and he bellowed a roar in her face, almost indignantly.
There was a shout somewhere farther away. "Stop!"
Both the creature and Maddie turned to find the other slightly smaller monster rushing over and grabbing the blue eyed one's shoulder. Madeline continued to struggle, intending already to fight both of them again. The wolf didn't listen and instead raised her up a few inches by the throat. Her head was beginning to feel like a balloon as her air was completely cut off.
"I said stop!" the voice was much clearer this time, although Maddie was feeling dazed as her feet dangled just above the ground. The creature looked to the other with an emotionless stare for a few extra seconds before releasing her completely. She dropped to the ground, coughing as her throat clawed for air. She held her ribs gingerly, sure that a few were bruised – if not cracked.
Her vision started to focus again as she pushed herself up a bit, finding a hand offered to her. It wasn't clawed but her senses were still on alert. Her vision drifted up from the hand to the person – or thing – who had offered it. The gesture soured a bit as her stare landed on the familiar face. She stumbled backwards before she unsteadily got to her feet, her breathing still heavy and her hand still clutching her middle.
The other wolf was still there, shadowed and watching her suspiciously with a hand to his stomach. She eyed him before speaking, her voice hoarse and still out of breath despite the slightly sinister bit of pride she got from knowing she hurt him. "...Who...who's your friend, Scott?"
Hostility flooded her tone as they both looked over to the other creature. Scott looked a bit beaten up and unsteady on his feet as Madeline eyed him. Two betas. Unknown if they've taken lives. Capture, don't kill.
Madeline, keeping her sights on the wolves, sidestepped over a few paces away from them and knelt down to grab her crossbow. The blue eyed wolf growled. She looked down at the weapon and then to Scott, who didn't move. His shouldered slumped and kept his stare on the loaded bolt.
Maddie didn't like the way her finger felt on the trigger or the way what she did next felt like a crossroad she wasn't ready for.
The larger wolf was ready to fight; she could tell by his stance and the way he stared her down. He wanted a fight and she did, too. Scott, on the other hand, she could've mistaken for a dog being scolded - fearful eyes leaving the crossbow, moving down and away. Guilty.
The bolt was trained on him and all he could do was stay there and look away. Her finger twitched above the trigger and she lowered her crossbow. "Get out of here. Both of you."
Scott exhaled and slowly glanced over at the other werewolf who nodded. He hesitantly backed away and eventually out of sight. Madeline watched until she couldn't see them anymore and slumped against a tree, breathing heavily. Someone they knew could handle the job? Yeah, right.
"Wait, what?!" Stiles nearly shouted before Scott gave him a distressed look. Reminded that he dad was just downstairs, he lowered his voice as he spoke again. "Who was there?"
"Madeline, the new girl," Scott repeated, panic still seeping into his tone as he kept it hushed. "She almost shot us with a freaking crossbow!"
"Right, okay. This is bad," Stiles began but as he did, his eyes widened in horror. "Oh my god, this is bad!"
Scott who had been pacing around his friend's room for the better part of ten minutes, nodded in agreement. "Dude, I know. I was there-"
"No! Scott," Stiles started to say as he clumsily shot up off of his bed and fumbled around his closet. He pulled out a bag which Scott only slightly recognized. Stiles threw it to him. "This is bad."
Scott suddenly looked confused as he caught the bag. "What's..."
"It's hers. Maddie's." Stiles scratched the back of his head as he looked at the leather case. "It's the bag she left at the school."
"Wait, did your dad find it?" Scott asked.
Stiles shook his head and his expression turned a bit more worried than before. "There was a knock at the door and all that was there was that bag."
Scott's eyebrows furrow and he looked down at the bag, lifting the cover and unzipping it. His eyes widened in shock as he pulled out the compact crossbow and the piece of wood. "...a wooden stake?"
"That's not all," Stiles said, his eyes still on the bag.
Scott set the weapons on the desk and reached in the bag once again. The last thing he pulled out was a photo of Allison and her parents, which made Scott's stomach nearly leap into his throat. He quickly glanced up at his friend and back down at the picture. His thoughts were scattered and he turned over the picture, only to find a note.
"Dude, I don't know. Maybe she's another hunter or..."
"Stiles...did you see this?" Scott managed to say.
Stiles looked up at Scott in confusion, noticing he had the photo turned over. He rushed over to his friend and read over his shoulder. "What? Does it say something...?"
Alpha - has taken lives, capture and, if necessary, use lethal force.
Betas - unknown if has taken lives, capture. do not kill.
Guard the girl. She attends Beacon Hills High School. You'll be doing the same.
Keep patrolling regiment. No other unexplained deaths have been reported. Better safe than sorry.
Once the problem is taken care of, report to HQ.
- BS
"What the..." Stiles began looking over at Scott.
Scott shook his head. "I don't know but...I don't think she's a hunter."
"There's no proof otherwise." It was Stiles turn to start pacing. "I mean, maybe there are other hunting families. Maybe they have a super secret headquarters and go undercover or..." He stopped and looked at his best friend whose look was almost incredulous. "You never know."
"She punched Derek," Scott replied as if it were a revelation.
Stiles blinked and stared at the other boy. "...okay. I'm guessing that didn't end well."
"No, I mean like...she punched Derek and he went down completely," Scott tried again, his stare wild. "Okay, so it was only like half a minute but she hurt him without a weapon. She was just as fast as us. Maybe just as strong. I don't think she's human."
"Well, if she's abnormally strong, here to 'guard the girl', and kill the Alpha..." Stiles looked down at the weapons on his desk, focusing on the stake. "...then what the hell is she?"