Chapter 43. De-Void

“You’re not my son,”

I could hear the chains of the handcuffs snap and that was our cue to walk in and “ambush” the Nogitsune. I couldn’t really do anything, considering everyone was safer without me having a weapon. Plus, the Nogitsune has a slight hold on me— and who knows what wold happen if he tried hard enough to use it.

Allison and her father walked in first, Derek and I followed behind them. I could see Stiles standing in front of Sheriff Stilinski. He smirked when he saw me, this is what he wanted. He wanted me here.

I swallowed thickly and took a step closer to Derek. Void Stiles cocked his head to the side in amusement. He was enjoying this too much.

Allison pointed her little stun-gun at him and shot it. The two ends that sent the electricity through your body flung at Stiles’ body. His hands flew up and snatched the cords, he stretched and pulled at them until Allison lost her grip on the gun, and he flung it across the room.

Derek growled and his fangs popped up as he rushed at Stiles. I watched fearfully as my boyfriend’s body took down Derek. He twisted his arm behind his back and smacked Derek’s face against a table before hurling his body towards the wall. Derek smacked the wall with a loud thud before he hit the ground and started coughing.

The all too familiar sound of a safety on a gun clicking off caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. Stiles’ head turned slowly as he took in Chris, pointing the gun directly at him.

This wasn’t in the plan.

“Argent, listen to me. Don’t do this.” Sheriff Stilinski said.

I swallowed thickly. This was bad, very very bad. Stiles is still in there somewhere, if he shoots him— he’s going to kill Stiles, too. Not just the Nogitsune.

“Why not? I’ve done it before. Werewolves, berserkers. I can easily add a Nogitsune to the list.” He seethed, inching his finger on the trigger. That’s when I panicked. I jumped in front of Stiles, not bothering to think my action through before I did it.

Sheriff Stilinski pulled his gun on Argent, “You’re not going to shoot my son and his girlfriend.”

“You said it yourself, Sheriff. That’s not your son.” Chris said as he nodded his head at Stiles.

I let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, but I’m still me— so do you really want to add an innocent teenage girl to that list of yours?”

“Put it down,” Stiles’ dad ordered. Allison was shaking beside him and Derek was watching in a panic.

I could feel Stiles’ hand on the small of my back. I wanted to flinch away, but I was afraid that if I moved someone would pull the trigger.

“Put it down,” Sheriff Stilinski repeated as Chris refused to lower his gun. The panic was seeping into me once again.

Stiles’ voice shook from behind me, “Dad, he’s going to shoot us. He’s going to kill me, dad.”

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. That sounded like him. It’s not Stiles. It’s not Stiles. It’s not Stiles.

“Don’t listen.” Chris snapped.

“Put it down. Put it down!” Stiles’ dad yelled. He was getting agitated. I could feel the tension rolling off of both of them in waves right now.

Stiles stepped in front of me then, looping an arm around my waist as he did so. I was stunned as he actually put himself in front of me. Why would the Nogitsune risk hurting Stiles’ body when he needs it until he can get to me?

“Pull the trigger. Come on.” The Nogitsune taunted.

Sheriff Stilinski was screaming at Argent to put his gun down, but he wouldn’t move. He wouldn’t lower it. The barrel was aimed directly at Stiles’ chest. My fingers curled around the fabric of his jacket as I held onto him tightly, preparing myself to to throw my body in front of him if a trigger was pulled.

“LISTEN TO ME, YOU PUT THE GUN DOWN NOW!” Sheriff Stilinski shouted. The room was starting to spin. I was breathing faster. My heart was beating against my ribcage and my headache was back.

“Shoot me.” Stiles said quickly.

“PUT IT DOWN!”

“Dad, stop”

“Shoot me! SHOOT ME!” Stiles started to scream. Everyone was screaming and I felt like I was about to pass out. What the hell is happening?

Strife.

“PUT THE GUN DOWN NOW! PUT IT DOWN! PUT IT DOWN!”

I pushed around Stiles’ body and stepped in front of him, “Stop. Stop it. This is what he wants, this is exactly what he wants.”

The loft was growing dark, the sun had set. The Oni were coming. They were going to take him.

“Not exactly.” Stiles said in disappointment. “I was kind of hoping Scott would be here. But I’m glad you all have your guns out, because you’re not here to kill me.”

The hissing and snarling of the Oni filled the loft and I winced as they appeared in front of the window. They were lined up, swords drawn, and ready to attack.

“You’re here to protect me.” he finished before stepping behind his father and Chris, snatching up my arm and pulling me with him.

Gun shots ensued and I held my hands over my ears as the ringing and popping sounds became too much to bare. I faintly registered Derek getting his on the shoulder with a blade, but that was the last thing I remember from the loft.

Because when I opened my eyes, I was back in the basement of Echo House, with Stiles right beside me.

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“Why that Kanji?” he asked as he walked around the water heater. His fingers were latched around my wrist, pulling me alongside him. I don’t know how we got here, or why we’re even here.

When I actually looked up from his tight grip on my wrist, I found Noshiko… crouched on the floor holding pieces of the broken wall in her hands. The body of the Nogitsue was right in front of her.

“Why self?” He asked. She still hadn’t turned around to look at him. She was caught off guard with him being here, that much is for sure.

Noshiko didn’t look at either of us, “To signify that he died as himself. Because Rhys wasn’t a monster,” she sated as she stood up. She had a small blade in her hand, pointed right at Stiles. “Not like you.”

“If I’m such a monster, why’d you call off the Oni? What happened to the woman who called out for chaos, strife and pain to descend upon everyone and everything? What happened?” he asked as he stepped closer to her, dropping my wrist as he stood mere inches away from her.

Noshiko shook her head from side to side, “I don’t want that anymore.”

“I do.” Stiled said with a shake of his head. His hand then shot out, grabbing her wrist just as he did mine moments before, “Did you bring this here thinking you could hide it from me?”

I watched as he pulled the knife from her hands effortlessly. “Bad idea.” he mused. I had expected him to stab her, but instead he stuck the knife right in Stiles’ stomach.

“NO!” I shouted as I tried to run at him, but Noshiko pushed me away. My chest was heaving up and down as the knife was pulled from Stiles’ stomach. His body was swaying from side to side as he tried to gain his balance.

“What have you done?!” Noshiko shouted in a panicked rage.

The blade slipped from his fingers and clattered against the floor as he stumbled backwards. I went to reach for him, but I stopped when I saw the blood seeping form the gash on his stomach. What did he do?

He got on his knees and glanced at Noshiko hatefully, “Chaos has come again.”

Flies began to spill out of his wound. I shielded my face as they swarmed around me, hitting me in the face and filling my ears with that annoying incessant buzzing. I squeezed my eyes shut again. I felt extremely light headed and tired.

And for some reason, I was perfectly okay with falling asleep.

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My body was killing me. My eyes slowly pulled themselves open, letting the sunlight practically blind me. I squinted my eyes and pushed myself up into a seated position, I was in the middle of a parking lot.

An empty parking lot.

I stretched my arms and popped my bones around, letting the cracking sound fill my ears. I was stiff and sore. A dull throbbing was residing in the back of my head. I wasn’t surprised.

Where the hell am I even at? I pushed myself onto my hands and knees—preparing myself to stand, but fell short when I saw that Stiles’ body was laying a few feet away from me.

Oh God.

“Stiles?” I whispered before crawling over to him, now knowing if the Nogitsune was still present. The last thing I remember is thousands of flies pouring out of the gash on his stomach. The gash that was still visible.

I panicked, seeing the skin start to turn red from slight infection. It looked like it was healing though— is that a good thing? Oh, I don’t know. His shirt was slit, revealing the gash and some of his lower stomach. He didn’t appear to be awake, nor possessing the will to wake up just yet.

My hands were shaking as I pushed my hair out of my face. I don’t know how we got here, or why the Nogitsune decided to bring us to a parking lot. To be honest, the Nogitsune’s thought process confuses the hell out of me.

Tires squealed loudly as a navy blue car sped through the lot. My eyes widened as it stopped a few feet away from us. I did stand up then, because I had no clue what was going on and I couldn’t do much sitting on the ground.

The passenger side door flung open first, and Aiden jumped out, running around to the front of the car where he met up with Lydia— who nearly fell out of the drivers side. Lydia ran at me and pulled me into her arms, not even bothering to greet me.

I nearly collapsed against her, relishing in the fact that I had someone to lean on rather than having to stand on my own.

“How did you find us?” I asked her quickly.

She pulled out of the embrace and swallowed thickly, “I don’t know.”

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“The couch. Put him on the couch.” Scott instructed. After we loaded Stiles up in Lydia’s car, we took him back to my house. Deaton and my mom were there waiting after Lydia had called them and told them that she found the two of us.

Aiden and Scott had hoisted Stiles’ out of the car and were carrying him through the house. I was following behind them, with my hand over my mouth to suppress the urge to cry.

I am not going to cry again.

“Guys, this is crazy. He needs to be in the hospital.” my mom said quickly. She was right, if this were a normal circumstance… he would need to go to the hospital.

Scott glanced at her uneasily, “Mom, remember what happened last time he went to the hospital?”

“It doesn’t look like he’s bleeding,” Deaton said as he inspected Stiles’ torso wound. He was right, he wasn’t bleeding anymore. It actually looked slightly better than it did in the parking lot. “I think he might even be healing.” he added.

Aiden’s eyes widened, “You mean healing like we heal?”

“That’s good right?” I asked quickly, taking a step forward towards them.

Deaton pulled back from Stiles slightly, “For him, yes. Us? I’m not so sure.”

Stiles’ was passed out, his head leaning against the back of the couch with his lips slightly parted. It made my chest hurt seeing him that way, looking peaceful and so much like my Stiles.

“So if we aren’t going to kill him, why aren’t we at least tying him down with really big chains?” Aiden asked skeptically. He didn’t trust Stiles. I can’t blame him— since the Nogitsune has been causing so many problems lately.

He was scared.

We all were.

“I might have something more effective.” Deaton stated, pulling up a black bag. I have no idea what could possibly be in there.

Scott nodded in agreement as Deaton pulled a vial out of his bag. I don’t know what was in it, but as Deaton unscrewed the cap and pulled out the dropper Scott and Aiden each grabbed a hold of Stiles.

“What are you doing? What is that?” I asked in confusion. I was ignored as Deaton dropped the liquid into Stiles’ mouth. In the mere fraction of a second that it took for the liquid to touch his tongue, Stiles’ body sprung forward. His hand went straight for me, and I didn’t move out of the way fast enough before he got a hold of my wrist.

“Get him off of her!” Scott shouted as Aiden grabbed me and tried to pull me back, but Stiles’ grip on my wrist was unrelenting. He started laughing at the small amount of chaos he was able create in a matter of seconds.

Scott finally managed to break the hold and he pulled me back behind him, shielding me. Stiles started groaning as his body began to shut down. He fell back against the couch and glared at Deaton, “Kanima venom. Nice tough.”

Aiden, for some reason, growled and extended his claws at Stiles. He was unphased as he glanced at him, “You know how they say that twins get a feeling when the other one’s in pain? You didn’t lose that talent too, did ya? Oh, I hope not. You’re going to need it.”

I glanced at Scott, who was watching Aiden wearily. I don’t know what the Nogitsune was doing, but he was messing with the person that had the shortest fuse in the room.

“Okay, I’ll give a little hint. Ethan’s at the school.” Stiles said with a smirk.

Scott was on it, “Go!” Aiden obeyed and ran out of the house, slamming the front door on his way out.

Stiles started laughing as he rolled his head back to watch Aiden. “Oh, I hope he get’s there in time. I like the twins. Short tempers. Homocidal compulsions. They’re a lot more fun than you bakemono trying to save the world every day.”

“Doc, you brought something to paralyze his body. You got anything for his mouth?” my mom asked.

Stiles glanced at me, “Kasey are you going to let them do this to me?”

“Don’t talk to her,” Scott snapped angrily. This was a mess. This whole damn situation was a mess. I want Stiles back. God, I want him back so badly.

Deaton cleared his throat as he pulled some duct tape out of his bag, “As a matter of fact, I do.” he stated before smoothing the strip of tape across Stiles’ mouth.

Stiles screamed beneath the tape before he started laughing manically. Seeing him like this— it hurt, looking at him was hurting me and I had to leave the room before I did or said something stupid.

Lydia, Deaton, and Scott followed after me into the dining room. My mom stayed behind, watching Stiles’ in case something happened. I just wish there was something I could do to help him.

“How much longer do you think we have?” Scott asked Deaton, who was pressing the palms of his hands against the tabletop. He was exhausted too, and confused and lost and scared.

Deaton sighed, “I wish I knew. But if we don’t figure out something soon we’re going to need to find a better place to keep him. I think we are grossly underestimating the danger here. He might be paralyzed, but it still feels like he’s got us right in the palm of his hand.”

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“But the scroll said to change his body.” Lydia stated.

I held a hand up, “We aren’t changing Stiles’ body. Stiles is not going to be turned into a werewolf. The Nogitsune wants me, and when it gets inside of me— Scott is going to bite me instead. I have a better change of making it out okay after the bite than Stiles does.”

“Wait what?” Lydia sputtered. I knew now probably wasn’t the time to catch her up on the new plan, because we were kind of in a pinch for time with Stiles and the Nogitsune right now, but I don’t want her genius little mind to possibly come up with a way to fulfill the first plan when we aren’t using it anymore, especially since she may be able to help with the new plan.

Deaton sighed, “Kasey is refusing to let Stiles be bitten. And, theoretically, she should either turn or end up just the same as she is now if the bite doesn’t take effect.”

“Theoretically? Are you really willing to gamble that?” she asked me unsurely.

I glanced at Stiles in the living room before giving her my attention, “If it’s going to come down to which one of us is going to make it out alive, I’m going to choose him. I’ll choose him every damn time.”

“But—“ Scott stressed, “the chances of Kasey actually dying from the bite are extremely small.”

Deaton let out a sigh once again, “Still, however small those chances may be, I could have translated the scroll wrong. I told you my Japanese is not that great. So we’re looking for a cure in something that might actually be nothing more than a proverb or a metaphor.”

“I’m willing to risk it.” I stated.

Scott looked at me uneasily, “Kasey, you don’t even want to be werewolf… you’ve been against it since Deucalion offered it to you.”

“Well what if her being a werewolf saves her life.” Lydia snapped, her facial expression going dark.

Scott shot her a look, “I’ve never done this before. What if I bite her and accidentally hit an artery or something?”

“That venom is not going to last long,” Deaton said over their conversation, trying to pull them back to the big picture here, “Something needs to be done sooner than later.”

I ran my hands through my hair, “We need more time. The wall isn’t down yet, and until it is— he’s stuck inside of Stiles. And I told you that he’s not going to be bitten.”

“I can try calling Derek again.” Scott mumbled. Derek hasn’t been answering his phone all day. I don’t know what his problem is but we need his help. I need his help.

Lydia shook her head from side to side, “Maybe we should try calling someone else.”

“If you mean Peter, I would rather just kill myself now.” I said in annoyance. I don’t know what it is about Peter Hale and always ending up being involved in our problems.

My strawberry blond companion let out a sigh, “He’s our best bet.”

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I have been waiting to write the next chapter for so long and I am so excited omg. I am really excited in general about these next few episodes because they have been in my mind since the season ended and I had the idea for Kasey. And now I'm finally getting to write about them so yay!

So, I hope you are liking the direction the story is taking. I will be writing about season 4, some of you have been asking this, even though I'm pretty sure I already said that I was going to... I have the cover and title already put up in my drafts on here so woooooo!

Be sure to fan, vote and comment! -Sasha xx