Bend The Rules , Stiles Stilinski ² ✓

[ 67 ] out of a flame

OUT OF A FLAME

SCOTT'S howl triggered it all—the four of them woke up out of Aspen and Stiles' minds, and the twins, Isaac and Derek had all snapped out of whatever trance the demonic flies had put them in.

Scott's eyes widened at the same time as Ace's did, seconds later, retracting their claws from both Allison and Lydia's necks. They all rushed awake to stand to their feet, everyone standing in front of the two pale possessed teenagers, patiently waiting for something to happen.

"Did it work?" Scott shouted eagerly as he rushed around to look between the two on the couch, "Did it work?!"

Aspen and Stiles remained still—almost lifeless. Their heads dipped on their shoulders with their eyes sealed shut.

"What happened?" said Lydia, her hand reaching to the back of her neck where the claw marks were.

"Why didn't it work?" Ace added, his voice much more infuriated.

"Because it's not science, Ace—" Peter said to the irritated man, "it's supernatural."

"It should've worked!" Ace screamed in disappointment, trying to beat back the tears that threatened to prick as he stared at his sister's lifeless facade.

Allison quietly crouched onto the floor beside the couch, her teary eyes remaining on Aspen. She gave a weak smile, wondering what was going on inside that head of hers.

Allison never realised what a scary place Aspen's mind was—but she did. She even tried to warn her twin flame of a sister to get out of her head. She knew that anyone who dared to go in there would find some not-so-pretty things.

The weak smile fading on the Argent' girl's lips, while everyone else got more irritated and disappointed about nothing happening—Allison simply whispered softly under her breath,

"Aspen..."

Everyone in the room jumped with surprise and shock when it wasn't Aspen who suddenly shocked awake—but Stiles.

His whole frame startled as his eyes snapped wide open—and he was quick to rip off the tape covering his mouth, feeling himself gag something up his throat. Allison took a step back—expecting the same thing to possibly happen to Aspen—but it didn't. It was just Stiles.

The sound of Aspen's name had triggered him to awake.

Stiles coughed, spluttered and retched as he gagged for any air he could get into his lungs. He reached a hand into his mouth and ended up pulling out bandages.

His eyes watered as he continued to pull out the long chain of bandaged material, spluttering it all onto the ground beneath him. And once he was finally done throwing up the wrappings—a human hand began to emerge from it. Everyone watched in horror as the hand soon turned into an arm, and an arm turned into an entire body. Soon enough, the entire body wrapped in bandages from head to toe materialised out of the wooden floorboards, sending everyone into so much horror, their attention failed to focus on the fact that Aspen had yet to awake.

Well—that was, until—they all felt a sudden flush of burning heat overpower the room.

Aspen's pale and still body was shot awake—her eyes widening in shock as she turned to where everyone else's attention had darted to—the flame materialising out of thin air.

Aspen's body jumped as she brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them close to herself as she scooted to the other end of the couch. She didn't feel enough strength in her body to stand up yet. The flame got bigger second by second until it was the height of a human body. Everyone watched in horror and fear as humane features and details emerged in the flame. Firstly, it started to take on the shape of a human.

It got narrower, and then after that, the shape of a head, arms, legs—they all materialised out of the fire. All of this was happening while the bandaged figure continued to climb from under the floorboards.

And then—with one huge flicker of the emerging flame—a real humane body appeared inside of it.

Everyone took a step back with racing heart beats as they recognised the figure.

Aspen.

Her eyes shone blue—not the ember essence of the fire she emerged from. Her skin was still pale and her body was still clad in the Eichen sweats that she'd been in since her escape. And then, in a blink of an instant—the fire disappeared.

And they were left with a new figure of the girl they were all desperately trying to save—a girl who had just materialised out of a literal fire without burning. Not even so much as a scratch.

"What the actual fucking hell..." Ace muttered with wide eyes, darting his gaze between the bandaged figure that had just magically emerged from the floorboards, and this new figment of his sister that had materialised from a flame.

The bandaged figure then lurched forward, losing his balance, and before he could reach anyone—Peter and Scott lunged forward to grab him and hold him down to the couch.

While everyone watched as the bandaged man resented and tried to fight off the forceful hold—they missed a key even that happened right under their noses.

The Aspen who had curled her body up with her knees to her chest—locked eyes with the one that had just emerged from the flame.

One smirked devilishly to the other—like the plan had all come together—the only part was, it wasn't the way around that you'd expect it to be.

The Aspen curled up on the couch, shaking trembling bones, pretending to be scared—was the nogitsune. Okami. Now that Allison and Ace had retrieved her real self from the depths of her own mind—it had given Okami the opportunity to materialise as it's own body. A carbon copy of Aspen Carter. Or Bellator.

"Hold him!" Peter screamed at Scott.

"I'm trying!" Scott fired back, until suddenly he sensed something about who he was trying to hold down that made him hesitate.

"Wait, wait... wait!" Scott added, and Peter hesitantly backed down, softening his holding grip, as Scott then brought a hand up to the bandage and started to undo it, revealing the face under neath.

Stiles.

"Scott?" Stiles' voice broke a soft and fearful whisper, his eyes were glossy with brimming tears—and Scott realised that this was really him.

"Scott..." another voice said his name in warning, and he turned around to see Deaton, and everyone else, with a wary face of concern.

As Scott looked around—he immediately noticed the problem. Not only was Lydia missing all of a sudden—but so were Aspen and Stiles. Well—sort of. There were now two versions of each of them. The real ones—were right here with him.

The nogitsunes—they were the ones that had taken off without anyone noticing.

With Lydia.

"Where are they?" Scott asked as he shot up in urgency, "Where are they?!"

He dashed for his door and didn't hesitate before running outside and trying to see if the nogitsunes could've gotten far. Meanwhile, inside the McCall living room—the newly materialised Aspen and Stiles were frozen in time.

Hardly able to move a muscle as they blinked away brimming tears.

They were finally back—but at what cost?

//

very short filler chapter here, it just took me to the end of the episode so I cut it off quite short <3

but expect more updates very soon...