(Discontinued) When the Wolves Howl | Teen Wolf

Chapter 14

"I can't find Scott anywhere," Allison said, somewhat breathless as they rushed down the stairs.

"It's happening to him too, isn't it?" Stiles asked.

Iris said nothing, thinking back to what they'd seen from Isaac and Boyd no less than five minutes ago. The latter of which had been stuck in a bathtub under the hotel safe and the former shaking under a bed, unresponsive. Using an emergency flare from the bus, they'd been able to save the two from themselves. After seeing Boyd's attempt at drowning himself and Isaac's pale, fragile state under the bed, Iris had made sure to never stray from Lydia, Allison, or Stiles, afraid of what she could do to herself.

"Didn't you say there was another flare on the bus?" Lydia continued.

"Yeah, I'll get it." Stiles had been leading them down the stairs, but now he slowed and Iris immediately knew why. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts earlier she hadn't noticed the smell of gasoline. It flooded Iris's nose now, prompting her to look away from her feet and up to where it led.

Scott stood in front of them, looking as if he'd just jumped right out of the shower with his clothes on. He wasn't facing them or acknowledging their presence, only staring at his reflection in the pool of liquid beneath him.

The group moved slowly, cautious of the flare in Scott's hand and the threat it held. Iris's nose wrinkled with repulsion, the stench of the gasoline nearing unbearable as they got closer to the puddle at Scott's feet. Her heart pounded in her chest, eyes wide with terror.

Allison said his name to see if he'd react, the first of them to do anything besides gaping in horror. She led them closer to the boy, circling around the gasoline. "Scott," she said again. They stopped moving when they could face him, when he could see their faces and they could see his.

Iris glanced to the left, seeing the red container out of the corner of her eye. The sight confirmed what she already suspected: Scott had doused himself in gasoline and was preparing to ignite it with him standing it. She lifted a shaky hand to her mouth to keep in her gasp.

"There's no hope," Scott said, voice quivering and hoarse.

Allison practically whispered, "What do you mean, Scott? There's always hope."

"Not for me."

Iris shivered at the desperation in his voice.

"Not for Derek."

Allison pleaded, "Derek wasn't your fault. You know Derek wasn't your fault."

"Everytime I try to fight back it just gets worse," Scott said, his hand still gripping the flare with malicious intent. "People keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed."

"Scott, listen to me, okay?" Stiles said, stepping closer, his feet nearing the puddle of gasoline. "This isn't you, all right? This is someone inside your head telling you to do this. Okay, now-"

"What if it isn't? What if it is just me?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Iris watched Allison bring a hand up to her mouth and saw a tear drip down Lydia's face at Scott's words, which would never be as heartbreaking as what he said next.

"What if doing this is actually the best thing that I could do for everyone else?"

Iris felt her throat burn with incoming tears. Scott's chest rose up and down with every shaking inhale and exhale, his eyes welling with tears.

"It all started that night, the night I got bitten. You remember the way it was before that? You and me, we were- we were nothing," Scott said to Stiles, who shook his head in disbelief. "We weren't popular. We weren't good at lacrosse." He stopped, breaths coming out quicker than he could handle. "We weren't important. We were no one. Maybe I should just be no one again." His gaze, which had been on the ground, now lifted to look his best friend in the eye.