Monsters | Stiles Stilinski

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟗

   HOW DID I GET HERE?

How had my life reached this point? A place where I was familiar with the ghost who held the scythe, yet so unfamiliar with how harshly he could shatter your life in a matter of seconds. My whole entire being was breaking—shattering like a piece of fragile glass and I was free falling with no idea of when or where I would land. Before this, I liked to believe that in the face of tragedy I would be okay. I was naive when I'd thought that—I didn't even know where it had come from, really.

I'd never even experienced true tragedy. I couldn't remember what it was like to be subjected to such pain you felt as if your whole life was caving in on itself.

My body was numb. My heart wasn't even whole anymore, in fact I wasn't entirely sure where it was. The pain was so extreme yet it was unlike any pain I'd ever felt before. It was like someone had put their hand into my chest cavity, dug around viciously, latched on to my heart and tore it out before dropping it on the floor and stamping on it.

It was unbearable and I didn't think I could withstand it. I never thought I'd have to experience it.

How did I get here?

FIVE HOURS EARLIER

Chris Argent had been Derek's plan. He helped us to get the twins to safety and out of the preserve. We'd managed to get them up to Derek's loft—still alive and still breathing—when Isaac called me. I didn't hear much but the words 'we've found Lydia' stuck in my head. I all but abandoned them in the loft, Derek's keys still in my hand when I made a run for it—his and Chris' shouts unrecognised in my head. They tried to tell me to stop but I didn't. The need to get to Lydia was too great. I had to know she was okay and so I drove to Oak Creek as fast as Derek's car would take me.

The night sky had claimed us as victims again—thrusting us into a state of unnerve while the Oni ruled, searching high and low for the Nogitsune. The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw, a harsh contract against the darkness I'd grown to hate over the weeks of constant anguish.

When I slammed the door of the car shut my body forced me to pause. It was delivering me with a warning and for the first time, it was forcing me to listen to it. There was something greatly chilling about this place. I didn't have to know of its history to feel what had gone on here all those years ago. The decades old emotions that had been left in the wake of the tragedy was enough. They were strong and that was enough to understand that the people here had felt great pain. This place was a bad omen, a beacon of death and sorrow.

The warning continued when I heard the spine-tingling sound of the Oni in the distance. My heart pounded in my chest ferociously... adrenaline coursed through my body and whispered to me to pick a response.

Was this the end? The final battle we'd been anticipating all this time?

My feet carried me through the threshold of the high built iron gates of the camp—my response had been chosen. There's no turning back, my subconscious whispered to me.

While fear gripped me with an iron fist, it didn't rule me. I couldn't let it destroy me. I was strong enough to hold on to what little grit I had left. I dug deep and I found the fire raging inside. I listened to it and I allowed it to fuel me. I dragged everything the Nogitsune had ever done to me, everything he made me feel... every word he'd ever spoke and I used all of that pain to create strength within my self.

If the Nogitsune was here I'd kill him or I would die trying. I owed it to myself and Stiles to try. After everything he'd put us through he deserved it. I would give it my all, I wouldn't back down... not this time.