inhuman [2] // teen wolf

48. crazy

Riley paced back and forth in the waiting room while Allison sat in the chair as her hands shook in her lap. She couldn't believe it; two of the most important people in her life were both in the hospital. Isaac was dying, Stiles was now missing again. The Nogitsune made him cause the power surge. It wasn't Stiles's fault, it wasn't his fault. Riley had that repeating in her head like an alarm. He didn't mean for any of this to happen. Where did he go? Where did Stiles run off to now? God, she really hated the situation she was in. She felt like she was going crazy; why do the bad things always happen to the good people? She needed to see Isaac at least, but they wouldn't let her in; she wasn't family. Of course she was family, she was always his family from the very start. She was his emergency contact, she at least could go in and see him. But apparently not; emergency contacts don't matter if they're not family.

Riley had to see him; she couldn't bear to stand and wait for nothing, she had to see him, she had to--

"Riley." Someone took her shoulders and forced her out of her sudden trance, and she was met with her father's eyes. She frowned, feeling so out of it, she didn't know what was happening. Tears started to well in her eyes like a reflex as her father brought her into his arms into a tight hug. Isaac was like his son; he cared for him almost as much as Riley. Even though he hadn't spoken to him in a while, it didn't change this fact. "Let's go see him, okay?"

He looked up at the now standing Allison and the three new faces which belonged to Chris Argent, Melissa and Scott. Chris and Mr. Beacon knew each other, but they chose not to acknowledge it; they knew each other through their hunting families, but both of them shunned that side of them.

The group walked over to Isaac's room and got inside with the help of Melissa's key card, and Riley was soon next to Isaac's side, his hand enveloped in hers. Allison and Scott stayed back, knowing that Riley needed a moment. Allison was taken aback by the still raw burn on the side of his face, and her hand found Scott's. Chris invited Riley's dad outside and waited with Melissa while they had a small talk about what was going on.

"Isn't he meant to be healing?" Allison asked, as the two slowly walked over. Riley didn't say anything, as her eyes were glued to the painful burn on his face. He was knocked out, presumably from the sedatives he was given. Riley felt his pain; all she felt was pain. Her best friend was in intensive care and Stiles was possessed by a Nogitsune and was probably going to lock himself up in a mental house. Her life was falling apart and she didn't know what to do about it. Scott reached Isaac's other side and took his arm, squeezing it hard as his veins filled with black blood and travelled up under his shirt. He groaned in pain and Riley watched as the agony on Isaac's face relax.

"I didn't take it all away, but he should feel a little better." Scott mumbled, rubbing his hand with the other.

Back outside the room with Chris and Mr. Beacon, the two were having a very serious conversation as Chris filled him in on what was happening in Riley's life.

"I don't know how she's taking it, and with Emma's emotions as well, I'm pretty sure that whatever she's feeling towards Isaac and Stiles is doubled. Perhaps even towards Allison as well. It's well known that our families never really got along." Chris said, as he watched them through the window of the double doors.

"I know I haven't really been around Riley that much, and she needs me now especially. With both of the people that she cares about gone, who knows what she would do. She needs to heal." Mr. Beacon replied, rubbing his wrinkled forehead in stress. "I just don't know what to do..."

"Be there for her." Chris interjected, a very serious and stern look on his face. "That's all she needs."

Riley watched Scott's hand returned to his side, and Allison latched back onto it. She felt a wave of anger again; why was she holding his hand? Why was he letting her? Isaac deserved so much better. Riley couldn't even look at the two anymore, she couldn't stand being in this hospital. She couldn't stand everyone leaving her; from her parents, to Boyd and Erica, and now Stiles and Isaac... Why did everyone leave her? Why did no one care about her?

She let go of Isaac's limp hand and turned on her heel, stomping out of the room, swinging the doors open and leaving her dad there as she headed for the exit. Allison and Scott watched her leave, as Allison quickly let go of Scott's hand, knowing that Riley got the wrong idea. Her dad sighed, bid the two adults goodbye and went after his daughter.

She felt so strange; she felt like she had no control of anything. People kept leaving and coming back whenever they chose to. She had to gain control of her life.

The ride back home was quiet; Riley refused to speak, afraid that if she spoke she would just snap at him. Why was he back anyway? It wasn't like he cared for her. She stormed up to her room after they arrived home, ignoring her mother on the couch as she locked her bedroom door. She couldn't even hear herself think; something was talking over the top of her. It was like white noise, only it sounded like a person. Her thoughts were screwing up and she couldn't function properly. She was going crazy, just like Stiles was before he was possessed. There wasn't another Nogitsune, was there? Unfortunately not, as Riley's demon is herself. She had to do something, something that would make her calm down. All this noise was driving her mad, she couldn't breathe properly. She grabbed at the hair on the sides of her head, cringing her eyes closed as she tried to mute the noise in her head. She had to let it out, she had to do something.

"What did I do to deserve this?" She screamed, grabbing a porcelain statue of a girl in a dress and pegging it across the room and watched it smash onto the wall above her bed. She screamed and shouted and cried, wiping off everything that cluttered the surfaces of her desks and breaking everything that could be broken. Her parents were banging on the door of her room, shouting at her to open it, until all of the noise just stopped.

The voices in her head stopped talking, the white noise was gone, and nothing was happening. Riley just sat down in the middle of her room with a blank look on her face, as her eyes glowed a bright silver. Riley was gone and Emma had replaced her.

The lock on the door was broken as her dad kicked it in, running over to the girl on the floor and gripping her close to him, neither parent noticing her eyes hidden from the matted locks of her brown hair.

"I'm fine." The girl muttered, as she slowly pulled out of the adult's grasps. The two gasped as her mother scrambled away from her daughter who seemed to look possessed. Her father knew what had possessed her, as he slowly stood up after her daughter.

"Where's Riley?" He asked slowly, bringing his wife up with him. Emma wiped under her eyes as her face remained expressionless.

"Sleeping. She cannot function without the possibility of hurting herself. My only purpose is to protect her, even if that means to protect her from herself."