Out Of Milk

30

Never, ever doubt the author. Bad Readers. Carry on...

"Stiles." Derek said, as he lay on the blackened floor of the forest. All Stiles could think of was the taste of Derek's blood on his lips – the rest of the world had drifted away. "Stiles." That one word suddenly brought everything crashing back.

The hunters, looking at the wolves on the ground, a laugh from the woman as they looked at him, the only one standing.

"Leave him." The leader said, "Kill the rest," He turned away walking back in to the charred stumps of the once green forest.

It was the last mistake he made.

Something inside of Stiles snapped. A raw, elemental power flowed from him like water, drenching the ground he was standing on. The leader managed to get to what had once been the edge of the drive when he stopped moving, looking at his feet.

He was unable to keep moving, as though something was holding his feet to the black earth. Under his boots, earthworms wriggled free of the packed earth, as though they were bubbles rising to the top of a glass of soda. They covered his boots, wriggling and flopping. "What the hell?" He said, trying to free his legs from the ground they were stuck to. Hauling at his leg, he fell forward, face first into the burnt dirt. He tried to push himself up, but his arms were sticking to the ground like his legs, worms writhing under his struggling body. "Fuck!" He called, trying to keep his face away from the wriggling mass of worms under him.

The earth under him was sinking, as the worms bubbled and flopped, turning the once hard earth into a seething, living mass. "Help me!" He tried to call, but his mouth was too close to the ground – as soon as he parted his lips, dirt and worms worked their way into his mouth. Gagging and choking, he tried to push himself up again, panic making his actions jerky and unsure. Slowly sinking into the dirt, he was now at least three inches below the level of the charred earth around him.

He screamed – or triedto scream – once, before the mass of his body sunk deeper. He turned his head to look at Stiles, fear and panic showing in the whites of his eyes before the earth swallowed him whole.

The other members of his murderous team were too busy beating on the prone bodies of the wolves on the ground, enjoying the yelps and groans of pain of the Betas they were kicking. The woman looked back at the sound of a gargle from her leader, only to see his boots disappear into the earth. She stopped kicking Jackson to slowly walk towards what she saw...

It was the last mistake she made.

She tripped over a root that hadn't been there before, managing to regain her balance as she looked down at the thick white roots at her feet. Brows furrowed, she glanced around at the rest of the blackened earth – no sign of life. Shrugging, she walked on. Stiles flexed his fingers, and white roots wrapped around her ankles. She didn't fall, managing to gain some balance as she pulled at her legs, trapped between the twisting vines. "Simon!" She called to one of the men, kicking an unconscious Erica in the gut. He turned, with blood that didn't belong to him smeared over a cheek. "Get me the fuck out of this."

He looked at her and laughed. "Told you those boots were a stupid idea in a place like this." The tips of his boots were soaked in blood. Stiles felt his temper reach boiling point. The roots tangling around the woman's legs suddenly tightened, Stiles heard the snap of bone before her screams started. Her knees buckled, but she didn't hit the ground as the white roots wrapped up her calves, twisting and tightening as they grew up her body. Her screams of pain were enough to have the other two men turning from their masochistic beatings – the other trying to hack at the growing roots with his knife. "Jesus!" She screamed, as the long bone in her thigh snapped. Stiles grinned at the sound, tasting the blood of Derek on his lips. Her fear was black and grey, like the forest around her – her pain a slash of lightening on his vision.