"I'm not so sure about this . ."

"It's only 48 hours."

"A lot could happen in 48 hours."

"Well, just try not to die."

Carmen stared blankly at her brother in the driver's seat, not amused in the slightest by his joke.

"I'm kidding." Piers clarifies, "I know you can take care of yourself."

"I don't get why I even have to do this," Carmen sighed, glaring outside of the window. A familiar, huge, fenced building was coming up on their right, where she would be spending 2 days in near solitary confinement. Eichen house.

"Wherever Stiles goes, you go." Piers explains, "He turned himself in because he's scared the Nogitsune will hurt more people."

"So he's not possessed anymore?" Carmen asks, not taking her eyes off of the eery building.

"No, which is why you need to act like you were possessed that entire time as well and weren't part of the plan."

"I have a really bad feeling about this . ." She bit the inside of her cheek nervously.

"You'll be fine. You're strong, you're independent," Piers compliments, bringing her into a loving hug over the gearshift, "And the days will fly past before you know it. I love you."

Carmen sighs timidly and pulls away, grabbing all of her possessions which was only her phone and house keys. She doubted that a mental facility would allow her to bring her entire bedroom along with her.

She climbs out of the car and looks up. The building almost seemed to blend into the darkness of the night, the small lanterns on the brick walls being the only thing keeping it dimly illuminated from the outside. The stairs of which she was currently walking up were cracked and near crooked, implying that the building had been standing for a very long time. The door that her hand raised to push open was large and wooden, resembling that of a haunted house's. Which, to her, seemed to be essentially what this was anyways.

When she first entered, she was relieved to see that it was a bit less dark in the building, though it wasn't by much. The lobby was empty aside from a man in a wheelchair, whispering to himself in the corner of the room, and the receptionist at the front desk.

"Ms.Taylor," The woman calls, her curly haired head bouncing when she spoke, "You're checking yourself in, right? This way please."

Carmen keeps her feet planted for a second, weirded out by her already. She wasn't aware that Piers had called in advance. Had he?

Still, she leisurely saunters over to the counter, watching as the woman places a sheet of paper in front of her.

"The first 48 hours there are no phone calls, no emails, no visitors." She begins, rummaging around in her desk for a few seconds before pulling out a pen and handing it over to her. "In the morning you'll be assessed by a staff psychologist, speak to a social worker, and attend group therapy.

"You will be wearing these," The woman sets a pair of beige house shoes on the marble surface, "No laces allowed. Do you have a belt on?"

Carmen gulps nervously as she stands up and begins to take off her belt, placing it atop the paper for the woman to take. She then leans down and slips out of her shoes, replacing them with the ugly house ones.

"Now please empty your pockets in here," The woman instructs, sliding a white box over to her.

Carmen reluctantly handed over her keys and her phone, biting her lip as the woman slides it away. Carmen grabs the pen and scans over it a bit before her eyes wander down to the signature section. Her trembling hands glide over the paper and she signs her name in the neatest cursive she could, officially deeming her a patient of Eichen House.

"Great," The woman gives her a reassuring (Yet unsettling) smile, "Let's go to your room."

▲▼

"We'll come get you at 10:00 in the morning." The woman explains as they come to a halt in front of a large metal door with a bar over it. "Try to get some sleep, you have a long first day ahead of you tomorrow."

The door creaks open and the room is revealed. It's small, the walls made of brick, of course. The only light in the room was the moonlight shining through the sealed, bulletproof window on the back wall. There were two beds on each side of the room; Hers was empty, while the other was inhabited by a dark figure, sitting on the edge of the bed and facing the right wall.

Before Carmen can turn around to tell the woman that she suddenly wants to back out of this whole thing, the door slams shut and the bar is placed back over it, sealing her within these walls for the next 12 hours. 

The figure on the bed begins to raise its head timidly, its fingernails digging into the side of the bed harshly. As its head raises more and more by the second, both it and Carmen's eyes blow up in surprise.

Stiles.

He jumps up from the bed and abruptly runs into her arms, a sob escaping his lips. Carmen is taken completely off guard for a second, her eyes glancing up at the boy in her arms.

"Carmen, thank god it's you," He whispers into her hair, "I-I turned myself in, I didn't want to hurt anyone else- I can't-"

He breaks out into another sob and she feels her heart drop as she slowly wraps her own arms around his torso to return the hug.

"I know, I did too . ." Carmen lied in a whisper, a deep frown overtaking her features. 

"I killed someone," He replied, hugging her even tighter, "It m-made me kill that officer-"

"Don't blame yourself for that," Carmen says seriously, "We weren't in control, and you know that."

"I hurt Kira and tried to kill my best friend," He sniffed, pulling away from her to tug at his dark roots, "I'm a monster, I thought I would be able to keep everyone safe, but i-i'ts here, it followed me here . ."

"What? What do you mean?"

"When me and the lady were walking up here, I saw this man at the top of the stairs hang himself." Stiles explains, wiping his cheeks free of tears. "He was whispering something and after he did it, I looked down and the Nogitsune was right there at the bottom of the stairs, looking up."

"Shit," Carmen whispers, running a hand up and down his cold arm. "Well, whatever happens, we're both in this together. I'll be right here with you."

"Please, don't leave me," He pleads.

For the first time, Carmen began to feel herself crack. Instead of not thinking about it and just doing it, Carmen felt terrible for manipulating him. She wanted to wreak havoc on Scott's pack for everything they'd done to her, but it quickly showed that she had been doing the same things to Stiles as they had to her.

And as the boy that she had intentionally manipulated and ruined cried into her shoulder, body trembling, she realized; No, this isn't right. It was never right, and it would never be right.

She gave it a good trial, but it was time to drop the careless, badass attitude she had adopted from her pack. She didn't want this anymore.

She had killed 4 innocent people and injured dozens more, all because she was angry. These were never her intentions, but they were the reality of her destruction nonetheless. She never wanted to be that kind of person.

And now, she was going to fix herself before it was too late.

▲▼

Carmen groaned and rolled over in her bed, the sunlight shining through the window blinding her. She snatches her hard pillow from underneath her head and forces it over her head, blocking out the harsh light. Her eyes begin to slowly part and she looks around the room. The first thing she notices is Stiles, sitting on the edge of his bed once again, staring out of the window.

Carmen's eyebrows furrow and she sits up in her bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Hey, have you been awake this entire time?" She asks, her morning voice gravely.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep." He replies, not bothering to take his eyes from the panes.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asks genuinely, stretching out her back with a yawn.

"I don't exactly have a watch on me . ." Stiles trails off sarcastically, a small grin playing on his lips as he finally turns his head to look at her. She merely rolls her eyes at his words.

"This boy offered to stay with me during my days here, showing me around and stuff." Stiles looks down at the ground, picking at his nails nervously. "I-Uh, I'm meeting with him when we're released."

"That's good." Carmen smiles at him, walking over to sit next to him on the bed. "What's his name?"

"Oliver," He continues monotonically, "Um, do you think you could tag along with us? I want you to be there in case, you know- Something happens."

"Stiles . ." Carmen sighs, placing a hand on his arm. "If something happens to you, chances are it'll be happening to me, too."

"I'd just feel a lot safer if you were there," He looks up at her with his bloodshot eyes, "You're the only person I know in here. Please?"

The loud clanking noise of the bar being lifted from the door catches their attention as a guard swings it open, holding a pile of clothes in his hands. This man looked like the opposite of friendly, the deep contours of his face outlining his everlasting frown.

"Change into these and come downstairs. Your day starts soon." His deep voice booms throughout the room. He leaves the clothes on the bed and exits the room, leaving the door wide open.

"Come on, Stiles." She pats his back, standing up. "Let's get this over with."

▲▼

"Most of the people here are okay," Oliver, Stiles' new acquaintance, explains as they walk through the outside courtyard of the building in search of a phone. "The violent ones are in a closed unit."

"That's Holly, she has OCD," Oliver continues, pointing to random people that they pass. "That's Ben, he thinks he's Jesus Christ. Danny . . Also Jesus. That's Mary . . She also thinks she's Jesus-"

"Okay, we get it," Carmen cuts him off as they approach one of the occupied wall phones.

"You'd be surprised how many Jesuses we get."

"Okay, buddy . ." Stiles murmurs under his breath.

"Hey, how come you wanna use the phone already?" Oliver questions, turning to Stiles.

"Because after one night I've changed my mind about this place being safe for me," Stiles explains, glancing over at Carmen. "Or anyone, ever."

The lady occupying the phone spoke quietly over it, holding it close to her head as she hunched over, result of her posture. The three stand quietly behind her, waiting patiently for their turns.

Her voice gets louder, allowing the bunch to hear her conversation.

"No, I think you're wrong," She speaks, "I really think I should tell them. They need to know the story- The whole story. I really think they should know."

Carmen and Stiles exchange odd glances as she continues to speak.

"Yes, I do. Because they're standing right behind me."

The woman abruptly hangs up the phone and both Stiles and Carmen stare at her with wide eyes as she quickly scurries past them and back down the walk way.

"Who was that?" Carmen furrows her eyebrows, her heart pounding faster in her chest. Stiles slowly walks over to the phone and begins to type in a number.

"That's Meredith," Oliver responds with a nonchalant shrug, "She's a little weird."

"No, you're a little weird. She's a lot weird." Stiles remarks. He brings the phone up to his ear, but realizes that nothing was happening. "It's dead . ."

"Yeah!" Oliver says as if it was obvious, "They turn off all the phones for 24 hours after a suicide."

"Why wouldn't you tell me that before?" Stiles gawks at Oliver, watching as Meredith continued to walk down the hallway.

"Why didn't you ask?"

Carmen rolls her eyes and begins to walk away, Stiles following close behind her.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Oliver asks the two.

"We're gonna get out of this nuthouse."

▲▼

A handful of patients (And the blonde social worker) were sat in a circle in the middle of a bright room- A nice change of scenery. Carmen was amidst those patients, staring down at her house shoes boredly as someone droned on and on about whatever.

The large door on the other side of the room slowly creaked open, revealing Stiles. He held a neutral expression, hair disheveled as usual as he walked in and closed the door behind him. His stiff composure made it obvious that he was uncomfortable with the abundance of eyes cast upon him. He quickly made his way over to the group of patients, taking a seat in one of the uncomfortable chairs directly across from Carmen.

"I wanna go back to the topic of guilt today," The woman starts, opening up a manilla folder and looking over something for a second, as if she was reading from a script. "It may surprise some of you for me to say this, but guilt is a good thing."

Carmen rolls her eyes and sighs to herself. She really wasn't in the mood for any bullshit speech right now.

"Guilt often becomes physical," She continues, looking over to Stiles with a smile. "You feel it in your gut. It's not just psychological."

Stiles' head slowly turns to the side, catching Carmen's attntion. Her eyes follow his and her breath is immediately caught in her throat; One of the bandaged nogitsune was wearing a lab coat, talking to a man sporting the same attire. Was the man not seeing the same thing they were seeing?

Carmen's eyes snap back to the ground, her hands shaking in anticipation.

"What does guilt make you feel, Stiles?" The woman questions, catching him off guard.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asks.

"Guilt. What does it make you feel?"

"Nervous," Stiles replies immediately, his behavior suddenly skittish.

"Like a sense of urgency, or like you need to make up for something you've done, right?"

Stiles only nods, his eyes looking up to Carmen. They immediately explode upon seeing something behind her, tears forming within them. Carmen doesn't have to look back to see it. She merely has to look to her side, seeing the bandaged hands and lab coat, still-figured behind her. She gulps and snaps her head back forward, trying her best to keep calm in front of everyone, even though tears were now stinging in her eyes.

"What do you call someone who doesn't experience guilt?" The woman asks, looking around the circle.

"A sociopath?" Oliver calls out.

"That's right."

Carmen glares down at her arm, letting out a silent cry. Her veins were beginning to show black from the top of the limb, slowly climbing down to the rest of her arm. What the hell was happening to her?

"I'm sorry, everyone, but we have to cut this one short." The woman suddenly says, standing up. "Stiles, Carmen, come with me."

Carmen's eye twitches in confusion as people begin to mutter bitterly, walking out of the room, yet Carmen stayed still in her seat. Stiles kneeled down in front of her, looking to her with concerned hazel eyes.

"Carmen," He whispers, but she continues to stare blankly ahead, "Come on."

"It's behind me," She whispers back, a tear streaming down her face. "Stiles, it's behind me-"

"It's not there anymore," He urges, attempting to tug her out of the chair as the social worker waited patiently for them. "We have to go."

Carmen reluctantly raises from her chair, undaring to look back and check if the Nogitsune was actually still in the room. She thought that she could handle the demon inside of her; Control it. But it soon became obvious that the demon controlled her. 

She had given the Nogitsune the power it craved; She gave it herself. And now, she was fucking terrified.

▲▼

"It's called a lichtenburg figure, common in lightning strike victims," The woman explains as Carmen lays out on the bed in the hospital ward of the building. She was holding her arm up to examine it. Stiles also had developed the strange marks, though they were along his back where they were less noticeable.

"They must have given you a shot of Wolf Lichen," She confirms, referring to the shot that Deaton poisoned them with the few nights before.

"H-How did you know about that?" Carmen tumbles over her words, surprised at her intensive knowledge on the subject.

"I'm a friend of Deaton's." Is the only explanation that they receive along with a small grin, "So no, I don't think you're insane; I know what you're going through is very real. That being said, the fact that these marks appearing on you after that shot of Wolf Lichen is both significant and strange."

"By significant and strange do you mean hopeful and optimistic?" Stiles inquires hopefully, eyebrows raised.

"Quite the opposite. When the marks fade, the Nogitsune's grip over you will return." She states blankly, shooting him down. She saunters over to a cabinet in the room, opening it and rummaging through it for a few seconds. She reads the labels on a few orange bottles before she takes out a specific bunch, handing them both their own.

"What are these?" Stiles inquires, "Sleeping pills?"

"Amphetamines. Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do." She explains, "You're vulnerable when you're asleep."

"So all we have to do is stay awake?" Carmen cocks her head.

"For now. If your friends haven't figured out something by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you."

"To tell us what to do?"

"No. To give you an injection." She corrects, "Pancuronium Bromide. It causes respiratory paralysis."

"That sounds a lot like death," Stiles remarks under his breath.

"It's used for lethal injection, yeah," She agrees, as if it was nothing.

"So, when the nogitsune takes over, you're going to kill us?!" Carmen growls angrily, sitting up from the uncomfortable surface.

"I'm going to do what I have to do," She replies sternly, her voice suddenly low.

"Okay, then," Stiles shakes his head, nodding for Carmen to follow him out of the room. "Thanks for the illicit drugs."

"Guys," She calls as they're halfway through the doors, allowing them to look back at her before she began speaking again.

"Stay awake."

「sorry for any errors or stupid parts, it's very late and i'm very very tired」