chapter forty eight
come back to me

( TW: light descriptions of torture & injuries )

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HAVING MEMORIES was weird. Having the memories you thought you would never get back was weird. It felt as though her entire life flashed before her eyes in a millisecond.

Odessa Stone didn't know how long she had been the Dread Doctors' prisoner, but it felt like years. Time wasn't a factor when you were trapped in a room with no windows and only your thoughts. And pain. A lot of pain.

Since regaining her memories, the torture only progressed. Though, with her memories restored, Odessa was almost numb to it all. She had experienced more pain and hurt to last her the rest of her life. She had already felt herself start to change with just her repressed memories coming to the surface.

Before leaving the Salvation, Odessa was cold, hard. No one dared talk to her and she didn't talk to anyone. Except Silas, who basically forced himself into her life, not that she minded. Getting ripped away from your parents, along with watching them be brutally murdered, could do that to someone...

4 year old Odessa Stone couldn't bring herself to lift her head up. Her small chin pressed against her chest. Her coarse blonde hair was matted and pressed against the back of her neck uncomfortably and all she wanted to do was itch it, but she couldn't bring herself to move her arms.

The poor girl didn't even have shoes on. Her tiny toes were almost turning purple from the cold air hitting them and there were small bruises scattered around her feet from walking barefoot.

She hadn't really started to process what happened. One minute, she was peacefully asleep in her parent's arms, then she was ripped away from them, hearing their blood curdling screams echo through the night air. Even though she was young, far too young to have experienced what she did, she knew deep down she would never see them again.

Odessa felt a nudge on her small shoulder, urging her forcefully to keep walking. Lifting her big brown eyes, they found a building in front of them that could've been the largest building in the world. It was huge. Multiple floors, multiple smaller buildings attached at all sides.

The 4 year old was taken by the arm and guided into the building where she had the small chance of looking around, seeing as whoever grabbed her was now moving at a fast pace, a pace too fast for her little legs to keep up with.

Every wall in the building was white. The tables she passed where she found people eating were white, the chairs were white, the doors were white, the carpets were white. Except for the people she passed. They couldn't have been more than mere teenagers. Dressed in all grey with miserable features and slumped postures.

Odessa tried not to stare, remembering what her mother told her about how staring was rude. She kept her gaze either down at her feet or forward. It was only when she was stopped in her tracks did she dare to lift her head completely, coming face to face with a door that led to a large room.

The white room was pretty much empty, only one older woman further into the room. She looked to be getting something ready. With no introductions or explanations, the person holding Odessa's arm brought her over to the woman and sat her down on the chair facing the woman. The small girl watched her slowly put on gloves, one finger at a time.

"Do you know why you're here, Odessa?"

The Stone wasn't expecting to be spoken to, let alone be asked a question. It also went over her small head that the woman knew her name.

Using her voice for the first time since she was taken, Odessa squeaked, "no."

"No, what?"

Odessa was confused for a moment, not understanding what the woman wanted her to say. She then remembered calling Ms. Satomi something from time to time, despite being told it wasn't necessary.

"No... ma'am."

The woman nodded, seemingly impressed, "good," she then uncapped a tool of some kind with a flat end that had a symbol engraved in it. It appeared to be smoking, "you belong here now, Odessa. And this is going to make it official," though her voice was gentle, her blazing eyes that moved to the adults behind the child spoke a different story.

Without warning, the adults behind her took her shoulders to hold her down. Odessa almost squirmed in their hold, anxiety filling her chest. She swallowed thickly as she watched the woman pick up the tool and walk toward her. She couldn't help but start shaking her head, trying to voice her opposition, only to have small whimpers leave her lips instead.

Odessa's small arm was taken and maneuvered so the inside of her wrist was up, along with her palm facing the ceiling. Her small whimpers turned into large pants that were audible to everyone around her, but none of it fazed them.

The woman, without so much as a countdown, pressed the hot tool on the delicate skin of Odessa's wrist, causing the skin to hiss and burn instantly. The 4 year old immediately started screaming, tilting her head back against the headrest as tears streamed down her plump, flushed cheeks. It was the worst pain the little girl had ever experienced.

But that wasn't the end of her pain. It was only the beginning.

Odessa woke abruptly from where she laid, restricted and strapped down. Every time she would fall asleep or go unconscious, memory upon memory would wake up back up again. It was as if she was seeing her life in film.

Upon waking up and coming to her senses, Odessa noticed her arms were no longer by her sides. She slowly turned her head to the side and gasped at seeing her arm being stretched in the air with shackles on her wrist. After turning to look at her other arm and seeing the same thing, Odessa's entire being started to pulse with panic. She could only imagine what the Dread Doctors had in store for her.

One thing Odessa noticed that had her heart springing with hope was that the lights around the room were on. She could see where every door was in her eye line. She couldn't see from behind her but the doctors had only ever come in from in front of her.

She found her way of escape.

Before she could come start concocting up a plan in her head, the doors swung open, hitting the walls with a bang. Odessa couldn't help but flinch at the sudden movement and noise. The familiar stomp of their boots grew closer and closer to her. But she would not show fear. With her memories back, filled with unfair treatment and pain, Odessa had been back to being used to it.

Not even when one of them leaned down to observe her face did she show any indifference. Even with her droopy and crusty eyes, pale complexion and heavily dry lips, she did not show one ounce of fear. And she was proud of herself for it.

The Dread Doctor leaned away from the blonde, nodding to the other doctor on the other side of her. The two masked men went over to her chained wrists and held her hand up the way they did the last time. Odessa braced herself for the pain. She knew exactly what they were going to force her to do.

The Stone felt it before it happened. It started with her body heating up to the point where she felt the familiar feeling of her body being on fire. A sweat had already begun to appear on her hairline, dripping down her temple. With a clenched jaw, Odessa pressed her teeth together to keep her from screaming at the pain that had only just begun to build.

Looking to the side, she watched her hand begin to glow a familiar icy blue before the glow encased her entire hand. That was when she knew they were ready. Without warning, both of her hands began to shoot out a blinding beam of white, hitting the wall in front of her. Betraying herself, Odessa let out a painful scream, arching her back at the sensation her body was feeling with just the power built in her hands.

Unlike the other times they did this to her, the doctors didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Usually, it would only last almost 10 to 15 seconds. But this time, it was longer than that. Much longer.

The pain was already too much.

With her arms becoming heavy in their chains, Odessa gave up and went limp instantly. The last thing she could see was the white light continuing to absorb the room around her. She could only hope by the time she woke up, if she did, it would all be over.

For the first time since her capture, Odessa hoped for darkness.

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When Odessa came to, she wasn't surprised to see her arms still encased with chains, her wrists limp in their hold. She didn't know how much longer she could go on for. The pain was starting to become too much—too overwhelming.

She had started to lose feeling in some parts of her body. She could no longer feel her legs after not being able to move them for such a long time. Her arms had started to go numb after aching in the hold of the chains. And her head was still pounding profusely due to still processing all the memories she regained.

Odessa was starting to think that giving up was the only option she had left.

Just as her eyes began to flutter close, allowing her body to give up completely, she heard a voice that shocked her awake.

"Don't give up, Odie."

She tilted her head to the side to lock eyes with someone she thought she would never see again, "Liam...?"

"You still have to tutor me in English because I still have no idea what I'm doing," the Beta chuckled, causing her to laugh along with him, tears springing in her eyes.

Another figure then replaced Liam on the other side of the room, "and you still have to let me teach you how to use my katana."

"Kira," Odessa playfully rolled her eyes that continued to spring tears, "how many times do I have to tell you, if I ever even hold your sword, I would poke an eye out."

"You will with that attitude," Lydia chimed in, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed against her chest, "we haven't gone shopping in forever, Odie. We're missing all the sales."

"As much as I've grown to love a good sale, Lyds, I'm a little stuck here..."

"So break out," the blunt voice of Malia sounded, walking toward Odessa, who tried her best to look at her from her position, "gather your strength and break out of the chains."

The Stone's chin wobbled as new tears began to surface in her eyes, "I... I don't think I can, Mal."

"Yes, you can," Malia was then replaced by Scott, who looked to be completely fine after Theo's attack, much to her relief, "remember what I used to teach you? Breathe and concentrate and you can do anything you set your mind to."

Despite his encouraging words, Odessa couldn't help but whimper, shaking her head. She was starting to panic.

"Hey, hey, look at me, baby," hearing his voice so close to her made her let out a heaved sob, turning her head to lock eyes with hazel hues. He was here. He was right in front of her, "you need to come back to me, pretty girl. Gather your strength and come back to me."

Odessa willed herself to calm her cries so she could speak to him clearly, "I'm scared, Stiles. I'm s-so scared."

Stiles shushed her softly, bringing his hand to caress her cheek to ease her, "everything will be okay, baby. Just breathe, okay? You can do it, Odie. You can get out of here. Whatever you have to do, do it. Just come back to me..."

Come back to me.

Come back to me.

Come back to me.

Odessa Stone's eyes shot open, panting heavily as she looked around the room for her friends, for anyone. But she was alone. She was alone but their words still echoed in her mind. She knew what she had to do.

Taking several deep breaths to compose herself, Odessa brought her attention to one of her chained wrists and mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. With an internal countdown from 3 in her head, a loud crunch sounded throughout the room, a small scream leaving her lips.

Odessa had just broken her wrist.

Slowly and carefully, she took her broken wrist out of the chain, immediately bringing it to her chest to rest for a moment. Snapping your own wrist takes a lot out of a person. After a few breaths, Odessa willed herself to let her wrist heal quickly, and it did.

Sighing in a relief she knew wouldn't last long, she then looked at her other chained wrist and did the same thing she did with the first one. She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth to swallow the shout of pain she wanted let out after breaking her other wrist. Thankfully, she didn't make a sound, determination starting to pool through her body.

For the second time, Odessa took out her bent wrist out of the chains and focused on healing herself, and let out a breath of relief when she felt the bone snap back into place.

Sitting up was going to be hard for her. She had been lying down in the same position for days, maybe even a week at that point. But she was going to do it. Odessa needed to go home. Clenching her stomach, Odessa pushed herself into a slumped sitting position, already exhausted. Grunting, she reached forward to unbuckle the tight restraints that were around her ankles. It took her a few tries to undo them completely due to her trembling fingers, but she freed herself.

Odessa was free.

Now all she had to do was find an exit and run like hell. But first, she had to see if she could even stand. Swinging her leg around to dangle them over the edge of the table, Odessa had to stop to catch her breath. This was going to take more work than she hoped it would.

Focusing on her breathing, Odessa used her hands as momentum to push herself off the table, landing on her feet carefully. Once her bare feet were planted on the cold concrete, the blonde stayed still for a moment, giving herself a chance to find her balance and bearings. When she felt like she was ready, her hands let up on their tight grip on the edge of the table until they completely let go.

Her knees felt weak but with her werewolf strength she had been saving since talking to her friends, or the hallucination of them, she was able to pick herself up pretty quickly.

Now it was time to run.

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Blood trailed from point A to point B. Walking barefoot across town could do that. Her breaths came out in wheezes. Her hair was matted with sweat pooling her entire body. She didn't know how long she had been walking for, but she at least knew what time of day it was.

Odessa paused her walking, looking up at the half Moon above her. Just a few more miles of walking, then she was home. She just hoped she could make it that long.

The blonde took this time to herself to reflect on what she had just gone through. She was taken by Theo to the Dread Doctors for reasons she still didn't know of. She was strapped onto a table for days and experimented on. They restored her memories while amping up her abilities. She could now shoot beams from her hands. She didn't know what the beams could do, and she was afraid to find out.

Odessa also recounted talking to her friends. She knew they weren't actually there, a fragment of her imagination and a disguise her conscience used to motivate her, but it made her realize how much she longed to see her friends.

She thought about them the entire way to her destination. And it wasn't her home. It was somewhere she knew she would receive the help she needed.

Odessa's feet were barely moving by the time she reached the building. With as much strength as she could, she pushed the door open, hearing the familiar bell ring from above her. The blood from her cut up feet made by rocks and concrete trailed across the floor with every step she took, which were barely steps at that point. Odessa made her way to the room where she knew he would be.

Deaton paused sorting through his paperwork when he heard the bell ring at the front of the Animal Clinic. He heard the footsteps, the heavy breathing. He couldn't help but feel the fear start to build, not wanting to turn around to see who was behind him.

"Deaton..."

The doctor instantly turned around, hearing the familiar voice that was now frail and barely audible. He watched Odessa Stone with wide eyes as she held onto the door frame, glistening with sweat.

"Help me."

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YAY
ms odie saved herself as she
should — let's pretend deaton
was saved from the desert wolf
sooner then he actually was lol
a long awaited reunion takes place
next chapter... comment & vote ! <3