chapter eighteen
frontotemperal dementia

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"YOU'RE USELESS!"

Odessa Stone willed herself not to flinch at the shrilled shout that was aimed her way. She could feel the spit fling onto her face from how close her superior was to her. But she didn't let any flicker of emotion show—that's when they break you.

Her brown eyes burned holes into the blank, white in front of her, deadpanned as she waited for her next instructions. The girl was given extra lessons for her lack of control due to being a distraction in her classes with everyone else.

Or that's what they said.

Odessa knew she was different. She knew she was a hopeless case and not fit to be a werewolf. So why don't they just take care of the problem? It would be better than staying in this place for the rest of her, already miserable, life.

All the girl needed to do was extend her claws and she could go to bed like the rest of her classmates, but nothing was working.

She was shot out of her blank gaze by a hand squeezing her jaw, "look at me, you worthless excuse for a wolf," her superior sneered, tightening her hold on the girl, "you need to do something and you need to do it quickly. Show me your claws, your fangs, your eyes—anything! Or I swear to God, I'll lose my patience like I should've a long time ago."

Squeezing her eyes tightly, Odessa willed and prayed to herself for her eyes to glow and after a couple of blinks, they did. After showing her yellow irises for an acceptable amount of time for her superior, she was thrown to the ground harshly, cringing as she met the hard floor.

Her superior casually spoke while leaving the room, not fazed by her treatment toward the blonde girl, "go to your room. You get no dinner."

"Yes, ma'am," Odessa croaked, her jaw already sore, and she could feel the tenseness when she opened her mouth to speak.

As the door of the training room slammed shut, leaving her alone on the ground in ear ringing silence, the Stone picked herself up when she suddenly heard a distant, echoed voice call out to her...

"Odie! Odie, get up!"

Odessa picked her head up from her pillow in her room of the McCall residence in surprise at Scott's loud voice, "what—what? What's wrong?"

"It's Stiles."

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Goosebumps rose on Odessa's sweatshirt covered arms as the night air hit her hard. She ignored it and pushed down a shiver, too focused on Stiles and where the hell he could be. While Odessa was having her own nightmare, Stiles called Scott in hysterics, telling him he didn't know where he was and that something was wrong with him. The blonde was on edge for many reasons. One being she didn't have a lot of information as to what was going on in general. All Scott told her once she woke up was that Stiles is trapped somewhere and he's cold and his leg was bleeding—that's all.

The ride to the Stilinski residence felt long and slow as Odessa wrapped her arms around Scott's waist tighter in anticipation. She almost felt like jumping off his motorcycle and running the rest of the way with how antsy she was to find the hazel eyed boy.

As soon as Scott slowed to a stop, she didn't wait for either boy, seeing as Isaac was driving behind them, and ran into the house, ignoring the calls of her name from behind her. Odessa quickly made her way to Stiles' room and furrowed her brows when she saw who was in there before her and the boys. She felt the boys come up from behind her at the doorway.

"How did you know," Scott asked rapidly, "did he call you too?"

"I heard it," Lydia revealed, not giving an explanation, or not having one in the first place as to what she meant.

Aiden sighed from next to her, "don't ask. It gets more confusing when you ask."

"Not as confusing as this," the Martin turned back toward the bed in the room, all though there was one person who knew exactly what was in front of them.

As Odessa walked toward the bed, she felt the eyes of her friends watching her, but didn't pay them any mind. There in front of her, was all of his red string springing from scissors stabbed into the mattress and connecting itself all around the pictures Odessa remembered seeing on his crime board. Without turning back to the group, she spoke softly with furrowed brows, somewhat studying what was in front of her, "he uses red for unsolved cases."

"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case," Aiden offered, watching the blonde closely.

"Or is an unsolved case."

The Ember glared at Isaac from across the room, "you really wanna start with me, Isaac?"

As the Beta sent the anxious blonde an apologetic look, Lydia turned to Scott, "hold on. Is he still out there? You don't know where he is?"

"He said he was in an industrial basement somewhere," the Alpha informed, relaying his phone call with his best friend, "we came here to get a better scent."

"What else did he say?"

"Something's wrong with his leg," Scott answered the strawberry blonde, "it's bleeding."

"And he's freezing."

"Tonight's the coldest night of the year," Aiden added urgently, "it's going to drop into the 20s."

Odessa turned away from the group, bringing her thumb to her mouth, nervously gnawing on the nail, looking around at the pictures on his walls.

"What did his Dad say?"

Scott sighed hesitantly at Lydia's question, "we kind of... we didn't tell him yet."

"Stiles is bleeding and freezing and you didn't call his Dad," the Martin scoffed in disbelief before turning to the quiet blonde, "Odessa, you let them do this?"

If the Ember heard her, she didn't acknowledge it. She didn't feel like fighting or defending herself. She just wanted to find Stiles.

Trying to take the heat off of his friend, Scott spoke again, "he made me promise not to. We can find him by scent. If he was sleepwalking he couldn't have gotten far, right?"

"You guys didn't notice his Jeep is gone, did you?"

Odessa sighed at Aiden's comment before finally turning to the group, "Scott, I know you promised him but standing around here isn't helping either."

"You promised you wouldn't call his Dad," Lydia started, bringing out her phone, "I didn't."

"Wait, Lydia, hold on. I can get more help. I can call Derek, Allison..."

"Everyone except for the cops. Great idea."

"You guys remember she only gets these feelings when someone's about to die, right?"

Annoyed and antsy from all the talking, Odessa announced, "that's it, I'm going to the station to talk to his Dad," she looked right to Scott, "if anyone wants to join me, feel free," before walking out the door.

It was when she was already out the front door did she hear fast footsteps following her. She turned back, seeing Scott and Isaac, who were giving her sympathetic but firm features back. Her face softened before nodding to the boys, who took that as a sign to hop in or on their vehicles and drive quickly to the station. The three having an understanding between themselves. They had to find Stiles no matter what. And they would do it together.

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Odessa watched the Sheriff nervously as the man's breath started to shake at the information the teens gave him at the station.

After taking a few deep breaths to pull himself together, Stilinski turned to the teens, "if his Jeep is gone, that's where we start," he started to give orders to his Deputies, "Parrish, let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ-5 Jeep. Cordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sub-level of any building that he could've gotten into while sleepwalking. It's the coldest night of the year so far," he spoke louder to the whole room, "so if he's out there barefoot in just a T-shirt, he could already be hypothermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast," he turned to the teens next to him, "the three of you, come with me," brought them into his office and shut the door, "okay. Is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell anyone out there?"

"Lydia knew he was missing," Scott told him.

"Can she help find him?"

Isaac added, "she's working on it."

"Anything else?"

"I called Derek and Allison for help."

Stilinski sighed, "can you find him by scent?"

Before the three werewolves could answer him, Parrish knocked on the office door, "we got it, sir. We found the Jeep."

While the Sheriff's department went into the front of Beacon Hills Memorial, Odessa, Scott and Isaac met Derek on the roof of the building. The Jeep was spotted in the parking lot and soon was discovered to be dead. Confused as to why the Jeep was at the hospital, Stilinski set up a search party to go through the hospital with the help of Melissa, but Odessa had a feeling they wouldn't find anything.

"He's not here," Derek sounded, hearing footsteps behind him, "not anymore."

"You mean the whole building," Scott panted from running.

"Gone."

The Stone dragged her hands down her face in frustration as Isaac spoke from next to her, "I'll go tell Stilinski."

"And see if you can find Allison," Scott turned to the Beta, "she's not answering her phone."

As Isaac left the roof, Scott and Odessa went up to stand next to Derek, who was gazing toward the city, "notice how strong the scent is up here? Ever hear of chemo signals? Chemical signals that communicate emotion," he turned to the Ember, "you probably feel them the most," she nodded, not giving a verbal response. She thought back to when she told Stiles she could feel his signals when he was around Lydia, now she didn't feel those when he was around her anymore, and she wondered why. The Hale continued, not taking offense to the lack of response he got from the blonde, feeling how Stiles' disappearance was affecting her, "just our sweat can give off anger, fear or disgust. Take a deep breath and tell me what you feel."

Scott did as he was told, closing his eyes to feel what was around him, "stress—"

"And anxiety," they turned to Odessa, who was glancing around her, seemingly feeling everything and more, "it's everywhere."

"What was he doing up here?"

"I don't know," Derek shook his head at the Alpha, eyes still gazing down into Beacon Hills, "but there was definitely some kind of a struggle."

The McCall locked eyes with Odessa before questioning the older man, "with who?"

"Himself."

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As the night went on, Odessa couldn't help but have this nagging feeling in her chest—as if she was trying to tell herself something. After coming up empty at the Hospital, Lydia called and told them he was at Eichen House. Odessa didn't join them, going back to the station with Melissa. She needed to figure out what was going on with her. Was this her Ember abilities telling her something that nobody else would know?

The Stone and Melissa ran into Agent McCall at the station, the man telling them he had an idea of where Stiles could be. While Scott's parents were talking in the front seats, Odessa sat in the back, her leg bouncing up and down with anticipation of finding the boy. She was having a hard time keeping still. It was as if her body was ready to jump out of the car and run to wherever he was. Odessa was convinced the Ember in her used its connection with Stiles to find out where he was. As Agent McCall kept driving, the chemo signals of anxiety and fright filled her body more and more.

As soon as the car stopped, Odessa jumped out and started running, the woods around her being familiar to her. This was the area her and Stiles went to while Scott was turning Malia back into her human form. It was the area where Stiles saved her. She ignored the two McCall's who called for her and ran where her body took her. As she got closer, her chest started to close, motivating her to pick up her speed. The feeling got heavier and heavier as she finally stumbled upon Stiles, who was laying down in the coyote den, eyes screwed shut and mumbling to himself.

Hearing footsteps behind her, signaling the adults were approaching, Odessa took off her jacket and started to wrap it around the boy and pull him out of the den, to which he fought back and started screaming at the top of his lungs, "wait! No, wait! No!"

Melissa came next to the blonde and helped pull Stiles out of the den completely, the two adults helping him lay back back into Odessa embrace as she spoke under his screams, "Stiles! You're okay!"

"Wait!"

"Stiles, you're okay! Stiles!"

Slowly, and with the help of white lines traveling into his body, he calmed down, leaning against Odessa's chest, breathing heavily.

"You're okay, Stiles," the blonde whispered against his damp hair, "you're okay."

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No matter how much her back was hurting and how much her neck was aching, Odessa would not leave her chair in the hospital waiting room. They had been sitting there for over an hour as Stiles got settled into his room at the hospital. Hearing footsteps coming toward them, Odessa got up from her spot in between Scott and Lydia to face Stilinski, who came from Stiles' hospital room.

"He's sleeping now. And he's just fine," Stilinski told them, making the three teens sigh in relief, "he doesn't remember much. It's a bit like a dream to him," he looked to Agent McCall, who stood to the side with Melissa.

"It was that repellent we sprayed in the coyote den to keep other animals out," Agent McCall explained, "I couldn't go near it without my eyes watering. It's just a good thing he mentioned it over the phone."

Stilinski shook his head, "no, it was more than that. Thank you."

"It was a lucky connection."

"McCall, can you shut up please and accept my sincerest gratitude."

"Accepted," Agent McCall brought out his hand with a nod, prompting the two men to shake hands.

"All right, you three," Melissa interjected, looking to the teens, "you've got school in less than six hours. Go home. Go to sleep."

After Scott hugged his Mom, Odessa kissed the woman on her cheek before walking next to Scott. She rolled her neck to stop it from aching, but she knew it would take more than that for it to go away.

"I don't know what happened," Lydia whispered, looking the most frustrated the blonde had ever seen her, "I was so sure."

Scott sighed, "yeah I wasn't much help either. Doesn't matter, If he's okay," he reassured.

Suddenly, Lydia stopped in her tracks, looking around her as if she heard something no one else was—which was the case.

"Lyds," Odessa called to her, "do you hear something?"

"No," the strawberry blonde eventually answered, "I didn't hear anything."

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School dragged on painfully slow for Odessa. The last thing on her mind was homework and the pythagorean theorem. The Stone had been texting the Sheriff throughout the day for updates, seeing as she didn't even want to go to school in the first, and stay at the hospital. But she knew Melissa wouldn't have agreed to that. The Sheriff told her that they would be running tests on Stiles all afternoon and if she and Scott wanted to come after school, they were welcomed to. So they did.

The Ember pulled her long sleeves over her wrists to cover her cold fingers at the temperature drop the MRI room supplied. The three teens didn't have much time to talk, seeing that the Doctors wanted to run their tests without any interruptions. It was before Stiles' final test of the day and they finally had time to talk, even if it was only for a minute or two. And even though she jumped at the opportunity to come and see him, she was extremely and utterly nervous to see him at the same time.

"I'm not sure I know how to pronounce this," the Doctor in the room looked at his chart, simply looking at his patient's name, "or if it's not actually a misspelling."

"Just call him Stiles," Stilinski nodded, not looking particularly amused at the Doctor's words.

With pursed lips, the Doctor nodded back, before turning to Stiles, who was sat on the machine in his hospital gown, "okay. Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."

"Oh, no, no, I don't need anything."

"Hey," Stilinski spoke to his son, glancing at Melissa who was next to him, "we're just on the other side of that window. Okay?"

"Okay."

With one last smile, Stilinski, Melissa and the Doctor left the room, giving the three teens a moment to themselves.

Stiles looked to his two friends, who had been silent throughout the whole exchange, "you know what they're looking for, right," he mainly spoke to Scott, seeing as Scott had been through everything with Stiles—and Odessa knew that and didn't mind, "it's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my Mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure."

Odessa continued to play with her hands, pursing her lips to keep the tears at bay, she looked to Scott only to see him the same way. The Alpha picked up his head and spoke as firmly as he could to his best friend, "Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something," he glanced at Odessa, who nodded fervently, "I'll do something."

As Stiles came to terms with what Scott was indicating to him, Odessa finally let tears fall as she watched the two boys hug each other tightly. In the couple months she had been staying in Beacon Hills, she couldn't help but feel like the boys in front of her were becoming her boys. Her boys—who she would do anything for, and would do anything for her in return.

The blonde sniffled, wiping her damp cheeks as they pulled apart and looked toward her, making her smile shakily at them, even as her chin wobbled uncontrollably. Scott could see she was fighting the urge to talk to the hazel eyed boy alone, and took it upon himself to leave the room.

Odessa took a slow step toward him, whispering, "I'm sorry."

Blinking excessively, not expecting her words, Stiles whispered just as softly back, "why?"

"I just," the Stone sighed, feeling her tears spring back into her eyes. She could feel everyone watching from the other room, but when she placed her hand in his, she didn't seem to care, and he didn't either, "I just wish I could do more for you."

This was the first time Stiles Stilinski had ever seen Odessa Stone cry—and he hated it. He liked the smiley Odessa that would come to his locker everyday and make him forget about the supernatural troubles that went on in their lives. He liked the way her brows would furrow and the bite of her lip while she concentrated frustratingly on her Math homework. He liked her encouraging words she gave the pack when they were doubting themselves. He liked her optimism even when she didn't even know herself and her own situation. He liked when she calmed him down after his night terrors, even though he thinks he didn't show it enough.

Keeping those thoughts in his head as his eyes traveled around her face, seemingly memorizing every feature, Stiles took his free hand and brushed the hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear, "you being here... it's more than enough for me."

Odessa only gave him a watery smile in return, almost leaning into his hand. Knowing she had taken up a lot of time, she turned to the glass and gave the Doctor an apologetic smile. Giving the boy one more reassuring glance, she left the room and shut the door, taking a deep breath, and shut her eyes tightly.

The Ember found Scott in the waiting room, along with Derek, as the two didn't bring up her puffy eyes and damp cheeks. Taking a seat next to Scott, he didn't hesitate to grab her hand in support, which she returned gratefully with a squeeze. They sat in silence before Scott filled it.

"You know the stuff you were telling us about chemo signals earlier," the boy directed to Derek, who nodded in return, "it reminded me of the time you were teaching me to use anger to control the shift."

The Hale lifted his brow, almost in reminisce, "I think you ended up teaching me more about that."

"Are you teaching me again?"

"Think of it more like sharing a few trade secrets," Derek explained, "you know, I took Cora back to South America, right? It's where she spent most of her life after the fire. But that's not the only reason I left. I needed to talk to my Mother."

"Your dead Mother?"

"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They protected it. This town needs someone to protect it. Someone like you."

Scott nodded along with his words, "and someone like you to teach me a few trade secrets," after a seconds of silence, the boy hardened his eyes in realization before getting up from his seat.

Odessa watched him get up in confusion, "what?"

"He was trying to protect us," the McCall relayed Derek's words from the previous night, "Stiles was protecting us."

"From himself."

The three werewolves hurried onto the roof, where they were almost 24 hours prior.

"What exactly are we looking for," Odessa asked, looking around the roof.

"I'm not sure," Scott answered back, "but I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with himself. I think he was struggling not to do something."

The Alpha stopped in front of the metal fence, hopping onto a crate in front of it, and reached to the top of the fence, grabbing something and hurling it down to the ground. It was a bag full of different metal tools and wires. And as they examined the top of the fence closer, they noticed a wire struggling to keep together, sparks already shooting from it.

As the power starts to short circuit in the building, the cord cuts loose from its hold, springing toward the three wolves, who back up quickly, covering their faces from the light the sparks held.

Watching the cord dive down to the front of the building, they ran down to the parking lot, only to stop when they saw a pool of water starting to spread through the lot. They watched with bated breath as Kira grabbed the cord and put out the electricity, showing her glowing eyes.

When the electricity in the cord disappeared, more people started to run from the building wanting to see what was going on. It wasn't until Odessa and Scott heard Derek try to talk to Isaac, who was laying in the water, did they look away from Kira.

"He's not breathing," the Hale muttered to himself, "Scott, he's not breathing!"

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