When my eyelids tore themselves open, the first thing I noticed was the bleak winter sky. It was a washed out gray, and the tops of trees surrounded me in an almost  circle. I blinked rapidly before sitting completely upright, making sure that I was in fact seeing the area around me fully. There was a light snow dusting the ground, my clothes were soaking up the moisture from the ground. I certainly do not recognize where I'm at, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been here before. 

"You're ruining this for me!" 

My eyes widened at the sudden shout from a woman who was nowhere to be seen. I hastily stood to my feet, inspecting the tree line nervously. One would think I'd be used to hearing strange voices and waking up in unfamiliar places.

"Ruining what, exactly?" I decided to ask, eyes still scanning the trees for whomever this voice belonged to. 

All of the trees in the clearing began to tremble as a carbon copy of myself emerged out of them. She had a face that mimicked mine in every possible way, the slope of her nose, the arch in her brows, the tan skin and curly brown hair... the only difference in our appearance right now is that she's wearing a dress that definitely is not from this century. 

"My happily ever after," she breathed out harshly. 

Her happily ever after? Who the hell is she? 

"Who are you?" my voice trembled as I pushed myself up into a standing position. 

The obvious first question here is if I'm actually here or if this is a hallucination. I think it's safe to assume that I'm just trapped inside my own head, because it's not winter and there wouldn't be snow anywhere. Now, the second question is who this woman that I'm being confronted by is. She doesn't appear to be much older than I am, but something about the way she speaks makes me feel like she is. 

Her eyes rolled dramatically as she began to inspect her fingernails, "That's not exactly the proper way to phrase your question, Kasey." 

At the sound of my name, my stomach tightened harshly. How does she know who I am? 

"How should I phrase it?" I decided to play into her game. 

She chuckled, "It's who are we."

"Listen lady," I began with a clipped tone, "I've already been down the "having your body possessed by an evil spirit" road. I am not doing this again."

A smirk tugged at her lips, "I'm simply trying to reclaim what was taken from me. We sure do look an awful lot alike, don't you think, Kase?"

There was something about the way she spoke that made me feel like I know her somehow. Her voice sounds like mine, that much is obvious, but there's something about the way she is speaking that feels extremely familiar. The woman walked towards me, her eyes scanning over me, calculating what my next move would be. I don't quite understand what is going on here, but I feel like we are sort of battling for control. That's why the trees keep shaking. There's an imbalance. 

"You seem to know a lot about me... but I don't know a damn thing about you." I responded, watching her snake-like movements. 

She chuckled again, "Your mind is strong, a lot stronger than I thought it would be... one would think with as much trauma as you've gone through, your psyche would look for any excuse to just take a much needed vacation... yet you're fighting it. How about you just let me take control for awhile, then you can see who I am." 

This woman was giving me more information than she thought she was. She needs my body, sort of like a vessel to use because she must not be strong enough to exist on her own. She knows a lot about my past, meaning she's been in my head for some time now. Is she my connection to the Beast? Is she why I keep losing time? Has she taken over my body fully already? 

"Why don't you tell me your name? I think that's only fair seeing as how you want to take over my body and everything," I retorted, flashing an identical smirk. 

The woman clicked her tongue, "You're spending so much time standing here talking to me... do you know how long we've been here, Kasey? Do you know how much time that you've lost? How many people that you've hurt? What is the last thing you remember?" 

How long have I been here? 

The last thing I remember is... what is the last thing? I know I was at the Charity Lacrosse game. I know that I was walking down the school hallway... but I can't remember anything else. Did she take over while I was in the school? 

"What have you done?" I asked nervously, not knowing the amount of damage I could have done whilst being controlled by this woman. 

She flashed me a grin, "You may want to check on that precious boyfriend of yours." 

⬘ ⬘ ⬘

Third Person P.O.V.

Kasey's upper body jolted forward as she rolled over and began gasping for air. Her lungs were constricting as she placed her hands on the concrete to position herself as she began coughing manically. Every single part of her body was aching as her brown eyes darted around her surroundings, trying to place where she was. She quickly caught sight of her reflection in the black car door next to her. The first thing she noticed was the state of her hair-- completely disheveled. Blood was running down her left temple, and her eyes were welled with tears. From the pain in her lungs. 

She attempted to stand, but her arms began to shake and she fell back to the concrete. She could hear faint screams off in the distance, yet she couldn't remember why people were screaming? She can't remember anything-- her mind feels completely empty. 

"Kase?"

At the sound of her familiar nickname, she jumped in surprise, noticing her twin brother and his beta stalking around the tail end of the car. Scott's right side of his face was covered in blood, his lacrosse jersey was ripped to shreds and his hands were bloody. Liam looked just as beaten up and bloodied as Scott did. 

Quickly, Liam rushed to Kasey's side and attempted to help her stand. She winced as her bones cracked inside of her, she could feel the healing process slowly taking place. Scott's eyes were wide as he took in the state of her, "Is it you?" 

"Is what me? Are you asking me if I'm Kasey?" she replied harshly, cracking her neck to try and make the pain in her bones disappear. 

Scott's eyes narrowed, "I'm asking if you're the beast! I tracked it here! I got it's scent!" 

"How many times--" Kasey began to defend herself before a sharp pain in her side caused her to double over, crying out in pain. Liam knelt down beside her and gently lifted her shirt to see that there was a large open wound that blood was pouring out of. It looked like several puncture wounds from a sharp object. She had no recollection of how she could have acquired such an injury. 

Liam looked to Scott helplessly, "Did you do this to her? Could it really be her?" 

"I'm not," Kasey rushed out quickly before wincing, bracing herself against the car, "It's not me." 

Scott eyed his sister wearily before he caught a whiff of another sent trail from the Beast. He glanced at the car and noticed that the direction of the scent was towards the trunk. He quickly grabbed a hold of the latch and used his strength to pry it open-- only to find a pair of grey high top shoes. The smell was a lot stronger now that the trunk was open, and Scott hesitantly grabbed the shoes, flipping them over. 

He knew in his heart that these were the shoes that left the bloody tracks at the hospital, because the once white soles of these shoes were now stained red. Scott shot a look to his sister, "Kasey, who's car is this?" 

Her eyes widened, "How the hell should I know?! I just woke up here! I don't know what is happening to me but I keep losing time!" 

"Scott?" 

The three pairs of eyes all snapped over in the direction of Mason's voice. He was looking at the three of his bloody friends in confusion, "What are you doing to my car?" 

Kasey could feel her heart nearly stop beating at the revelation. Mason was the Beast. He had to be-- why else would the scent have led to his car? It was the only logical explanation there was, but Kasey has quickly learned that logic isn't always at play when it comes to the supernatural. Suddenly, Cory appeared out of then air and wrapped his arms around Mason. Scott's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he dove after them, "Corey wait!"

Just like that-- Corey and Mason were gone. 

In a mere fraction of a second Scott whirled around and lunged at his sister, "You're connected to the Beast, so connect to him! Find him!" 

His eyes were wild and Liam took the initiative to step in between the twins, "Scott, relax. I want to find him just as much if not more than you do, but Kasey is hurt and very confused right now. We need to give her a few minutes." 

"We don't have a few minutes! This is all her fault! He got away because she was here and distracted us from the scent," Scott was breathing heavily as he dangerously eyed Kasey. His emotions were through the roof from adrenaline and the fact that the Beast was now on the loose with the aid of Corey. 

Kasey's eyes widened, "Excuse me?" 

Liam shot Scott a look, "Do not respond to that. Look, let's just find Stiles and figure out what we're doing okay?" 

At the mere mention of his name, everything came flooding back to Kasey. The woods. The identical woman. The threat to Stiles. Stiles. She needed to find him. Kasey shoved away from Liam in began to make her way back to the school, her mind fixated on finding her boyfriend and making sure that he was okay. She made it a total of ten feet from the car before Stiles stumbled into the parking lot. His lip was busted, blood running down the side of his face from a wound on his head and he was holding his left forearm as if it were broken. When their eyes met, Stiles froze in fear. He didn't know who was inside of Kasey but he knew she was dangerous. 

"Come to finish me off?" Stiles laughed bitterly, noticing that Kasey had a wound in her midsection that was bleeding. 

Her eyes welled with tears and she began to shake her head from side to side, "Stiles, it's me."

He wasn't sure how he knew that it actually was Kasey and not whomever it had been before, but he knew. He was sure. Immediately, the guard he dropped his guard and rushed to his girlfriend, gathering her up in his right arm and struggling to move his left. Kasey began to sob as she held onto him tightly, realizing that it had been her that had hurt him. That woman in the forest wasn't bluffing. 

Stiles exhaled heavily as he pressed his lips to the side of Kasey's head, squeezing her tightly. He wasn't too worried about himself because he knew he'd be okay as long as Kasey wasn't possessed again... but it was beginning to look like she was, and that she was having a hard time keeping control of herself. 

"I'm so sorry," Kasey choked out, her body shaking violently. It has always been her biggest fear to hurt Stiles in this way, whenever something is wrong with her mind and she can't control it she always has that lingering thought that she could hurt him and she would never be able to forgive herself for it. 

Stiles shushed her as he rested his head against hers, "It's okay. I'm okay now." 

"Oh my God," Liam gasped when he ran over to the couple, taking in Stiles' injuries, "Stiles, you need to go to a hospital." 

Kasey pulled back, her tears mixing with the blood on her face, "I can take them away, Stiles." 

"You're hurt enough. Kasey, look at you! I'll be okay I'm not letting you do that." Stiles argued defensively, his eyes taking in the gashes on her stomach. Albeit, they were healing slower than usual, they were still healing. Stiles on the other hand, did not possess the supernatural ability to heal. 

Scott approached the group and blinked rapidly, "Stiles, your arm is broken. Let her help. She can take it and heal." 

"Are you insane?!" Stiles shrieked, "She's hurt way worse on top of not having any idea what's going on. I'm not going to let her do this." 

Kasey gently grabbed Stiles arm, "Baby, let me help you. Please." 

He met her gaze and his heart dropped to his stomach. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, bloodshot all to hell and her face was flushed. He knew that Kasey taking his injuries made the most sense logically, but Stiles has also come to learn that logic doesn't always apply in the supernatural world. 

"I'm asking you not to," he said quietly, knowing fully well that Kasey was going to do whatever she wanted to do in this situation and he wouldn't be able to stop her. 

She swallowed thickly as she prepared herself for the onslaught of injuries and pain that were about to smack into her like a tidal wave. Her fingers wrapped themselves around both of his wrists and she closed her eyes thinking about the pain he was feeling, the injuries and all of the blood. She gasped as she felt the punch to her gut. Her body jerked as her forearm cracked. She screamed as she experienced what felt like a kick to her face. Her body was shaking and she began screaming at all of the pain that was being sucked out of Stiles and pushed into her. Stiles attempted to break free from her hold, to stop the entire thing, but Kasey refused to let go. After thirty painstakingly long seconds, all of the wounds and damage to Stiles' body was gone and placed onto Kasey. 

Her body felt heavy as she fell into Stiles' arms. He quickly helped her stand as he wrapped his arms around her protectively, holding her as tightly against him as he possibly could. He kissed her forehead as she whimpered against him, feeling the wounds in her body begin to heal. The more damage put onto her body seemed to kickstart her healing abilities and it was all moving a lot quicker now. 

Scott sighed and ran his hands over his face, "Kasey, I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's not your fault. Let's get home and regroup. Figure out a plan, okay? We're a team." 

Kasey managed to look at her brother and smiled weakly, "Team Badass, remember?" 

"Team Badass." Scott nodded.

___________________________________________________

omg. hello wolfpack. 

please excuse my piece of shit self with this updating schedule like holy fuck it's awful. i'm so sorry for that. i honestly cannot give an excuse for why i haven't been around lately, i guess my life is just so different from when i first started writing this series that i just have a hard time finding the time to write in general anymore. i'm not the same homebody 16 year old i was when i started tom. i'm 22 now and i'm a college student and i work on top of being in a relationship and trying to maintain the few friendships i have... it's rough. anyway, i have been dabbling with writing in third person and i feel so much more comfortable and confident with that writing style so in order for me to finish this series it's gonna be in third person. i owe it to kasey and most of all i owe it to all 15k of you beautiful people for being their to support my creativity and my hours upon hours of storytelling. thank you all so much for sticking by not only kasey but also by me as i go through this journey. here's hoping to have this story finished soon and to get avalanche finished as well! 

lots and lots and lots of love,

sash xxxxxxxx