(Double update because I missed you all so much ÚwÙ)

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Due to the mature theme of this chapter, reader descrection is advised.
Trigger warning: Suicide is present in this chapter.
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...

Stiles glances at his dad from the passenger seat of the man's car before looking back out at the rain-soaked streets. It's not long before they pull up to the dark gates of Eichen House, the imposing building even darker bathed in night time. The Stilinski's look at it, Noah trying to muster an encouraging smile when they meet eyes. They climb out of the car and stare for a moment in front of the gates. The sound of a motorbike approuching makes Stiles drop his head. He didn't want this. He didn't want them to know until he was already inside.

They turn as Scott peels to a stop with Y/n clinging onto him. She jumps off before he's even fully stopped and he follows a moment after as they face the father and son. "Why didn't you tell us?" Scott asked.

"Because we wanted to avoid something like this." Noah answered.

"It's only 72 hours." Stiles assured.

"This is the same place that Barrow came from. The guy who had a tumor inside him filled with flies." Scott reminded. "You don't know everything yet." He urged Noah.

"I know enough. Nogitsunes, kitsunes, oni, or whatever they're called."

"Wow, that was actually all surprisingly correct." Stiles seemed pleasently surprised.

"Scott, Y/n, I saw an MRI that looked exactly like my wife's. And it terrifies me."

"It might not be real. It might just be another trick." Y/n pointed out.

"Either way, I'm headed to L.A. tomorrow to talk to a specialist."

"Then why are you putting him in here?" Scott asked.

"He's not. It was my decision." Stiles admitted.

"Stiles, we can't help you if you're in here."

"And I can't hurt either of you."

"Deaton's got some ideas. Argent's calling people. We're gonna find something. And if we can't-"

"If you can't..." He stepped closer to whisper to Scott. "If you can't, then you have to do something for me, okay? Make sure I never get out."

"Stiles..." He looked at Y/n's upset features. With a glance towards his dad, he took her hand and led her a few steps away for a bit of privacy.

"Y/n, please. Let me do this. I don't want to hurt you." He pleaded.

"You don't really know this place. It might not be as safe as you think. If something happens to you in there it would be hard for me to help you."

"It's just for a few days."

"A lot can happen in a few days, Stiles." He lightly huffed at her stubborness. It was as charming as it was frustrating. He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her as hers went around his waist. "Please, don't go." She muttered into his shirt.

"I need to do this." He spoke quietly, a sense of desperation in his tone. He was scared of himself, of what the thing inside him would do to her.

She knew he wasn't going to change his mind no matter what she said, so she finally relented. At least if he was in that place she'd be able to focus fully on looking for something to help him. "I love you." She whispered and he knew she was letting him do this.

"I love you, too." He pressed a soft kiss to her temple before stepping away and out of each others reach. Scott moved to stand by her as they watched the Stilinski's go through the gates of Eichen House. The gate shut with a 'clang' of finality and Y/n couldn't help but feel that this wasn't the best idea.

Noah goes with Stiles as he's checked in and told what to expect. The first 72 hours there are no calls, no emails, and no visitors. He'll get a brief physical tonight and in the morning be assessed by a staff psychologist, speak to a social worker, and attend group therepy. As Noah signs the right papers he hears the frequent buzzing of the orderlies going in and out of doors. He feels like they forgot something before they came here. The nurse gives Stiles some slippers and tells him laces are not allowed or belts which he doesn't have. She sets a white tub in front of him and asks him to empty his pockets into it. It takes him a moment but Noah finally realizes what they forgot, Stiles' pillow. It's usually the first thing they pack when going to a hotel because he can't sleep without it. Stiles assures him that it's okay and that he doesn't need it, Noah can bring it the next day. The constant buzzing and clanking of barred doors affects the Sheriff. He jumps up from his chair and tells Stiles to get his things, he doesn't want to check Stiles in here if he's not going to get one good night's sleep. Stiles stands to meet his dad and admits he hasn't had a good night's sleep in weeks before he hugs his father.

They finish checking him in and the nurse leads Stiles away, leaving a saddened Noah behind. As Stiles and the nurse climb the stairs he glances back down a hallway and spots a girl down the way that looked vaguely familiar. He pauses, trying to remember, and the nurse notices. "Stiles? This way, please." She calls. He looked back at her and started to follow again, glancing down the hall as the girl went back around the corner. As they continued their ascent Stiles saw a man at the railing a couple floors up.

He was tying braided bed sheets to the rail as he muttered to himself. "I'm part of the bird that's not in the sky."

"Hey, do you see that?" Stiles asked the woman.

"I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky."

Stiles started to speed up, passing the nurse as he started to rush up. "Stiles, wait for me."

"I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky."

"That guy up there." He pointed out.

"I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry. I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry." He ties the final knot.

"Hey! Hey, stop him!" Stiles yelled.

"I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry." He steps onto the railing, the rope looped around his neck.

"Stop! Somebody stop him!" The two try to rush up, but it's in vain. The man steps off the railing and falls. A sickening snap lets everyone know that it's now too late.

The nurse gasps at the scene which is then followed by the indistinct murmurs of people on the first floor who had come to see what the commotion is. Stiles looks down at the gathered few, and spots a face he didn't want to see. The nogitsune back in his bandaged form.

...

Y/n, Scott, and Allison stand in front of the desk Alan sits at in the clinic, Chris on the phone and on speaker for them all to hear. "Did you have any trouble with Ikeda?" The Hunter asks.

"Only minor." Alan says. "The white wolf was exactly where you said it would be. But we have two problems now. First, the lichen is not a cure. It'll wear off in a matter of days."

"But while it does work, the oni won't go after Stiles, right?"

"I hope. Eichen House has an unusual history. It might not be all that safe for the oni there as well."

"What's the second problem?"

"I checked with your contacts in Japan. The yakuza boss you saw killed by the oni never found the scroll."

"What scroll?" Scott asked.

"A Shugendo Scroll." Y/n informed.

"The Shugendo were the ascetic mystics of Japan." Alan explained.

"The scroll had information on how to exorcize a nogitsune."

"So we need to find that scroll?" Scott summarized.

Alan nodded. "Exactly. And I did get a name of the man who last purchased it. Kincaid."

Allison's eyes widened in realization. "He was with Katashi. He's the guy who met with Isaac to buy the gun."

"Sounds like Katashi wanted the scroll for himself."

"But Stilinski already told me nothing like it was found among his things. And a paranoid like Katashi would keep it close. Probably on him at all times."

"What does a Shugendo Scroll look like?" Allison asked.

Alan got up from his desk and went to a drawer behind him, pulling a medium sized scroll from it and handing it to her. "Something like this."

"Do these come in different sizes?"

Y/n nodded. "Any and all sizes."

"Then I think I know where it might be."

...

After a sleepless night and a fun talk with his roomie, Oliver, about a bug Oliver had swallowed the other day, Stiles changes into the clothes he's given and he searches for a phone. Oliver gives him a mini introduction to the residents of 'Echo House' as people call it. "Most of the people here are okay. The violent ones are in the closed unit." He suddenly points to a girl as they pass, continuing to do this to a few others as they walk. "That's Hillary. She has O.C.D. That's Gary. He thinks he's Jesus Christ. Dan. Also Jesus. That's Mary."

"Mary Magdalene?" Stiles guesses.

"No, she also thinks she's Jesus. You'd be surprised with how many Jesuses we get."

"Not really." Stiles and Oliver had paused a little away from the phone as someone was already using it.

"Hey, how come you want to use the phone already?"

"'Cause after one night, I've realized my girlfriend might be right and have since changed my mind about this place being safe for me. Or anyone. Ever."

"You have a girlfriend?"

Stiles would have answered 'yes' had he not heard the girl using the phone, her words for some reason catching his attention as she tried to speak quetly. "No. No, I think you're wrong. I really think I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story. The whole story. I really think they should know... Yes, I do. One of them is standing right behind me." This really catches his attention, his eyes squinting in confusion. She hangs up and walks past them with her eyes trained to the ground.

"Who was that?" Stiles wondered as they move to the phone.

"That's Meredith. She's a little weird."

"You're a little weird. She's a lot weird." Stiles grabs the reciever and holds it up to his ear, but he doesn't hear anything. "It's dead."

"Yeah." Oliver says as if it's obvious. "They turn off all of the phones for 24 hours after a suicide."

Stiles looked back at Meredith's retreating form with a question in mind. If it was shut off, who was she talking to? "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Stiles, slightly frustrated, hangs up the phone and walks away making Oliver scramble to catch up. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm getting out of this nuthouse."

"That's not really the appropriate way to describe a facility like this."

Stiles wasn't really listening anymore as he spotted that familiar girl again, this time being able to put a name to the face. "Malia?" She turned around revealing that it indeed was Malia Tate. "Hey. It's Stiles. Do you remember me? I'm friends with Y/n and Scott. Remember. We were the ones who helped you out with-" He isn't able to finish his sentence as Malia punches him in the face and he goes down.

"Hey, Malia!" An orderly yells at her as he restrains her arms behind her back.

Another worker comes and does the same to Stiles while he's still on the ground. "Hey, what the hell? She hit me!"

"A few more like this, Malia, and you're headed to the closed unit." Brunski warns.

"Okay, wait, wait, wait. Stop. I didn't do anything. Stop!" Stiles tries to tell him but the man doesn't listen. With his face pressed into the ground Stiles notices the dotted pattern under the plexiglass. It was something he saw while he had been sleep walking, the only minute source of light he had while the nogitsune taunted him.

"Enough!" A voice calls. "Enough." Marin repeats once she gets by the crowd and the orderly lets Stiles go. Stiles is still too shocked by his revelation and Marin crouches in front of him. "Stiles." He looks up at the call of his name, finally recognizing the woman before him. "You saw something, didn't you?"

"That basement. I've been down there before."

A little while later Stiles is attending the group therapy that was being lead by none other than Marin herself. "I want to go back to the topic of guilt today. It might surprise you to hear me say that guilt is a good thing. It's a rather mature emotion. Malia, you said something about guilt the other day. You said it came with a visceral reaction."

"I said it made me feel sick to my stomach." Malia repeats.

Oliver coughs into his hand in his seat beside Stiles. "Guilt often becomes phyisical. You feel it in your gut. It's not just psychological." Stiles leans his arms on his knees, something makes him glance behind him. He sees the nogitsune in a doctor's coat, talking to a patient before he turns his head to Stiles. Stiles whips his head forward again to ignore the entity. "How does guilt make you feel, Stiles?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Guilt. What does it make you feel?"

"Nervous."

"Like a sense of urgency? You feel an urgent need to make up for something you've done. To apologize." Stiles tries to listen, to ignore the figure he sees in the corner of his eye. "These are healthy responses." He glances at the bandaged hand, clutching it's leg in the seat next to him. "Does anyone know what we call someone who doesn't experience guilt?"

Oliver holds his hand up a little and answers. "Sociopath."

"That's right, Oliver." Stiles rubs at his neck, drawing Marin's eyes to the slight lightning shaped mark there. "I'm sorry, everyone, but we need to take a break." She gets up and stands in front of Stiles. "Come with me, Stiles. I'd like to talk to you for a minute."

He follows and she asks him to show her his back where the mark on his neck continues to. She names it as a Lichtenberg figure, telling him that it appears on lightning strike victims. The fact they are appearing on him after a shot of wolf lichen is both significant and strange. He asks her if significant and strange actually meant hopeful and optimistic. She informs him that when the marks fade, the nogitsune's grip on him will return. She goes to her medicine cabinet and gives him a bottle of amphetamines, warning him that sleeping is exactly what he doesn't want to do because he's vulnerable while sleeping. All he has to do is stay awake for now. If his friends haven't figured something out by the time the marks are gone she'll come find him. She'll give him an injection of pancuronium bromide, a drug that causes respiratory paralysis. He mentions that sounds a lot like death and she admits that it is used in lethal injections. When the nogitsune takes over, she'll kill him, he summarizes and she claims that she's just maintaining the balance, something she's always done. She gives him one more warning to stay awake before he finally leaves.

He goes to find the way to the basement, but is stopped at a locked door. Oliver, who appeared out of nowhere, tells him that not even the doctors have the key to that door. Brunski, the head orderly does, though, but he keeps them on him at all times. Oliver says that to get them Stiles would probably have to trick the man. Stiles tells him that a part of him is getting very good at playing tricks.

After a while of thinking Stiles goes to the bathroom, using the sink water to take one of the pills Marin gave him. He looks at himself in the mirror. "Okay. Okay, just got to stay awake, Stiles. You just gotta..." He trailed off when he realized he wasn't alone. Malia is behind him standing naked under the running showerhead. He averts his gaze in shock.

"Don't worry, Stiles, you didn't just accidentally walk into the girls' room." She assured.

"Thank God. Um... Okay, so what are you doing in the boys' room?"

"Showering."

"I can see that. I mean, I saw that. Well, actually, I didn't see anything really. I just- there was too much steam to, uh... Not that I would prefer there to be less steam-"

"Stiles, I don't care." He shut his mouth and nodded. He couldn't help but wonder what Y/n would think of the situation he's found himself in. Probably laugh at his stammering, saying he was cute or something. It would bother him, but then he'd instantly forget it when she'd quickly give him a peck on the lips. "In the woods, there was no boys' and girls' room. And if you really need to know, they keep the water temperature in the girls' room too low. It's much hotter in here. Ever since I turned back to human, I just can't seem to get warm."

"Maybe you just have a low core temp. You know, you might just be sick or-"

"I used to have a fur coat."

"Or, it could be- hey, it might be that. It's probably that."

She turns the water off, grabbing her towel and walking towards him. "Now you're staring."

"Definitely not." He's been staring at the ceiling or the wall to make sure he didn't look at her.

"Then what are you doing?" She wrapped the towel around her.

He saw the movement from the corner of his eye and took a hesitant look, sighing in relief when he saw she was finally covered. "Uh... I was kind of wondering why you punched me."

"Did you think I was going to thank you?"

"No. Maybe. We did kind of save your life."

"You're right, Stiles." She nodded. "Thank you. Thanks for invading my home. For putting me on the run. For turning me back to human so that I could look at my father every day and try to figure out how to explain to him that the reason my sister and mother are dead is because I almost ate them on a full moon. Thank you so very much."

"We were just trying to help."

"You want to help me? Find a way to change me back."

"You want to go back? To being a coyote?" That made him think of Y/n and Scott, that maybe together they could figure out some way to change Malia back.

She noticed the look in his eye and grabbed his shirt in her fist. "What do you know?"

"I might know some people who could teach you how to change."

"Okay. What do you want?" She's very eager to help him now. If it'll lead to her changing back, she'll do anything.

"I need to get into the basement. Which means that I need to get the keys off of that orderly, the big one."

"Brunski."

"You help me, and I'll help you."

...

Allison lets Scott and the twins into her apartment where she, Lydia, and Y/n had been planning a good part of the night and day. "My father said all the Katashi evidence is being moved to a federal lockup by armored car tonight. Probably within the next few hours." She explains as she stands next to the two girls.

"We're going to rob an armored car?" Ethan asks.

"Well, we're going to try." Lydia mused with a smile.

They all gathered in Chris' office and the girls told them their plan. "This is a really bad plan." Scott said.

"It's not that bad." Y/n insisted.

"It's not that good either." Ethan added.

"None of us know the route they're going to take." Lydia started. "If Allison can get one of her dad's GPS trackers on the armored car, then we can follow it."

Allison nodded and pointed to the map. "So when it gets here-"

"We attack them?" Aiden guesses.

Lydia turns to him. "No. Your bikes will be in the middle of the road, looking like you guys got into an accident. And when the driver gets out to help-"

"We attack them." He tried again.

"No." The girls chorused together. "What is it with you and the attacking?" Y/n questioned before Lydia continued.

"You'll distract him and Scott or Y/n will break open the back door."

"I hope." Scott mutters.

Lydia lightly rolls her eyes. "And you'll get Katashi's finger."

"It's not his actual finger, is it?" Ethan asked making Scott look at her in question as well.

"You are so out of our league."

"Why aren't we just going to Stilinski for help?"

"Because if he gets caught, then it's the Sheriff tampering with federal evidence." Scott informs.

"Plausible deniability is the best for him right now." Y/n added.

"Guys, this is going to work. We can do this." Allison assured. "We're losing Stiles. My dad's in jail for murder. We need to do this."

...

Malia and Oliver staged a fight, Oliver yelling that she told him they were going to drill a hole in his head. The orderlies hurried in, one of them being Brunski, and in the commotion Malia swiped the keys from the man, slipping them to Stiles as he helped her up. He quickly made his way back to the door and started trying the keys on the lock. He didn't get far as Brunski himself put a hand on Stiles' shoulder. He tells Stiles nobody has a key to that room and then leads him down the halls where a couple other orderlies escort them. "Into the Quiet Room, little man." Brunski orders, and looks at the bottle of pills in his hand that they confiscated from Stiles. "Want to tell us where you got these?"

"A vending machine." Stiles immedialty retorts.

Brunski chuckles. "I always love the sarcastic ones. Give him five of Haldol." One orderly holds him while the other does as told.

"Wait. What's that? Is that a sedative? Okay, hang on." He starts to struggle in the mans' grip. "Hang on! I can't go to sleep. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Look- get off me, man!" The orderly promptly injects him with the medicine. It works quickly and they let him slump to the floor. "I can't go to sleep... You don't understand." He desperately tries to fight the drugs' affects. "You don't get it. I gotta stay awake. I gotta..." He loses his battle for consciousness and falls into the darkness. When he opens his eyes again he finds he's in one of the lockers in the locker room at the school. He lightly rattles the door. "No, no. Hey." He mutters, his voice quickly rising in panic as he bangs more heavily against the metal. "Hey! Hey! Hey, let me out! Let me out! Let me out!" He yells, but quickly quiets when a shadow passes over the slats. He could see the nogitsune on the other side, walking around the room, and he presses his back against the wall.

"Let me in."

"What... What do you mean?"

"You know."

"Okay, screw you and your stupid riddles."

The nogitsune bangs on a locker. "No riddle this time, Stiles. You know what it means."

"Just let me out." Stiles almost whimpers. "Just let me out." He says a little more forceful. "Let me out. Just let me out!"

The nogitsune rushes the locker and yells through the slats. "Let me in!"

Stiles startles awake as someone tries to calm him down. His eyes are blurry at first, trying to get used to the sudden state of being awake, and he thinks he sees a certain someone in front of him. "Y/n?"

"No, Malia." His vision quickly clears up and he sees that it actually wasn't her there.

He takes a second to register that she's in the room with him that's supposed to be locked. "How did you get in here?"

"I broke the lock. If I concentrate I can be pretty strong. Get up." She helps him stand. "There's another way to the basement. Through the closed unit. Where they keep the real psychos."

...

Allison, Scott, Y/n, and Kira (who had insisted on helping after she discovered she was picking up the katana pretty fast) crouch between parked police cars as the Hunter looks through the scope on her crossbow, waiting for the perfect opportunity to place the tracker. When it comes she looks to Kira. "You're up."

Kira glances at the device in her hand and nods. The young fox slinks from their hiding spot and quickly makes her way to the back of the truck where she places the tracker under the bumper. She smiles back at the other three when the door in front of her opened and she ducked behind the car as Parrish went to the passenger side of the car. He suddenly drew his gun after he opened the door and carefully went around to the back. "We have to do something." Scott urged.

Before they could even think of something to do the doors to the truck opened and a large man quickly knocked the deputy unconscious. "Looks like something's been done for us." Y/n noted.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Kincaid." Allison named the fairly large werewolf.

Kincaid promptly gets the silver prosthetic from the evidence and the three confront him. "We need that finger." He looks at Scott, then at Allison who holds her crossbow up to him, and Y/n who gives him a steady look.

Kincaid chuckles with a deep voice. "Why should I give it to you?"

"There's a briefcase in there with $150,000 in it." Allison told him.

"The scroll inside this prosthetic finger is worth three million."

Scott steps a little closer. "Give me the finger." Kincaid gives him a strange look, Y/n closes her eyes with a tiny shake of her head. "You know what I mean."

Kira, trying to help, had managed to silently get on top of the truck where she jumped down onto Kincaid's back. He promptly throws her over his shoulder and onto the pavement. Kincaid bares his teeth as his eyes shine blue. "I guess negotiations are over." He growls. Scott shifts and Y/n's eyes flare. Kincaid lunged for the Alpha, but was stopped when Allison shot an arrow into his shoulder. He glared at her while he pulled it out. While she tried to load another one Kira rushed in to attack, but he easily blocked her fist, picking her up and throwing her to the side. He back handed Allison and she fell to the side as well. He went to lunge for Scott when a voice called to him.

"Hey, Mufasa!" He turned to see the witch with hands coated in purple tinted flames. "Show me what you got." He growled and lunged for her. She threw several fireballs at him to slow him down. He raised his arm to block them from his face and she took that moment to rush up, shove her hands against him and send him flying back. He swiftly got back onto his feet and swiped at her. She ducked and rolled out of the way of his second swing. She then threw an energy whip at him, but he caught it at the last second. He pulled on it before she could let it go and it yanked her towards him where he could finally grab her. He tried to wrap his hands around her throat to choke her. She grabbed his hands in her own and, with the help of her magic, slowly forced them away from her. It was a battle of strength, a supernatural arm wrestle. He realized he wouldn't be able to get the upperhand this way so he headbutted her. She was caught off guard and he took her momentary daze to throw her into the brick wall near Allison.

It was Scott's turn as he swiped at the wolf's face, but it didn't really do anything. He swiped again and tried to ram him to the ground by his middle, yet Kincaid was planted like a tree. Scott went for another hit and this time Kincaid grabbed his arm to block it, doing the same when Scott tried the other side, and then he forced the Alpha's arms to his side before headbutting him. Scott bounced back with another swing that was ducked and then he was punched in the stomach. He fell to his knees and Kincaid roughly kicked him onto his back. He crouched over Scott as he gasped for air. "You have the eyes of an Alpha. But where's the strength."

"Up here." He turned to see Ethan and Aiden on a set of stairs. They growled and jumped down to fight the burly man. Lydia had come from her hiding spot to check on Y/n and Allison, helping them stand before they looked to see the twins as they got Kincaid into a corner and wailed on him.

After several good punches they throw him to the ground near Scott. "Stop. Ethan, Aiden." Scott calls.

"Stop!" Lydia also yelled when they came forward to attack Kincaid more.

"You want him to come after us?" Aiden asked her while Ethan addressed the Alpha.

"Scott, we've seen guys like this. Trust us. He's dangerous."

"So are we. And he looks smart enough to remember that." Scott stepped up to the kneeling Kincaid and took the silver finger from his jacket pocket. He shook it and the tiny Shugendo Scroll fell into his hand. He looked at his friends who were relieved that they finally got it and then turned to the twins. "We're here to save a life. Not end one." He let the prosthetic fall to the ground and the teens departed.

...

Malia and Stiles made their way down to the basement and into the room he had been in that night. "Do you know what you're looking for?" She suddenly asked.

He nodded. "Something to do with that." He pointed to the wall that still had the Kanji carved into the cement. They go over to it and Malia crouches down to examine it closer, running her fingers over the gouges.

"What does it mean?"

"Self."

"Maybe you should tell me more." She prompted.

He lightly shook his head. "You might not like me if you know any more."

She stood to face him. "Try to remember that I'm a werecoyote who murdered her own family. I won't judge. I promise." He lightly chuckled before he relented and told her everything. With the new information the two started to look around for anything that could be useful, finding old file boxes with outdated patient treatments. They sat on an old yellow couch as they searched. "This place definitely used to be a lot more fun. Electroshock, ice baths. Trepination?"

"That's what Oliver was talking about. Trepination is when they drill into your head."

"No wonder they didn't want anyone down here."

"There's nothing here." Stiles sighed and tossed down the few papers he was looking at, adding to the spread out pile of similar pages. "Could you do me a favor?" He turned in his spot to expose his back. "Could you just check the lines on my back? Just tell me if they're fading." He lifted his shirt and she pushed it up the rest of the way to see clearly.

"Yeah, they're almost gone." He freezes when she says that. "I'm guessing that's bad." He huffed a breath and nodded. She helped put his shirt back into place making her fingers graze his skin and he jumped at the chill. "Sorry. I told you I'm always cold." She tucked her folded hands into her lap.

"That's okay." He said as he turned back around. "Here." He reached over and took her hands into his to help warm her up again. "Wow, you really are." He joked and they shared a chuckle. "You know, my girlfriend has this thing she does where she can warm you up like you were sitting in front of a fire."

"That sounds nice."

He nodded. "It is."

"Your girlfriend, that's the girl with the purple eyes, right? Y/n?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"She smells like flowers. Even with the clothes they gave you, her scent is still all over you."

He smiled a little at that, slightly comforted by the fact some part of her was still with him in this dark place. "You kind of remind me of her. I think you would like her."

"I do. She was nice to me after I turned back. And her scent is... Comforting, I guess. It's nice."

"Yeah." He sighs a bit as he looks at their hands, wishing they were hers instead. "It hasn't even been a day and I miss her. A lot. It's almost scary." He chuckles a bit, still in awe of how strongly he could feel for one person.

In the silence the sound bounced off of the walls, and echoed back to them in a quieter tone. This drew Malia's attention towards the wall with the Kanji. "Stiles." She called as she pulled her hands away and stood up to make her way over. Stiles followed her in confusion which grew a bit as she crouched down and touched the wall. It went away, however, as she knocked three times with her knuckle, a hollow sound meeting their ears. "Do you hear that?" She looked up at him and the sound echoed back a moment later.

He looked around and found a pipe on the ground. He picked it up and Malia moved out of the way for him. He braced himself and swung at the wall, easily making a hole in the old plaster and wooden boards. He kept swinging and breaking at the material until he was panting and there was a sizable hole in the wall. He stares at the long forgotten space, letting the pipe clatter to the ground as he and Malia kneel down in front of the hole. Inside the wall was a mummified body, wrapped in bandages and wearing a worn leather jacket. The form of the nogitsune, powerless and decayed, lies within the space. "This is him."

"The nogitsune?" He nods. She reaches in, nose scrunched in distaste as she looks for anything significant. She lifts the flap on the jacket pocket and pulls out a yellowed piece of paper. A quick glance shows it's a photo and she hands it to Stiles. "Recognize them?"

He examines the photo and finds that he does indeed recognize someone. "One of them." He stands up as he continues to stare at the photo. "I've got to get this to Scott and Y/n." Without warning he's tazed from behind and falls to the ground. Malia stands and looks at Oliver who holds the handheld device.

"You took Brunski's keys. I took his stun gun." He lunges for Malia and tazers her as well. She grunts as she slides down the wall, the electrical charge leaving her unable to defend herself. Oliver crouches in front of her and glances at a syringe in his hand. "I also got his Haldol." He sticks her in the leg, releasing some of the drug and she relaxes as it forces her to sleep. He glances at Stiles as he stands again, and moves a bit away. "Like I was saying, Stiles, I heard they used to do trepination here."

"Oliver..." Stiles calls weakly, body still convlusing from the stun gun. "What are you doing?"

Oliver picks up an old drill and looks at Stiles. "I'm gonna let the evil spirits out." He punctuates his statement by pressing the button and making the drill whir. Stiles passes out from the affects of the taser and wakes up some time later, vision blurry until it clears for him to see Oliver again. "I-I borrowed a few pointers from the five-point restraint."

Stiles looks down to find his wrists and ankles strapped to an old wheelchair, rendering him unable to move more than a wiggle. "Oliver, stop this." Oliver coughs roughly into his hand. When he opens it he finds blood and a dead fly in his palm. He wipes his mouth as Stiles tries again to reason with him. "Oliver, listen to me. Stop. Oliver." The boy doesn't listen, dark eyes trained on Stiles with clear intent. Stiles leans as far away as the restraints will allow as Oliver approachs with the drill. "Oliver! Stop!"

"Start with her." The nogitsune commands from the shadows. Oliver pauses and moves away from Stiles.

Stiles looks to the side and sees the nogitsune watching. "You did this." He realizes, his eyes starting to blur again from tears. "You got into his head."

"Every Dracula needs a Renfield."

Stiles' gaze flicks over to Oliver and Malia, who is being strapped in a chair much like himself. "Just let her go."

"Let me in." Stiles tries again to pull at his bindings, grunting with the effort. "Stiles. Do you want her to leave here alive? Do you want us to leave? We can walk out of this place." The nogitsune taunts as he moves around the room.

"Just let her go please."

The nogitsune peers at the body in the wall before turning away again. "Let me in." His tone is becoming harsher. Stiles screams in frustration as he continues to try to get out. "Let me in, Stiles. Let me in."

"Just let her go please!" He yells out. The drill comes to life again as Oliver prepares to drill into Malia's head.

"Let me in, Stiles! Let me in!" His head falls onto the back of the chair as his eyes squeeze shut in anguish. He doesn't want to. "Let me in and I'll let her live." He doesn't want to let the demon in again, but it doesn't look as if he has much of a choice anymore. "Let me in!"

I'm sorry, Y/n.

Stiles' body relaxes and his head falls to the side as if he had fallen asleep. Oliver almost has the drill to Malia's forehead when there's a rustle and a voice calling him. "Oliver." Oliver stops the drill and timidly steps away from the girl. The last restaints falls off of Void's wrist and he rubs the spot for a moment before looking at Oliver. Void walks over to the fragile boy and Oliver chuckles a little in nervousness. Void grabs the drill and hits Oliver over the head with it, knocking him out cold. He sighs and moves past Malia to set the drill down.

Malia stirs awake and looks at the back of who she thinks she knows. "Stiles?" She calls. Void looks back at her and smirks before walking away.

...

Y/n and Scott stand with Alan in the clinic as the man reads the newly recovered scroll. "There isn't much here, unfortunately." Alan concludes.

"Does it say anything?" Scott wonders.

"My Japanese isn't great. But it appears to say that one method of expelling a nogitsune is to change the body of the host."

"Change the body?"

"Which begs the question, how do we change Stiles' body?"

The answer clicks for the teens, and Y/n voices the answer. "By turning him into a werewolf." Without warning her heart seemed to drop into her stomach and the world shifted under her feet. She would have fallen to the floor if Scott hadn't caught her.

"Y/n!" He eased her to the floor and him and Alan kneeled next to her to check on her. Her shaking gasps and wide eyes are something that gives Alan worry.

"Y/n?" He called. "What's happening?" She doesn't answer right away. She can't. The sudden feeling of dread making her words stick in her throat.

Scott notices the look on her face and recognizes it. "This happened before." He told Alan.

"When? What happened?"

"It was at the hospital, she almost passed out when we were on the roof. It was the night Stiles went missing."

"When the nogitsune first took full control of him." Alan realized, a look of worry and sympathy falling onto the teary-eyed young witch in front of him.

"He let it in." She finally managed to get out. "He let the nogitsune in."

"Why would he do that?" Scott wondered, but no one would be able to answer him.

...

Malia walks through the halls of Eichen House, dressed in her normal clothes and carrying a backpack on her shoudler and a long, skinny bag in her hand. She's been discharged and she's on a mission. "Do you know where you're going?" Marin calls as she follows the girl's quick pace.

"No, but I know who I'm looking for."

"Scott McCall and Y/n L/n."

Malia stops in her tracks to look back at the woman. "You know them?"

"I can tell you where to find them." With the new found information Malia strides out the front doors of the building, down the steps and to the gate. She pauses in front of the metal. Her eyes flash blue and she smiles before she walks through the threshold and out to find the witch and the werewolf.

~~~
Published: 11/10/21
Edited: 4/12/22

Ha! You all thought Stiles would sleep with Malia in the basement, but nope! Stiles, I believe, would never willingly cheat if he was with someone. He's LoyalBoi™, do you really think he would do that? I have seen a few fanfics where Stiles does indeed do that and it honestly upset me. I'm not gonna write Stiles doing something that I don't think he would ever do.
So, a couple things before I go!
I will be posting the Q&A this month, so if you have any new questions I would do it soon!
During my hiatus I took the time to rewatch up to season 5b (working on 6a) so I could get ahead in my planning AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR WHAT'S TO COME YOU GUYS ARE NOT READY 😆😆😆 I'm just super excited for this and I hope you all enjoy the future of this book 🥰
Also, during my hiatus I made some fun little videos featuring Y/n and the others from Just a Feeling. They're like those Pov's you find on Tiktok or YouTube. If I shared them to YouTube would any of you be interested in seeing them?
And lastly, I have made a playlist which you might have seen in the updates. It's not very big, but it was fun and I enjoy music and I hope you enjoy it too ☺️
Alright, I think that's all for now. Thank you all for being so patient with me being gone, and I will see you next week! 💜💙🖤