you guys are going to be nice and not comment that its liam in the gif. okay. thank you. also, this is a very intense chapter about halfway through, so if you're one of those people that needs music when reading, i suggest putting on beyonce's new version of crazy in love.

yes, the 50 shades of grey one.

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FORTY THREE;

STILL BEATING

"Face or body?"

Sage raised her eyebrows at the girl's question, a neon blue paint brush held in her hands as she gave a vibrant grin that shined in the UV light. The blonde paused for a moment, mouth opening before she took a small glance back to see if any of her friends were behind her. The moment that they got to the loft a few minutes ago the blonde quickly directed herself near the alcohol and downed a cup before walking over to the painter. What she saw when she turned around gave her the answer she needed, swallowing hard as she watched a girl come up to her ex-boyfriend and kiss him on the cheek. Stiles didn't seem very against the idea either, sending Scott and Kira a surprised look before moving to chase after the person that kissed him.

The blonde looked back at the woman and began unbuttoning her flannel. "Body."

The painter gave another grin, this one much wider than the first when Sage announced she wanted the paint on her body. The whole black light party was incredible, something that she was going to have to give Danny props to. Even though it's a bit old school, the way that he, and the twins, flawlessly executed it had her questioning if this place was actually her loft or just another rave. As she took one last glance around, she realized that Derek could never know about this.

"I'm going to go with all of the colors!" the woman shouted over the blasting music, gesturing towards Sage's clothes before tightening her grip on the paintbrush. "Your clothes are white, so it'll help make you glow a bit more!"

Sage didn't know what else to do but nod, grabbing a hold of the cup of alcohol that she brought over considering she knew this whole thing would take a few minutes. Her entire outfit consisted of white clothing, something that only happened due to the fact that she wasn't one for much bright coloring like pink or orange, unlike her two best friends, Allison and Lydia. A tight bralette exposed enough of her chest and all of stomach for the painter to draw exquisitely intricate designs forming from her shoulders and all the way down to the edging of her high-waisted white shorts. Already, she could the neon blue and pink blending together on her body while the woman tied a bright yellow into the mix as she laced coloring all down her arms.

"Hey," she called over the music, trying to catch Sage's attention. "Can you put your hair up for me so that I can put some designs and lipstick on your face?"

Sage gave another nod, quickly grabbing all of her hair and bundling it up into a frizzed, messy bun so that all of it was out of the way. The woman ended up reaching for a white paint, telling Sage to close her eyes so that she could splatter it in the messiest way possible, and then the woman grabbed a hold of the florescent pink lipstick so she could put it on the blonde.

"Alright, sweetheart," the woman announced once she was finished, Sage opening her eyes and glancing down at her body to see that there was color all up and down her, some of it getting on her white clothes and only making her skin brighter. "You're all done! Now, go find someone to dance with."

Sage smiled back at the woman with her vibrant lips. "Thanks."

The woman waved it off, returning back to her paint and leaving Sage alone in a crowd of glowing teenagers and cheep alcohol. She let out a small huff to prepare herself before moving her white converse, knowing that she was going to regret wearing them when she was forced to get all of the paint off tomorrow morning. However, right now, she just wanted to get drunk.

Due to the fact that she was a teenage girl, the alcohol affected her system much faster than the boys at this party. It only meant that after three rounds of a red solo cup, she was beginning to feel tipsy the longer she jumped around in the large group of people, music blaring in her ears and giving her a rush. By the time she reached her fifth drink, she was going stumbling around her loft as she tried to find Danny so she could convince him to dance with her.

It didn't take as long as she originally expected it to, the boy messing around at the bar that was created alongside a few other guys, one of which she knew was his ex-boyfriend. The blonde rolled her eyes, bringing the last of her drink up to her pink lips before shoving through people so that she could get to Danny.

"Danny!" Sage shouted, tripping her way to him as she nearly fell on a cord that was laying around. The boy turned to look at her, arms outstretched as if he were expecting to catch her before she tripped. "Hey, Danny! Come dance with me!"

Danny gave a laugh, his teeth shining in the lights. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Five," Sage answered, holding out four fingers as she swayed along to the music. "But, seriously, come dance with me! I'm lonely and Greenberg has been trying to grab my ass for the past hour!"

Danny glanced over at the bar before inspecting the crowd. "I'll dance with you in a little bit, I'm waiting for Ethan to get back with the ice. Why don't you go find someone until then?"

"Like who?" Sage asked, raising her eyebrows as she glanced back into the pulsing teens, wondering who in the hell she would even consider trusting to actually grind against her without fearing that they would drug her drink.

"Where's Stiles?" Danny questioned, inferring that the blonde could always find her ex-boyfriend and try to dance with him. "Didn't you come here with him and Scott?"

Sage's face dropped at the sound of the boy's name. She caught sight of Stiles when she was going back for her second round of drinks, noticing that he was speaking to the same girl that ended up giving him a kiss on the cheek. The last thing she needed was to find him and see that he was dancing with her, or even kissing her for that matter.

The teenage girl shook her head at Danny. "He's preoccupied with someone else. Scott's with the new girl, Isaac and Allison are together, and I haven't seen Lydia since I got here. So, you're one of my last options considering I hate everyone else in this room."

"I would be offended, but I know that there's one more person that you can still go to," Danny explained, leaning on the bar as he stared at her with the hint of a smile. "Aiden's been looking for you ever since I told him I saw you come in."

Sage's face flashed in annoyance, realizing that Danny was actually insinuating the idea of her dancing with another one of her ex's. There was only one other person in this entire place that she would even consider giving a chance to dance with her, knowing that they wouldn't try anything she didn't want them to. While nearly everyone in this room was unpredictable, she knew that Aiden happened to be her literal last option of trust. That trust was on a thin line, though.

Giving Danny a glare due to the fact he was ditching her for Ethan, she grabbed the drink in his hand before downing all of it in a single serving, ignoring the burn that came afterwords. "Where the hell is he?"

"Last time I saw him, he was by the gate," Danny said, referencing the single gate that they had in the loft, or rather what was left of an old elevator door, which only made Sage sigh even louder before giving Danny another nod and managing to stumble her way through the crowd to try and find the boy.

If she wasn't becoming even more intoxicated by the second, she would have just opted on dancing alone or continue to try and find Lydia. However, she was intoxicated and that meant that all of her morals and all of her beliefs about the certain teenage boy seemed to diminish with her balance and coordination. That meant that she forgot about her heart and emotions for once in her life and focused on smiling and having fun.

The words of his reputation from back in Biology this morning were completely forgotten, the girl more focused on the fact that she needed someone to take her mind off all of the thoughts building up inside of her head because, at this point, the alcohol could only do so much. She wanted to forget everything, wanted to let the music burn her ears like the alcohol burned her throat. She just needed something to hurt in a good way.

When she got to the gate that Aiden was supposedly at, she noticed that Danny had been one hundred percent correct about the location of the werewolf. The teenage girl should have expected to find two other brunettes on both sides of his body, the three of them dancing in a sync that made her roll her eyes before inching towards his vibrant green body. She would be lying if she said there wasn't something bubbling inside of her chest at seeing Aiden with two random girls, the same feeling that she got when she noticed that Stiles was walking off with the person who kissed his cheek. There was nothing that she could do about it, nothing that she wanted to do about it aside from dance, and if that meant ripping Aiden away from his little posse of people, she would do so.

Sage got closer, close enough that Aiden's head snapped up as if he knew that she was coming up to him. The blonde couldn't help but clench her jaw, stumbling through the small space that was left so that she could get past the first girl and grab a hold of Aiden's wrists. His eyebrows shot up at her action, the two girls that he had been dancing with giving whines in protest before beginning to dance together without Aiden in between.

"What are you doing?" he asked, shouting over the music all while he failed at suppressing his hormones by looking down at Sage's exposed body. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

Sage shook her head, glancing back at him while she continued to go further into the crowd of people. His words had been appropriate enough, especially with all of the harsh comments that the two had spit towards each other ever since he showed up in her town. There had been no emotion toward him besides rage, a desire to make him feel all of the pain that she felt when she was left alone that night covered in blood and death.

Tonight had been the only exception for that rage. She knew that Aiden was trying, she could see it just by how much effort he put into making sure this party went smoothly. However, the blonde also knew that this simple act of kindness towards Danny wasn't going to immediately make up for all of the bad things that he's done since he joined Deucalion's pack. He was trying, and that was enough for Sage at that very moment. Plus, she happened to be drunk off her ass and everyone looked like a good person through the eyes of intoxication.

"Sage," Aiden called out when she finally stopped in the middle of the crowd, being forced to lean his head down a bit so that she could hear his words. "What's going on?"

She looked up at him just before grabbing his wrists, moving his hands so that they were placed on her waist and she was a few more centimeters closer to his body, leaning in as she had to practically shout the words in his ear. "Just shut up and dance with me!"

He pulled away a bit to give her a surprised look, eyes narrowing in confusion before he realized that she was serious. Aiden also knew that Sage was absolutely wasted, and while he couldn't get drunk, he knew that he would rather her dance with him than some random guy that would be grabbing at her ass all night.

Aiden was hesitant as his hands tightened around her painted waist, the neon coloring staining his hands as he moved her body until her chest was touching his, their vibrant hues mixing together on her white top. The blonde let out a small laugh, something that he hadn't heard in years, and he couldn't help but let a small smile fall on his lips when it rang through his ears.

Then, the bass in the background dropped and the intensity in their movements got more feverish, almost as if the gentle nature was being derived from the music changed and influenced a darker calling. Sage's hips moved as her arms tangled around Aiden's neck, the boy pulling her even closer to his body as they blended in with the rest of the dancing and grinding teenagers.

Aiden happened to let out a small growl when there was a nip at his exposed shoulder, glancing down at the blonde in his arms who was pulling away and showing him that her pink lipstick was smudged, an obvious hint that there was going to be pink on his skin now. His eyebrows raised with a tempting smile, bending his neck down so that she was staring directly into his glowing blue eyes.

Sage gave him a grin, her teeth meeting with his chin and up his jawline in a tempting matter as she got close to his ear so she could whisper something. "Have I ever told you that blue is my favorite color?"

The hold she had on his neck tightened, and Aiden let out another harsh growl, this one blending in with the pulsing music as he realized the blonde went to bite at his ear. His feet ending up carrying himself forward, the blonde being carried backward as he pushed through the crowd of sweaty teenagers all while his claws began to extend from his fingernails and dug into Sage's hips.

The teenage girl hadn't realized where he was guiding her until her back hit something hard, Aiden having gotten her out of the large selection of teenagers and to a wall that was close by the bar. His mouth quickly went to her neck, Sage letting out a surprised gasp as she wrapped her arms around his body, her own nails digging into Aiden's exposed back.

She could feel the tension in his bones, could see that his hormones were on a high due to the fact that he was losing control of his werewolf side. The very fact that he had growled, that she could feel his nails digging into her, only made her want him as she realized this dance became so much more than she expected. This became something that she knew was going to happen eventually between them, and Aiden had the ability now that she was single.

He bent down a bit, grabbing a hold of her thighs so that he could boost her up onto his hips, wanting her body as tightly connected to his as possible. The sexual frustration that was being exposed to the blonde had been hidden since he showed up at Beacon Hills and saw her again. The frustration that he had towards her, the infuriation she caused him, all of it was laced in the growls coming from his mouth as she pressed her lips to his shoulder.

His tongue traced a way from her neck up, teeth nipping at her skin like she had done with him before she felt him focus on one spot, her back immediately arching as she felt herself let out a small moan. A grin broke out on Aiden's face when he realized it, sucking on the place until he was sure that his mark would be left on her body. He continued up after that, his lips getting closer to her own for the first time in two years and only leading the couple in anticipation.

However, they had been abruptly stopped when Sage opened her eyes for a split second to see something directly behind Aiden, something that had been there the whole time. Just like that, what she thought she saw disappeared and she was pushing away from Aiden a second later, the high of hormones she felt only moments ago completely gone as dread fell in her chest.

"Aiden," Sage said, muttering as she pushed on his chest. "Aiden, hold on."

He pulled away from her neck, giving her a look of confusion as his hands tightened around her waist from concern. "What is it? Sage, what's going on?"

"Something's wrong," she whispered, shaking her head as she moved out of Aiden's grip to glance around the room to try and find any one of her friends, chest beginning to heave in panic. "They're here. This is— they're not supposed to be real."

"Sage," Aiden said again, grabbing a hold of the blonde's arm to try and get her to look at him. "Sage, what the hell are you talking about? Is something going on with someone in Scott's pack? Is that what this, your abilities?"

Sage shook her head, still feeling her heart race as she tried to search the room for Scott or Stiles, or anyone for that matter. The blonde managed to shake herself free of Aiden's grip, giving him a single look before pushing her way through the crowd to try and find someone. The music that had once been her friend was only increasing her stress, giving her a pounding headache as she searched for familiar faces in a sea of strangers.

Faces popped out at her with laughter, the blonde flinching back when someone with a skeleton painted design grinned at her with such a swift movement, the boy there one moment and then gone the next. When he left, she noticed that the black hooded figure had taken his place, the golden orbs staring her in the eyes for a split second before vanishing all together.

As if it weren't there at all.

"Scott!" Sage began to shout, not even caring who heard her shouts anymore as she became more frantic in her movements, feeling a lump form in her throat as she grew aware of the fact that this wasn't just a hallucination or a nightmare anymore. "Scott!"

Someone grabbed a hold of her arm, sending the girl into a defensive mode as she whipped her head around to see that it was just Danny in front of her. She let out a relieved sigh, thankful that there was another familiar face, but it just wasn't the one that she needed to see. Before she and Danny could speak, another body came crashing into them. Sage looked to see that Aiden was once again present, having caught up with the blonde with his fingers lacing in her own.

"Ethan!" Danny shouted, relief crossing through his eyes only for Aiden to stare at him in annoyance, honestly offended that he and his brother were constantly mixed up when they weren't even sporting the same paint designs tonight.

Aiden shook his head, jaw clenched as he corrected his brother's boything. "Aiden."

"Where's Ethan?" Danny asked, raising his eyebrows all while the blonde that was standing in between the two continued to look around, her eyes narrowing slightly as she felt the same wave of nausea sweep through her like it had when she was at the station yesterday.

Only this time, it was Lydia instead of Isaac.

The blonde was barely aware of the conversation between the two boys, her feet instinctively moving her and carrying Aiden along with her due to their connected hands. A lump formed in her throat as her pace picked up, heart beating so rapidly in her chest that she was sure Aiden could hear it even over the blaring music.

When she got to the door leading to the balcony, Sage was weary as she felt a cold chill run down her spine. Aiden's hand tightened in hers before he stepped around her, pushing open the door to see what was outside; and the blonde had been correct about something being wrong with Lydia because there she lay, shivering and unresponsive.

"Oh, my god," Aiden spluttered out just as Danny showed up at the door, shoving past Sage's frozen figure to get to Lydia as well. "What the hell happened?"

The blonde thought she was going to throw up, her head pounding as she took hesitant steps closer to her best friend. No emotions or feeling to express the utter gutwrenching feeling she felt as she stood there, staring down at the body of Lydia and knowing exactly what caused it. She knew because they had been haunting her for weeks now, she knew because they had always been in the dark.

"Sage," Aiden said, looking up at the blonde with wide eyes. "What happened to her?"

Sage shook her head, feeling tears form in her eyes. "I— I don't..."

"She's freezing, guys," Danny stated, feeling Lydia's arm as he stared in between the two. "She's practically hypothermic."

Sage finally recovered after that, trying to ignore the panic attack that she felt building up so that she could get her friend back to good condition. "We've got to get her inside near the... near the heater."

Aiden glanced up at Sage for a split second before grabbing a hold of Lydia, lifting her up in his arms so that he could take her inside to the heater. Danny was quick on his feet, holding open the door for the boy while Sage tagged along, still trying to recovery as she felt the chill in her skin. She realized that Isaac had to have gone through the same thing considering it was like ice had taken replacement of blood in her body.

The werewolf carefully set Lydia down near the heater, his arms wrapping tightly around her to try and get warmth into her body while Sage dropped to the ground beside her best friend. Danny stood over them for a few seconds before stating that he was going to go find a blanket, giving Sage a look that clearly meant her room would be the first place he checked.

Lydia's hands practically grasped a hold of anything she could reach, ending up grabbing onto Aiden even tighter as he glanced over at Sage. The two of them shared the same look of concern, knowing very well that Lydia didn't have the ability to trigger a werewolf side that could help her heal. The only thing that she had was a pair of arms around her and a best friend that knew exactly what attacked her.

The next words that fell through Lydia's mouth that set in stone that whatever was happening in Beacon Hills was far from over.

"They came out of the dark."

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Sage, Danny, and Aiden were all careful as they helped Lydia up off of the ground. After ten minutes, the girl was finally capable of standing properly without shivering to death, which only gave them the job of getting her home so that she could sleep off what happened to her. The only bad thing is the fact that there was a road block in that plan, especially when Sage's back arched at the sound of the blaring music going to a dropping silence.

"Get out!" a voice roared, enough for everyone to begin rushing to the doors without a second thought, the pure anger that pulsed through the two words clearly alerting them that this party was plenty over with.

Sage's jaw clenched when she saw that Derek was standing in the middle of the loft, his face a furious mess as he watched everyone begin to depart from the black light party. Lydia, who was being held up by Sage's shoulder and Danny's arm, grew even more slack the weaker than she got because of her previous hypothermic state.

Aiden turned to look at Danny. "Get them out of here."

"I'm staying," Sage hissed, turning to look at him like he was crazy. "I have to find Scott."

He gave her a hard look, almost as if he were contemplating the idea of throwing her out of her own home, but realized that there was entirely no point considering she would just come straight back. Aiden ended up nodding, giving Danny a frown before watching as the teenage boy took Lydia away before things got ugly and she was in the crossfire.

Sage caught sight of the black hooded figures all around the room, practically invisible as people continued to run past them and act as if they weren't there. From the opposite side of the room than herself and Aiden, Scott and Kira came bounding down the stairs while Allison, Isaac, and a weak Ethan all walked through the door.

When all of the strangers finally departed from the loft and it was only the remaining few of them, the black hooded figures that haunted Sage every night for the past two weeks turned around in a haunting sync. Both Aiden and Sage realized that their dark, soulless eyes were peering right in their direction and never flinching away.

"Guys. They're all looking at us," Aiden calls out, his words hesitant as his arm carefully moves to shield Sage away when he notices that they all began to take single steps forward as if it were a dance to them. "Why are they all looking at us?"

Sage tried to ignore the lump in her throat when she realized that they were only getting closer, no matter how much she and Aiden backed away. "Guys!"

It was as if Sage's words triggered something in the werewolves, both Scott and Derek advancing forward to try and stop the hooded figures from getting any closer to the blonde and the werewolf. They had already been prepared, though, one of them managing to kick Derek in the back to send him to the ground before he even had a chance to raise his claws.

Scott went next, throwing his arm out to hit one of the figures only to watch as it did a twist before it morphed into a dark cloud, three more of the figures already suffocating Scott in darkness before he had a chance to turn around. Derek was still against the fact of losing, baring his canines for the figure that knocked him down to see just before running forward, hands wrapping around the base of the figure's neck before turning it to the right and snapping it.

"Derek!" Sage shouted, trying to warn the man to turn around because the figure was just reanimating itself.

The man glanced over at her but that had been the fatal mistake, the figure that he had snapped the neck of grabbing his arms and throwing him into one of the bright beams. That had sent Derek on the ground for good, letting out a small groan as his head spun in circles, trying to figure out where his right mind was.

Scott was still putting up a fight, refusing to allow these things anywhere near Sage or Aiden, mostly for the fact that he was the only one capable of fighting right now due to his alpha status. Even that hadn't been enough for him to successfully beat a single one of the things, a figure approaching him just to dodge his blow and send a hard shove into the alpha's chest.

Scott was down after that, his back arching in agony as he gasped at the pain that was surfacing in his body. He heard a replication of his gasp come from a few feet away, knowing that his need to fight was only causing pain to the blonde that he was trying to protect.

When the figures noticed that the ones capable of fighting were down, they returned back to their original purpose of going after Aiden and Sage. The teenage boy stepped back even further, pushing the blonde behind him to try and keep her as far away as he possibly could.

It hadn't been far enough though.

The second that Sage saw Isaac run out to try and help, she knew that it was bound for disaster. The figure that was closest to the beta turned around, Isaac immediately taking a single step back when he saw the dark face of what branded his skin. Only when they watched something begin to configure through the thing's body did Sage let out a strangled cry.

It had been the same sword that pierced the bodies of her friends over and over, a constant repeat playing in her head for twenty three long days. She knew what it was capable of doing to her friends, and she knew what it was capable of doing to herself if all of those haunting nightmares became a reality.

"Isaac, stop," Sage choked out, gaining the attention of her friend as she stared at him, her sweat washing away the paint.

Isaac frowned for a second before he backed away from the figure. Allison wasn't at all okay with the fact that her best friend was about to be grabbed by these things, nor was she okay about the fact that she couldn't do a single thing about it. Scott and Derek were both down, Isaac had already been ordered not to, and all of the others were too weak to move; but, Allison couldn't just watch this happen to Sage. "Somebody do something!"

It hadn't been enough, though, because by the time the words fell from her lips, three of the hooded figures had a secure hold on Sage, and another three were with Aiden. Neither teenager had the capability of fighting back, their eyes only forced to stare into the dark abyss of their captor, and as they were swallowed whole, it felt like an ultimate darkness had consumed them. When Sage's nightmares came to life, the eyes that had once been the color of her heart turned a bright yellow, a hue that resembled too much like fireflies for the empty hole not to pound in her chest. It was a split seven seconds of her just staring, watching as they calculated her and dug into her head to find every secret that she has ever possessed.

There was nothing that could describe the fear that came with staring into the eyes of someone that would tell you if you were real or not, nothing that could describe the panic that set in Sage's head as she wondered why the figures were giving her such a look of death through the eyes of their mask. It was as if they were contemplating, their assessment over her mind taking much longer than Aiden's did. The insanity that bred in her soul was much more dark than anything inside of her head.

The hues of the figures slowly died out, and Sage was left in total darkness as the area behind her ear began to sting as if someone had just branded her with a knife. What felt like a cold shower when it happened to Isaac and Lydia became her hell when the blonde felt the entirety of her body go frozen. It went still.

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ne

i honestly don't even like writing authors notes anymore because your reactions to these chapters are so much better to read than actually explaining what happened. but, i will say one thing and that is that ive never been a saiden shipper more in my entire life than in this very moment. (sorry, there wasn't really any stiles my beautiful stage shippers)