WARNING: this chapter will discuss suicide in many forms, and i just wanted you all to be aware before you read this. if you don't feel comfortable reading through sage's thoughts, i can most definitely just explain to you what has happened in this chapter if you message me. i love you guys, and don't ever think about any of these things because all of you are gorgeous and worth every bit of oxygen. don't ever give up and keep fighting. i would be devastated if i found out something happened to you.

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN;

ENJOY YOUR STAY

Stiles was the one to find Sage on the ground in one of the empty hallways. He'd been moving to go back to his motel room after the vending machine incident with Boyd when he noticed a body nearly hidden by the dark night. He didn't move forward, not until he heard a familiar sob break through the stranger's lips. That was when he decided it wasn't a stranger, and cautiously moved forward until he could see the person's face.

Sage sat there, her blonde hair pushed in her face as if she were attempting to disguise herself. Her hands were digging fistfuls of the carpet, the disgustingly dirty carpet that seemed to become her friend in the past few minutes. He had meant to stop by her room after he got snacks from the vending machine, but it seems as though there was no point now. Not when the person he was looking for was directly in front of him with dried tears staining her face. The blonde didn't even look up at him, just kept her eyes focused on the wall in front of her. Stiles frowned and fell down in front of her, his concern building while he waited for her to speak and explain what was wrong. They didn't seem to have the same mindset on who would be talking first, because Stiles was the one that ended up beginning the conversation.

"Hey, what's going on? Did something happen with Lydia and Allison?" Stiles asked, his eyebrows raised as he moved to grab a hold of her hand. She jerked it away, letting go of the carpet so she could stick both of her hands into her leather jacket. "Sage?"

Sage swallowed hard, eyes stone cold as she continued to avoid his gaze. "How long have you thought it's been me?"

"What?" Stiles wondered, bemused at her question.

"The sacrifices," Sage started, finally flickering her eyes up to him. "How long have you thought I've been responsible?"

Stiles' eyes grew wide, realizing she had heard him talking to Scott. "Sage, I was just trying to think of all the possi—"

"Stiles."

Stiles sighed, running his hands through his hair as his nerves crawled through his body. He'd suspected something about Sage's involvement even before she began to convulse blood in Harris' room. He had originally been brought to suspicion the second she started to throwing up at the sight of Kyle's body. It was the worst possible thing that he's ever assumed, and he could only pray that she has nothing to do to with that, but it didn't seem as though that was the case.

Braving up, Stiles cleared his throat. "I didn't think anything of it until Harris disappeared and you were with him."

Sage nodded slowly, and then blinked a few times before glancing up at Stiles. She didn't blame him; she was just angry that he happened to see it before she did. She looked at herself in the mirror every day and couldn't even slightly see the chance of her becoming a murderer. Only now did she realize that maybe Stiles wasn't the only one suspicious, but all of her friends as well. That thought alone was scary enough to make her emotionless to the idea of becoming everyone's worst nightmare. She twirled her hands around, playing with a piece of fabric that came off her pants. She wasn't sure what she could say now, not after that accusation. Not after it might be the truth. She could only glance back up at Stiles and notice that he was at a loss for words, just as much as she. That was when she decided to stand up and brush off the dirt on her back.

"Where are you going?" Stiles asked, confused as he watched her move to leave.

Sage stopped when she got to the end of the hallway. "Away from you."

She turned around the corner after that, moving to walk up the stairs as quickly as possible. She just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep. She didn't want any more people to talk to her, or any more people to give her pity stares. She was just tired; tired of walking and tired of trying to be okay with the fact that everything constant in her life was leaving her.

Stiles believed she was a murderer, of which he had a right to believe because at this point, she feared her own mind too. Derek was dead, and she could barely acknowledge that, much less accept it. Lydia and Allison thought she has changed, and she's practically an nonexistent person with working lungs and a heart. Scott was too busy trying to figure out his own problems to even consider hers because she wasn't as important as a pack of alphas trying to murder them. Aiden was infiltrating every part of her, yet he was still a monster that had a place in the death of her best friend. It seemed as though every single reason to continue surviving evaporated into the nicotine-filled air of Glen Capri.

How hard would it be for her to just completely end her life right then and there? How hard would it be to just find some rope and end it so suddenly? If she had Argent's gun, she could easily just do it then. She would do it if she had it. There is nothing left for her in the world, nothing left to fight for and definitely nothing that could be so strong to keep her breathing. Everyone hates her. Everyone will hate her, and everyone always has hated her. Wrong, Sage thought, feeling her chest cave in. He loves you.

Although, she couldn't decipher which boy her mind was speaking of. When she got back to the motel room, she wasn't surprised to see that Allison had just come out of the shower Sage intended to get into in a few seconds. Lydia was situated on the bed that she probably claimed to be her own, while Allison moved to try her hair with a towel. It didn't seem like she just walked into a light conversation though, seeing as Lydia didn't even make an attempt to talk about how early she came back, or the dried tears.

"What's going on?"

Lydia turned to look over at Sage, a wary expression on her face. "I found out something about this hotel when I went to go get us some more towels. They keep count of how many suicides happen in this place, Sage. There have been one-hundred-and-ninety-eight suicides."

Sage's body fell stiff at the number, genuinely feeling absolute shock at the amount they have had. She wondered if it had anything to do with the actual motel, and the fact that it brought out the worst in people. Ever since she showed up, everything has just taken an immediate turn for the worst and they've only been here for an hour. She wasn't necessarily as surprised as she should have been to know other people came to the revelation that their life was useless in these very walls.

Sage nodded, not completely sure what else to say about the topic. "I'm going to take a shower."

"What?" Allison interrupted, surprised at the blonde's reaction. "That's it?"

Sage shrugged slightly, moving to grab her bag of clothes. "It's not my fault they decided to end their life here, and I don't blame them."

She didn't say anything else to her friends as she moved to go into the bathroom. It looked horrid, just like the whole motel, but she wasn't opposed to the idea at this point. If Allison survived while taking one then surely she would be just as capable. So as she stripped and stepped into the already steaming shower, she didn't feel a thing while the water hit her. Something inside of her gut always told her that something bad would happen tonight, but she just didn't think it would have to do with herself. She assumed it would be Ethan getting beat up by Isaac again, or even Boyd losing his temper; she definitely didn't think it would be her own battle with what's true and what isn't.

It was hard to think about her mom, though, and how much she has lied. Sage was six years old when she first got introduced to what her mom and brother could do. Luke had slipped up one day, or technically, one of the people he was connected to, slipped up. Quite literally, his friend, Conner, ended up breaking his arm while practicing lacrosse when the two boys were twelve. Sage was with Luke when it happened, and stood right beside him as he cried out in pain. The more peculiar part at the time had been how her brother was moving perfectly fine just a few minutes later.

When she was eleven, two months after the fire, for the first time, she received a replicated wound of Derek's. Laura had been trying to teach him how to fight in times of weakness and scratched him along his arm. That battle shortly ended after they heard a piercing scream of pain from the inside of the house they rented. Sage caught on quick enough after that, and ever since as been taking the battle wounds of other victims.

That may have been when her slowly boiling anger began towards her mom. It was never her father that cursed her with the genes of a freak, nor was it Luke's fault, who also got the same genetics of a human sponge. It's always been her mother's fault; she is the one who tried to be a hero at the end of the day, and she is the one who tore apart the family with secrets and lies. Luke was a hero that day of the fire, just as her father. While Luke and Hal Connelly risked their lives to save Cora Hale, their mother did nothing but cower in the pain of everyone else. That woman was not a hero; that woman was a coward. Sage refuses to let anyone she cares about die while she has a chance to stop it.

"Sage? Are you alright?" Allison's voice rang through the door and curtains of the bathroom, and Sage was confused as to why the question had even been brought up. It was only after Allison's concerns broke her thoughts did she realize she had been coughing rapidly, something stuck in her throat as she clawed to get it out.

Her hands found the sides of the shower and she leaned forward, feeling as though she was coughing up her lungs. It was just like in Harris' classroom when she couldn't stop, whatever that lodged in her was refusing to leave. She wasn't convulsing blood this time, but when her hands came to her mouth and she nearly thought she was going to pass out from the pressure in her head, she realized that there they were. The same small berries that fell from her lips before. From outside the bathroom, there was more voices coming from Allison. Only this time, it wasn't for Sage. Allison was shouting out Lydia's name in concern, but the blonde was more focused on what was laying in her hand. She should be dead. She shouldn't be alive right now if this was in her body. Mistletoe was poisonous and it was in her system.

Dropping the druidic plant, Sage stumbled away from it as she ripped back the curtain to the shower. Grabbing a hold of one of the nicotine towels and quickly wrapping it around herself, she jerked open the door only to stumble into the motel room, heart racing as she refused to look back in fear that she would begin to choke again. That's defeating everything about nature, about balance. It's going against everything that was created to ward off evil. It's not the first time.

Just as she slammed the door shut, Lydia's body had jerked back in shock as her hands clapped around her mouth. Sage's eyes widened as she watched her best friend, trying to ignore her own racing heart that felt as if it were going to randomly burst. Then, cautiously, the blonde moved closer. Allison didn't know which friend to console first, confused at both of their actions of panic. Sage's back was pressed against the door as her hand fell on the door knob, acting as a barrier to keep anyone and everyone out of going into her worst nightmare. She couldn't tell any of them. This was something that could ruin her, and she wasn't taking any others down with her. She refused to let anyone know.

Swallowing hard, Sage took a step forward. "Lydia, what's wrong?"

Lydia turned around to face her friends with a look of horror. "You didn't hear that?"

"Hear what, Lydia?" Allison questioned out, glancing in between the air vent and her best friend. Sage was just as confused, not having heard anything other than her own heartbeat, which was still ringing in her ears. She wanted to run, leave, do anything to get out of this place. She wanted to jump off the balcony and run as far as she could. Staying in this place any longer was going to drive her insane.

The girl stepped off the bed quickly, gulping as she spoke. "The two people in the other room— they shot each other."

Lydia didn't waste another second rushing past Allison and Sage. The two girls glanced at each other for a second in pure confusion before following after Lydia. Sage was more concerned about how Lydia was gripping the wall for support than the fact she was being exposed to the cool September air in her towel. The strawberry blonde in front of them frantically moved from the doors of the motel rooms, and stopped when she got to one that was just two doors down from them.

"Lydia?" Allison asked, daring to speak as she slowly fell into step with Sage.

Carefully, the other two made their way over to Lydia, who had already begun swinging open the door to the motel room. By the time they were standing together, tears falling fresh down Lydia's face, there was a black abyss into the room as they stared into it. There was no way to see anything, and it was way too dark for Sage to be comfortable stepping in barefoot.

Lydia took a deep breath as her body shook. "Hello?"

Her hand found the light switch in an attempt to turn it on, but it was just a constant flickering of nothing as it failed to work. Sage wasn't surprised, with how cheap this motel was, she was shocked they even had running water; the thought of water only made her stomach churn all over again. So instead, she focused on Lydia, who decided that she wanted to step into the black abyss due to the instinctual need she had to put herself in danger.

Because of Lydia's complete idiocy, Sage hissed out, "Lydia? What are you doing?"

Lydia ignored them, and continued to go farther into the room. Sage and Allison glanced over at each other before slowly taking a step inside, squinting as they tried to properly see. Their attempts were dismissed when a bright light illuminated the dark room, revealing a whole lot of paint cans and machinery. Sage immediately stepped away when she saw how close she was to the handsaw just laying around. Of course, she had to be the one closest to the handsaw.

Sage crossed her arms over her chest to try and keep herself warm. She definitely didn't see any bodies laying around, just a much of things that could easily end her life. So, clearly, if she was feeling up to it, she knew where to go. She just didn't see the appeal that Lydia found, or why she assumed two people just committed suicide in this place.

"It had to be right here," Lydia cried out, shaking her head as she refused to believe she was wrong. Turning to her friends, she let the tears continue to build in her eyes. "It was a guy and a girl. They sounded younger, but they were here."

Allison stepped forward. "We believe you. After everything we've been through, we believe you."

"Something's wrong with this place," Sage commented, her voice smaller than Allison's had been. "I don't just mean the number of suicides either. I mean this place is doing something to us. All of us."

She couldn't bring herself to tell her best friends about what happened in the bathroom still, just like she couldn't bring herself to tell Deaton or Stiles about how the same thing happened when Harris was taken. Something inside of her was screaming not to, the same thing that told her she should be picking up the handsaw right now and slicing herself apart. The same thing inside of her that said she should grab the rope lying on the floor and tie it around her neck. The same thing that was eating away at her piece by piece.

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"Sage was right, Allison. There is something seriously wrong with this place. We need to leave."

Lydia was frantically trying to collect all of her things to shove them in her purse. Sage was just now pulling on a pair of jeans as she watched the girl. She was going along with the idea, one hundred percent supportive after what happened in the bathroom. She may be ignoring the urge in her body right now, but she didn't know how long it would be before she cracked and ended up being the one-hundred and ninety-ninth person to die in this place. She didn't even know what she wanted to do anymore, and she just needed to talk to Stiles. She needed to apologize to Stiles.

"But they were all suicides, not murders; and it's not like this place is haunted, right?" Allison asked, arms crossed over her chest as she stared in between the two girls. Both of them were eager to leave as Lydia recklessly threw her makeup and Sage barely took a look at what shirt she was throwing on.

"It might as well be," Sage muttered, moving to grab her boots so she could zip them up. "I'm not staying in this place, Allison. I'm not going to survive the night if I stay here, and I'm definitely not taking any chances after what Lydia heard."

"Allison, I bet you that couple made their suicide pact right in that very room. Maybe that's why their renovating, maybe they've been scraping brain matter off the wood paneling," Lydia snapped, her fear and nerves getting the best of her as she moved closer to the brunette.

Sage flinched at the thought, quickly zipping up her ankle boots before turning to look at her two friends. Allison seemed to be in deep thought, trying to figure out what she believed anymore. Clearly, she hadn't had any experiences with Glen Capri yet, and that was the only reason she wasn't acting like a rational person. Sage and Lydia, however, knew from the second they stepped off the bus that this wasn't a motel — it was their never-ending hell.

Allison glanced in between the two girls for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Maybe we should find out."

"And how exactly are we going to do that? We can't exactly ask anyone here."

Sage sat up from her shoes, a thought coming to mind. "Actually, we can. Lydia, do you think that woman downstairs will tell you about the suicides? Does she look like she would remember them?"

Lydia's eyelashes fluttered as if she were trying to keep herself from crying again. Sage watched, and couldn't help but be somewhat relieved that it wasn't she who was crying. She's already done enough of it today to last her a century. Right now, she just needed to convince Allison that this place was bad so she could leave. She needed to leave before her thoughts caught up to her again, and before the sacrifices came back to haunt her. She needed to distract herself as long as possible.

"More than a normal person should," Lydia agreed. "She was too enthusiastic when I asked her what the number meant. I'm sure she knows how every single one of them died."

Sage huffed out. "Lovely. Lets go, then."

The three girls made their way down the stairs, the same stairs that Sage had ran down not long ago. It felt like forever, though. It felt as though she hadn't talked to Stiles in a week and she's been at this place for months. It wasn't a happy thought either, to think about staying in this place any longer that the designated time. Hell, she probably won't even survive the designated time. When they got down to try and find the motel clerk, they realized that she was nowhere to be seen. It was literally as if she completely disappeared, everything gone apart from an ash tray that was leaving a small train of smoke. Now it was obvious why the whole place reeked of cigarettes.

Lydia sighed deeply in frustration. "Well, there goes that idea."

Sage frowned as well, and turned her attention away from the smoke to gaze around the room. When she saw something, her hand immediately went towards Lydia's arm in an attempt to get her without ever moving away from the number on the wall.

"Lydia. What was the number again?" Sage deadpanned, her grip on the girl's jacket getting tighter as she stared. She knew what the numbers were, but she refused to believe that there have been three more in the time that they've been here.

Lydia turned to see what Sage was talking about, and her eyes widened at the change in numbers on the plaque. They weren't the same, making it seem as though Lydia had gotten it incorrect or as if something truly had happened in the hour they've been in this motel; because, now, the numbers no longer read one-hundred and ninety-eight.

"It was one-ninety-eight," Lydia cried out, whipping her head around to face the two girls. "I swear to god, it was one-ninety eight."

Allison nodded, trying to get Lydia to know that they believed her. Sage, instead of watching the two girls, kept her eyes on the new numbers. Something felt wrong. Something felt as though it was clawing away at her stomach. Something felt as though her body was on fire and she couldn't breathe at the exact same time. There had only been one other time she got this feeling, too, and it had been the last night of summer when the deer came barreling into Lydia's car. The same night she knew her two friends were about to be hurt before anything happened.

"Okay, what does that mean? That there have been three more suicides?" Allison asked, raising her eyebrows as she interrogated Lydia.

Sage swallowed hard, finally moving her attention away from the wall. She knew, she knew what this meant, and this time she was determined to stop something from happening before another person died. She refused to let a person kill themselves when she may know what happens before; she refused to let someone die when she may have already killed others. That, is why she was the one to answer Allison. "Or three more are about to happen."

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lawl nope. never.

So, before I start going into further detail and droning on forever and ever about stupid things in this author note; I want to let you guys know that Motel California is going to be split a lot more because of what Sage is experiencing on her on. A good majority of this episode is spent with all of the characters having their own personal issues with what the darach did to them; Sage, too, is facing many personal issues. Just like how Boyd saw Alicia and how Scott saw his mom, Sage is practically invisioning her past life with her family.

Another thing; if someone can guess why Sage is coughing up mistletoe, I give you major props. It's definitely something I was originally on the edge about because mistletoe is poisonous and without a proper reason, there wouldn't necessarily be much relevance towards the whole idea if she just dropped dead and died (even though mistletoe in reality doesn't actually kill people.) So, if you know who is giving her mistletoe, and why, give me insights.

The issues involving this chapter almost made me shoot myself. So, the whole chapter deleted and I spent all night redoing it yesterday. Today, I found the old chapter that apparently didn't delete at all. It's because the 'My Works' section was under construction. Once again, Wattpad has ruined my life.

ANOTHER THING. I ADDED MORE SONGS TO THE SAGE MIX ON 8TRACKS.

I love you guys. I do. I know that I don't really tell it to you much and these AN are pretty boring and some of you most likely don't even read them, but you still continue to comment every single chapter and I've never met more dedicated people in my entire life. Because of you, I haven't given up. There are times when I want to quit writing but you give me the strength with your words, and I'm forever going to be incredibly greatful and lucky to have each and every one of you.

Big, big loves.