CHAPTER EIGHTY:
IT'S YOUR DESTINY

THEY THOUGHT THAT SHE WAS DEAD. And essentially, she was. As soon as Deaton had knocked Stiles out with a poison, Scott had forced himself over to his sister, and tears fell down his cheeks as he noticed her broken neck. She was out for two days, and when Melissa had been told what had happened, she had demanded to see her daughter's body. And when she saw it, she cried, only to jump when Elaine's neck snapped back in place, a gasp falling from her lips as her eyes opened to reveal pitch black that quickly faded to purple before fading to her natural blue.

It had been a spell her mother had given her. One that could only be used once. And after dying the first time, she wanted protection just incase she died a second. She just didn't realize as she sat there, hugging her mother who was sobbing and yelling at her at the same time, that that death had sent her over the edge. The nogitsune knew what he was doing when he had snapped her neck. He knew that that was the key to send her magic into the deep end. She was another pawn in his plan, and not a single person knew it.

When she had hugged her brother, he had never hugged her so tightly. He had seen her die once, and he thought he was going to lose her again. When they pulled away, Scott had been quick to tell Elaine about Stiles' plan that Scott had figure out about on his own. How he planned on placing himself into Eichen. She had been quick to jump on her brothers bike, the two speeding towards the mental health institution.

     "Why didn't you tell me?" Were Scott's first words.

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

     "It's only 72 hours." Stiles calmly told the siblings.

     "There's gotta be another way." Elaine shook her head, taking a step closer to Stiles, tears brimming her eyes. Stiles looked down at her, and felt nothing but pain. He knew what he had done to her.

     "This is the same place where Barrow came from." Scott backed his sister up. "The guy who had a tumor inside him filled with flies. You don't know everything yet."

     "I know enough." Noah stood his ground. "Nogitsunes, kitsunes, oni, or whatever they're called."

     "Wow, that's actually all surprisingly correct." Stiles hummed in surprise.

     "Scott, Elaine, I saw an MRI that looked exactly like my wife's. And it terrifies me. I'm headed down to LA tomorrow to talk to a specialists."

     "That doesn't mean you throw him in a mental health institution!" Elaine snapped.

     "He's not." Stiles whispered, making Elaine snap her head back towards him. "It was my decision."

     "What?" Her voice cracked.

      "Stiles, I can't help you in here." Scott tried.

     "And I can't hurt you." Stiles shot back. "Elaine, I literally killed you. If you weren't a witch, you would be dead because of me."

     "But I'm not." Elaine shook her head. "I came back."

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

     "If you can't. . ." He then moved to whisper in Scott's ear so that Elaine couldn't hear him. "If you can't, then you have to do something for me, okay? Make sure I never get out." He moved away from Stiles and look towards Elaine who was shaking her head.

     "Come on." Noah whispered, walking towards the gate. Before Stiles could move, Elaine grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her, pressing her lips against his. He kissed her back, a hand moving to her cheek before he forced himself to lean away.

     "I can't hurt you again." Stiles whispered, his forehead pressed against hers.

     "Stiles. . ." He pressed a kiss on her forehead before taking a step back and taking a moment to look at her before following after his father. Elaine watched them enter the building before she started cry, turning towards her brother who was quick to pull her into a hug, holding her as she cried for her boyfriend.

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She didn't come out of her room. She locked herself in her room, and no matter how many times her mother or Scott tried to convince her to go to school, or to come out to eat, she wouldn't, opening the door only when she knew her mother was gone and grabbing the food that she had left for her daughter. She couldn't sleep, she barely had an appetite, and her head was in constant agony.

It was growing darker. She was growing more anxious. She finally stood up from her bed and walked over to her shelf, pulling out her mother's spell book before finding what she need. She got everything together, lighting candles, grabbing all the ingredients she needed―︎ingredients in which she had stored in a box, something she collected whenever she managed to stumble across something that could be useful in a spell. When everything was ready, she laid down on her floor.

     "Demitte moi, demitte moi." When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a room. She noticed a sleeping boy that had his entire body restricted to keep him from getting up before her eyes turned to look at Stiles who was sitting there. "Stiles." He jumped in surprise before he turned his head and saw Elaine.

     "Elaine?" He whispered her name with furrowed eyebrows. "How are you here right now?"

     She moved to sit beside him. "Technically, I'm not here at all. Astral projection." He went to reach for her hand, only for his to go right through her like she was a ghost. She frowned. "Which means that we can't touch."

     "What are you doing here?"

     She offered him a small smile as she shook her head before softly replying with, "I didn't want you to be alone." She paused for a moment. "Can't sleep?"

     "Forgot my pillow." He shrugged, but he managed a small smile. He was glad that she was there, even if she wasn't physically there. He was glad that she didn't hate him for killing her, but then again it wasn't exactly him. "What about you?"

     Elaine shrugged. "Had to make sure you were okay."

     "I promise, I'm okay." Stiles softly said. "Get some sleep, Laney."

     "I don't want to leave you." A tear formed in her eye, but she had a sad smile on her face.

     "I know. But I don't want you to get to weak from using your magic." He wanted to grab her hand, and he almost did before stopping himself when he remembered she wasn't actually there. "Promise me you'll get some sleep."

     "I'll try."

     "El."

     Her blue eyes met his and finally she nodded. "I promise."

     "Good. I love you."

     "I love you too." And then, she disappeared and was back in her room again. She sat up, running a hand through her hair before she softly sighed and stood up, cleaning everything up. She was tucking away her things, when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She frowned, placing the box down and carefully making her way over to the mirror. She cocked her head slightly before finding herself moving to touch the mirror. When her reflection touched, she jumped, looking up with wide eyes when her reflection didn't copy her actions.

Her eyes widened even more when she saw the black veins crawling across her face. They crawled up her arms and her neck, her hair seeming to be a darker shade and eyes were painted with dark make up, blood red lips painted on. Her reflection smirked, Elaine watching as her eyes turned pitch black.

     "What? Don't recognize me?"

     "This isn't happening." Elaine shook her head.

     "Oh, trust me sweetheart, it is."

     Her hands started to shake as her heart raced in her chest. "What are you?"

     "I'm you." Her reflection shrugged before an evil smirk fell on her lips. "Or, I'm what you're going to become." Elaine shook her head in denial. "Lift up your shirt." Why she listened, Elaine didn't know. But she lifted up her shirt and her reflection nodded towards the black veins that had grown from her hips and were now halfway up her torso. Close to her heart.

     "You see that there? That's the darkness in you." Her reflection spoke. "It grows each passing second, every time you use your magic, or every time you even think about using magic, it grows. And once it reaches your heart. . . game over." She laughed and Elaine looked at her in horror. "All of this, it will happen. Whether it be today, tomorrow, ten years from now, it will happen. You will turn dark. It's you're destiny."

     "I don't believe you."

     She cocked her head. "You don't?" She mocked a pout before her smile widened. "Let me prove it to you. Let me in." She seemed to grow closer to the mirror, causing Elaine to step back. "Come on, Elaine. Don't you just want to get it over with? Let me in. Let me take over."

     "No." She shook her head.

     "Let me in!" And suddenly, the mirror shattered, causing Elaine to fall to the ground in surprise. She looked at the shattered glass with wide eyes, noticing her reflection had changed back to normal. Maybe she should've joined Stiles in placing herself in Eichen House.

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"El?" A knock came on her door the next morning. She didn't answer. "Alright. Hey, I'm going to call you later with some possible plans to rob an armored truck with evidence we need inside." He paused for a moment―︎he was growing worried for his sibling. "El, you gotta come out sometime."

"I'll help you." She whispered, and she knew that he could hear him. "I will. I just. . . I gotta get my head on straight, alright? You just call me, tell me the plan, and I'll be there. I'll always be there."

Scott managed a small smile as he nodded his head, knocking his knuckle against the door before he walked away, letting her know that he had heard what she said. She sat there on her bed, her hands curled into her hair as she closed her eyes. She hadn't slept at all, not after what she had witnessed the night before. She kept glancing at the black veins that continued to make their way up her body, growing closer and closer to her heart. Her time was running out.

She stood up from her bed, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes before taking down the barrier she had placed on her door to keep anyone from coming in. She walked out of her bedroom and entered the bathroom, stripping from her clothes and hopping in the shower. She allowed the scalding water to run over body for a moment, and once she got used to the temperature she started to wash her hair and her body, shaving, and freshening up. She stepped out of the shower, pulled her clothes on, dried her hair, brushed her teeth, all of the fun stuff.

She couldn't shut down, not at a time like this. So, she took a deep breath and nodded to herself before walking out of the bathroom. Before she knew it, she found herself cleaning. She cleaned up her room, ridding her floor of the shattered glass. She cleaned the entire household, before smiling to herself and looking up when Scott walked in the door. He felt himself relax at the sight of his sister standing there and she offered him a small smile.

"Cookie?" She held out the plate of cookies she had made once she got bored. Scott chuckled before walking over to her and grabbing one, taking a bite, humming in delight.

"You always make the best cookies."

"Why, thank you." Elaine smiled, placing the plate on the counter. She turned back towards her brother, waiting for him to finish the dessert before she spoke up once more. "I'm sorry for shutting you out like that. I just. . . there's just been so much going on. I couldn't breathe. So, I just needed to take a day and step back."

"You don't need to explain yourself to me, El." Scott told her. "You just died and came back again, and Stiles is at Eichen House, so I can't even imagine what you've been going through. I just wish that I could help."

"I know." Elaine nodded with a soft sigh.

"Well, we're leaving in a few, so be ready." Scott pointed towards her. She nodded her head before watching as he went up the steps. She sat there for a moment before closing her eyes and softly sighing to herself.

"You got this." She whispered before opening her eyes and turning back towards the sink to finish washing the dishes.