CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE:
RUNNING OUT OF TIME

"BUT THE SCROLL SAID TO change his body." Lydia reminded.

"That's if I translated it correctly." Deaton sighed. "We're looking for a cure in something that might actually be nothing more than a proverb or a metaphor."

"And what if he doesn't want it?" Scott asked, looking at Lydia. "He's never asked to be a werewolf."

"What if it saves his life?" Lydia argues.

"What if it kills him?" Rebekah weighed in.

"I've never done this before." Scott whispered. "I mean, what if I bite him and accidentally hit an artery or something."

"The venom is not going to last long." Deaton told the teenagers. "Something needs to be done sooner than later."

"I can try calling Derek again." Scott sighed.

"Maybe we should call someone else." Lydia said after a reluctant moment. The three looked at each other for a moment, realizing they were going to have to call Peter.

When the doorbell rang, Scott was the one to answer it. Peter Hale walked into the home, a smirk on his face that made Elaine roll her eyes. He entered the home before making his way over towards Stiles and standing in front of him, examining the nogitsune possessed boy for a moment before speaking. "He doesn't look like he would survive a slap across the face, much less the bite of a werewolf."

"You don't think it would work?" Scott frowned.

Peter narrowed his eyes as he kneeled in front of the boy. "This is more a war of the mind than the body. There are better methods to winning this battle."

Deaton stepped towards him. "What kind of methods?"

Peter grabbed onto Scott's wrist, making his claws appear. "We're going to get into his head."

They waited as Peter pulled Lydia aside, talking to the female whilst Elaine stood there a bored look across her face. Rebekah kept an eye on her daughter before glancing towards Scott, meeting his eyes and nodding for him to follow her. He did so, and the two stepped outside for a moment.

"How long has Elaine been like this?" Rebekah questioned him.

Scott furrowed his eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Dark." She read his facial expression before nodding her head. "You didn't know. Well, Scott, I can tell you right now that the girl in there is definitely not Elaine. Elaine's still there, but she's trapped in her own body. Dark magic has taken over her, it's practically radiating from her body."

Scott sighed. "Black eyes. I only saw it twice, but she had black eyes when using her magic. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. So, I just pushed it aside. I mean, everything happening with Stiles and the nogitsune―︎"

"You've had a lot on your plate." She nodded her head in understanding. "I get it. And right now, she's surprisingly calm and not creating a ball of chaos, but that's probably because no one is focused on her, and everyone is focused on the nogitsune. You remember what I told you that night?" Scott nodded. "Don't intervene, and just let it play out."

"You mean, let her kill someone."

"That's not Elaine, Scott. And that's something that I need for you to remember. Because the next step will involve her needing you. You have no idea how much she's about to hate herself when everything comes to light. And she'll need someone there to remind her who she really is." Rebekah placed a hand on his shoulder and offered him a small smile before going back inside. Scott stood there for a moment before sighing to himself. He had a feeling that this was only the beginning of the storm.

He walked back inside, just as Lydia and Peter entered the room once more. Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest as she asked, "So, do we have a plan?"

"Scott is going to try and dig through pale and sickly evil Stiles' mind to unearth pale and sickly real Stiles." Peter explained. "Then guide him back from the depths of his own subconscious. But he's not going to do it alone."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

Peter then turned his head to look at Lydia. "Somebody needs to go with you."

Lydia's eyes met those of Elaine's almost as if she were asking the girl if she was okay with this. It was her boyfriend after all, but when she only received a blank look in response, Lydia couldn't help but frown. She moved to sit down on the couch beside of Stiles, Peter placing Scott's claws on the back of Stiles' neck.

"So what do we do if we find him?" Scott looked down at his claws pressed against Stiles' skin.

"You're going to have to guide him out somehow." Peter told him, walking over to his other hand and placing it on the back of Lydia's neck. "Try to give him back control of his mind, his body."

"Could you elaborate on the somehow?" Lydia's voice shook, clearly nervous. "It's not feeling very specific at the moment."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Improvise."

Scott stood there for a moment before looking up. "What if this is just another trick?"

"When are you people going to start trusting me?" Peter scoffed.

Scott glanced at him before looking towards Stiles. "I meant him."

"Oh."

"Scott, we're running out of time." Deaton told the boy. Scott looked at him before nodding his head and then closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, before stabbing Lydia and Stiles' with his claws, causing for the girl to let out a silent gasp.

"This should be interesting." Elaine smirked slightly before making her way over to the chair and sitting in it, crossing her legs and narrowing her eyes at the nogitsune. She was getting bored. And she wanted something fun to do. But she would wait for the right to time. Wait for the death of the nogitsune, before striking.

She sat there patiently, watching as Lydia's nose started to bleed causing the girl to cock an eyebrow. "Look at that," Melissa pointed. "Do you see that? She's bleeding."

Peter and Melissa headed towards the girl but Deaton held Melissa back. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"What's happening?" Melissa snapped. "What's happening to her?"

Peter walked up to the girl, placing his hands on both sides of her face. "Lydia? Lydia, can you hear me? Lydia, you're stronger than this. Okay, you need to concentrate. Lydia." And then he yelled her name. "Lydia!"

Elaine snickered in amusement. "That was dramatic."

Melissa snapped her head towards her daughter. "What's the matter with you? That's your best friend."

Elaine met Melissa's eyes and only smirked, shrugging her shoulders. "This all just very amusing to me. Sorry if we don't have the same sense of humor." Rebekah exchanged a look with Deaton, almost as if they were having a silent conversation and she simply just nodded her head slightly at his silent question.

They sat there patiently waiting before suddenly both Scott and Lydia let out a gasp as Scott removed his claws from both Lydia and Stiles' neck. Scott was quick to run around the couch and in front of Stiles. "Did it work? Did it work?"

"What happened?" Lydia shot of from the couch, trying to catch her breath. She then looked towards Stiles to see he was still. "Why didn't it work?"

"Because it's not science it's supernatural, Lydia. I did my part. Now give me the name." Peter hissed, turning towards the girl.

Scott turned his head to look at them with furrowed eyebrows. "What name?" Peter started to drag Lydia from the room. "What are you talking about?"

That's when Stiles let out a gasp, causing everyone to snap their heads towards him. Elaine stood up, taking a step back as she found a smirk crawling onto her face. Stiles struggled, as if he were drowning. He managed to rip off the duck tape from his lips before he started to pull white bandage from his lips. It kept coming and coming, and it seemed like it would never stop. He fell to the ground, pulling the cloth from his mouth until it was all gone. He gasped for air when suddenly the bandages started to surround in black smoke, a mummied hand popping up from the bandages until it turned into a full person.

They all backed away from the person until it seemed to go towards them and Scott and Peter were quick to grab onto him, throwing him in the chair Elaine had been sitting in moments prior. They were trying to desperately hold him down, but the person struggled underneath them as they started to pull the cloth from their face. She didn't stay for the reveal, grabbing onto the nogitsune version of Stiles who ordered for her to get Lydia before muttering a spell and making them disappear from the room.

"Scott?" Stiles sat in the chair, looking at his best friend almost in disbelief, wondering if he was actually there.

"Scott." Deaton spoke up, making the boy turn to look at him. And then they turned to see the door was wide open.

Scott took a moment to look around before noticing the absence of the nogitsune, his sister, and Lydia. "Where are they?" But no one had an answer. "Where are they?" And then he was running out of the home, calling Elaine and Lydia's names.