CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT:
SAY IT BACK

ALLISON AND LYDIA WERE QUICK to help Scott into the bathroom, with Stiles helping Elaine. The girl was growing paler by the second, and she was starting to slowly lose consciousness. They sat Scott between the two sinks with Elaine sitting across from him against the wall. Allison carefully rose his shirt up to reveal the deep wound with black blood surrounding it. Stiles did the same thing with Elaine, and dark veins were surrounding it.

"Oh my god." Stiles breathed.

"They're the exact same." Lydia noted, glancing between the two siblings. "How's that possible?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison softly questioned Scott.

"Sorry." Scott mumbled.

"Okay, just give us a second, okay?" Allison stood up, stopping for a moment to glance towards Elaine before walking towards the corner of the bathroom with Lydia and Stiles. "This shouldn't be happening―︎I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"And Elaine has literally escaped death on multiple occasions." Lydia pointed out.

"Okay, what do we do, then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Getting anxious by the second as he glanced between his girlfriend and best friend.

"What if it's too late? What if they can't help?"

"We have to do something!" Stiles hissed. "I can't lose her again, alright? I already went through that once, I'm not doing it again."

"You know, it could be psychological. . ." Lydia told them.

"What do you mean? Like, psychosomatic?"  

"Somatoformic." Lydia corrected making Stiles open his mouth, trying to pronounce only for Lydia to quickly explain what it was instead. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause?" They both gave her a blank look. "Yes, it's all his head."

"All in his head?" Stiles muttered before realizing something, quickly catching on. "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died."

"And what about Elaine?" Allison asked.

"Don't. . . don't worry about me." Elaine spoke up, shaking her head as she carefully turned to look at them. Her voice was weak, and it sounded so far away. Her eyes were desperately trying to close, but she was trying to stay awake. "When Scott's fine. . . I'll be fine. That's how a linking spell works."

"A link―︎" Allison was quick to cut Stiles off.

"Alright, so, what do we do." 

Lydia pursed her lips for a moment, before answering, "Stitch him up." They both gave her weird looks as she pulled out a kit. "I'm serious! Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing." As Elaine requested, they focused on Scott. They had pulled his shirt off that was now covered with his blood.

"He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" Allison questioned.

"I'll get it." Lydia offered as Stiles opened his mouth. He gave her a look and Lydia sent one back. "You need to keep Elaine awake." The three glanced towards the girls whose eyes were closed.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Stiles quickly asked.

Allison nodded. "Yeah, my father taught me."

"I mean, how fast are you gonna. . . ? I mean, the bus, like. . . the bus could leave." He stumbled over his own words, his worries and his anxiousness grabbing hold of him.

Allison looked towards Lydia. "Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave." Lydia nodded before walking out whilst Stiles quickly moved over towards Elaine.

"El?" He placed his hands on both sides of her face, making the girl take a sharp intake of breathe as she blinked her eyes open. He was trying to calm his heart rate, noticing she was only continuing to grow worse and worse as the seconds ticked by. "Hey, I need you to keep your eyes open for me, alright?"

"Mmm. . ." Elaine hummed. "I'm so tired, Stiles. I can't stay awake anymore."

"You have to, alright?" Stiles told her, tears filling his eyes. "Alright? I can't lose you again."

"You'll never lose me, Stiles." Elaine whispered. "I love you."

"Don't say that like it's a goodbye. Because it's not. You are not leaving me, do you understand me Elaine Rosalynn McCall, you are not leaving me." Stiles glanced towards Allison who kept out frustrated cries, trying to put the thread through the needle. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, closing her eyes. "I'm fine." She looked towards Scott. "Stay with me." She kept repeating the phrase, repeating to herself that she was trying before reciting what they were supposed to do in a situation like this. "Clinically. And un-emotion―︎and un-emotionally." She let out a deep breath before finally getting the thread through the needle.

Stiles turned his attention back towards Elaine whose eyes were closed. Her chest wasn't moving up and down. Immediately he panicked, shaking his head. "No, no, no. You're not dead. Elaine, wake up right now. Elaine, wake up. Please." He kept shaking the girl, hoping she would open her eyes, but to no avail. He tried to find a heart beat, but when he found none, all his mind could think of was her dead body lying on the floor. He can't believe he had lost her, again.

"Scott." Allison spoke, having finished sewing the wound closed. She kept calling the boys name, but he wouldn't answer her. "Scott! Scott!" The boy then let out a gasp, making Allison jump.

He caught his breath. "It's my fault."

"Scott, look at me. It's okay." Allison sternly told him, watching as the boy met her eyes. He then glanced down towards the stitched wound.

"Did you do that?"

"Yeah. . ." Allison nodded.

"Nice." Allison let out a small laugh.

"She's not waking up." Stiles spoke up, grabbing their attention. "She's not―︎Scott's awake, why isn't she waking up?" Allison carefully helped Scott up, handing him a clean shirt. Scott looked towards his sister and his best friend who was trying to hold back his tears. "Come on, El. Come on. You can't do this to me. To us."

"Are they okay?" Lydia asked, entering. She noticed Scott standing up before looking towards Elaine. Lydia swallowed thickly. "Talk to her."

"I've been talking to her."

"No, I mean, talk to her. Tell her something that will bring her back. That will make her want to come back." Lydia told him. Stiles looked at her hesitantly, and Lydia gave him a reassuring nod. "She'll hear you."

Stiles swallowed before nodding his head. "Laney, you remember when we were young? When You, Scott, and I were all playing hide and seek and you hid with me because it was too dark for you to hide anywhere else? Or when every time we had some stupid idea you would always want to tag along because you liked the adventure? Or when you told me you loved me? And I told you I loved you too? You gotta come back, El. You're the other half of everyone you've ever met. The world isn't complete without Elaine McCall roaming around it to clean up her idiotic friends messes. Scott may be the wolf, but you're the leader. And I won't let you go out this way. I love you, alright? I love you, and I need you to open your eyes so that you can say it back." A tear fell down his cheek as she didn't move. His voice cracked. "Say it back." He leaned his head on her shoulder, his eyes tightly closed.

"I love you too." He quickly snapped his head towards her, glancing towards the others to make sure he had actually heard it. He looked towards Elaine and a breath of relief fell from his lips when he saw her diamond blue eyes looking at him, a gentle smile pulling up at her lips. "Who knew you could be so sweet?"

"Haha." He dead panned making a small giggle fall from the girl's lips. He looked at her for a moment before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"As adorable as this moment is," Lydia breathed a sigh of relief, "we should go before the bus leaves us." They nodded in agreement and Stiles carefully pulled Elaine from the ground, allowing her to wrap and arm around his waist as he wrapped his around her shoulder in order to keep her up, allowing her to lean on him for support. They walked out of the bathroom.

"We still don't have gas." Lydia spoke towards Allison who was helping Scott.

"I'm not leaving him." Allison spoke, looking at the girl.

"Then we'll have to leave the car."

"Sounds good." Allison shrugged, walking off.

"That wasn't an actual suggestion―︎Allison, wait!" They all walked towards the area where a crowd was.

"What's happening?" Scott frowned.

"I told him what was happening to you and Elaine, and I guess they just went at him." Stiles quickly explained.

"Who, Boyd?" Scott quickly ran over only to find Isaac repeatedly hitting Ethan.

"Isaac! Isaac!" Coach yelled for the boy as the rest joined. Danny tried to pull Isaac away, but Isaac was quick to push Danny away from him, going back to hitting Ethan. "Isaac, back off!"

"ISAAC!" Scott yelled the boy's name, making the crowd go silent as Isaac kept his fist in the air. Isaac turned his head to see the two siblings there, completely fine. He stood up and allowed Danny to quickly kneel down beside of Ethan. They all filed back onto the bus with Scott and Allison sitting together, Elaine and Stiles in the seat beside of them, and Lydia sitting in front of the duo. Stiles was keeping a close hold on the girl, she was practically in his lap with her legs draped over his and her arms wrapped around him as she placed her head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around Elaine's waist.

"It took you two long enough." Lydia breathed, rolling her eyes, turning to look at the two.

"No, it took Stiles long enough." Elaine corrected. "Everyone knew my feelings―︎except him, of course."

"Listen―︎"

"I don't wanna hear it." Elaine held up her hand, earning amused looks from the girl whilst Stiles just rolled his eyes, moving her hand away from his face.

"Anyways." Stiles changed the subject, looking back towards Lydia. "Let's go over this one more time. So, it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's, like, a dark Druid of some kind."

"Or actually is a dark Druid."

"A darach." Elaine corrected.

"You know, some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle." Lydia told them.

"So, we've got Alpha Werewolves against a dark Druid?" Stiles asked.

Elaine sighed, nodding her head. "Yeah." Lydia sighed before turning back in her seat and Elaine nuzzled her head into her boyfriends chest, Stiles placing a kiss on top of the girl's head before playing with her hair as she slowly closed her eyes, starting to doze off.

━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎

"Laney." Stiles whispered the girl's name. "Laney, wake up." Luckily, the girl hadn't dozed completely off to the point of no return, making her eyes open as she sat up straight, turning before noticing the motel they had pulled up at.

"Jesus Christ―︎what the hell is this?" They climbed off the bus, Scott stopping beside the two with Lydia and Allison right behind them.

"I've seen worse." Scott offered.

"Where have you seen worse?" Stiles shot, turning towards Scott.

Before Scott could say anything, Coach blew his whistle. "Listen up! The meet's been pushed 'til tomorrow. This is the closest motel with the most vacancies and the least amount of good judgement when it comes to accepting a bunch of degenerates like yourselves! You'll be pairing up―︎choose wisely. And I'll have no sexual perversions perpetrated by you little deviants! Got that? Keep your dirty little hands to your dirty little selves!"

"I don't want to leave you." Stiles mumbled, turning towards Elaine as everyone grabbed their room key. Elaine offered him a small smile.

"Don't worry, Stiles. I'll share a room with Allison and Lydia. I grew up with Lydia and we slept in the same bed the whole time, it'll be like having a sleepover." She smiled at him, shrugging her shoulders as she took a key from Coach's hand. Stiles sighed before nodding his head, following after Scott. Elaine turned towards Lydia and Allison, holding up the room key. That's when both she and Allison noticed the look on Lydia's face.

"Lydia?" Allison frowned.

"I don't like this place." Lydia told them.

Elaine scoffed. "I don't think the people who own this place like this place."

"It's just for a night." Allison assured.

"A lot can happen in one night." With that, the three girl's went to go find their room. They entered the room and Elaine sat down on one of the beds with Lydia standing up in front of them, glancing around the room.

"Looks like we're becoming kids again and sharing a bed." Elaine told Lydia who rolled her eyes in response.

"I'm going to take a shower." Allison informed them. Allison walked in the bathroom only to walk right back out. "Hey, uh, these towels don't smell good. They smell like nicotine. Can you get some new ones?"

"Yes, we will." Elaine nodded her head.

"Thanks." Allison smiled before entering the bathroom once more, Elaine and Lydia walking out and going on a mission to find new towels. They walked up to the front desk, offering the woman behind it a small smile.

"Excuse me? The card on the dresser says we have a non-smoking room, but somehow all of our towels reek of nicotine." Elaine told the woman, placing the towels on the counter. The woman turned to face the duo.

"I'm sorry about that, sweetheart." The woman apologized, turning to look at them only to see electrolarynx machine placed in her throat.

Lydia then furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that? That number?" Elaine followed Lydia's gaze to the number on the wall with the number 198 on it.

"It's kind of an inside thing for the motel. My husband insists on keeping it up."

Elaine frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's a little bit morbid, to be honest. You sure you want to know?" The lady asked.

Elaine and Lydia exchanged looks before Lydia nodded. "Tell us."

"We're not gonna make the top of anyone's list when it comes to customer satisfaction."

"Obviously." Lydia muttered, earning an elbow in the side from Elaine.

"But we are number one in California when it comes to one disturbing little detail―︎since opening, more than any other motel in California, we have the most guest suicides."

"Oh my g―︎one-hundred ninety-eight suicides?"

The lady nodded before laughing. "And counting."