CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN:
NOT HEALING

SHE SAT IN FRONT OF Stiles and Scott, her face void of any emotion as she recalled the actions of last night. But she didn't regret it. She was drained. Her wounds weren't healing right, but they didn't need to know that. So, she sat there with her head leaning against the bus seat, praying that Stiles wouldn't detect anything that was wrong. She hadn't realized what she was doing. Hell, she didn't even know what it was that she had done until she realized what it was. While protecting her brother, a linking spell had fallen through her head, and without her even realizing it, it had activated, linking her and her brother together.

Now whenever he was hurt, she was. But it was more complex then that. The longer they were linked, the longer that she felt drained. She was a witch, not a werewolf. She couldn't heal like Scott, so the girl was practically bleeding out. But was she going to let anyone know this? Of course not. Elaine listened as Stiles gave her brother words to define, studying as he requested for them in a sentence before defining them.

     "Anachronism."

     "Something that exists out of its normal time." Scott answered, sounding exhausted.

     "Nice! Okay, next word―︎incongruous."

     "Uh, can you use it in a sentence?" Scott requested.

     "Yes. Yes, I can! It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross-country meet, after what just happened. Incongruous."

     "Out of place, ridiculous, absurd." Scott answered.

     "Perfect. Okay, next word. Um. . . Darach. Darach. It's a noun." Stiles sighed. "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for, like, five hours, so why not?" Scott didn't say anything and he sighed again. "Next word, intransigent."

     "Stubborn, obstinate."

     They hit a bump and Elaine winced as did Scott. She closed her eyes tightly, the pain shooting all throughout her body but she clenched he jaw tightly. "Oh, buddy, you okay?" Stiles shook his head. "We shouldn't have come. I knew it―︎we shouldn't have come."

     "We had to. There's safety in numbers." Scott argued.

     "Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre. Or bloodbath. . . carnage. . . slaughter. . . butchery. . . Wow, that's. . ." Scott let out a groan. "All right, I'm telling Coach that―︎"

     "No, no, no, no, I'm all right."

     "Well, you don't look all right! And neither does Elaine, even though she thinks I don't notice." Stiles called, making Elaine squeeze her eyes shut. "Would you just let me see it?"

     "I'm okay." Scott tried to assure him.

     "Just let me see it." Reluctantly, Scott gave in and showed him the deep wound that was on his side. "Oh, dude."

     "I know it's bad, but it's because they're from an Alpha―︎it'll take longer to heal." Scott told him.

     "How about you." Stiles spoke, but Elaine didn't answer him. "Ignoring me isn't going to make me go away." Stiles looked at the Coach before quickly moving so that he was sitting in Elaine seat.

     "Stiles, I'm fine."

     "Every time you say you're fine, you're never fine." Stiles argued. Elaine glared at him. "Glare at me all you want, but you know it's the truth. Let me see it."

     "No." Elaine shook her head.

     "Really, Elaine?"

     "I'm not going to show you because you'll worry yourself ten times more and it's really not necessary."

     "You being worried about me being worried makes me even more worried." Stiles sternly spoke. "Show me." Elaine clenched her jaw as she looked at him, staring at him for a moment before giving in. She carefully rose up her shirt, revealing the same wounds, only hers seemed to still be bleeding, a lot more than Scott's.

     "How come Isaac and Boyd are fine?" Stiles asked, looking between the two.

     "I can't believe he's dead." Scott sighed. "I can't believe Derek's dead."

     Elaine pulled her shirt back down, removing her gaze from her boyfriend and instead focusing on her hands. Stiles looked at the girl for a moment. "El, why do you and Scott have the exact same wounds? And why is yours growing seemingly worse by the second?"

     "I don't know." Elaine muttered.

     "And why don't I believe that?" Stiles asked.

     "Because you don't believe anything I say anymore apparently." Elaine snapped, wincing at the harsh tone of her own voice. But she didn't say anything else, and instead she turned away from him and kept her eyes on the scenery that passed by. With a sigh, Stiles moved back to his seat beside Scott. She listened as coach yelled at Jared, convincing him not to get sick and to focus on the horizon. When he asked the siblings if they were feeling sick as well, they were both quick to shake their heads in response.

     Elaine winced, feeling the blood pour from the wound. She closed her eyes, trying not to focus on it. "Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again. And if you are, so is she. And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that 'still bleeding' means 'not healing,' like, at all."

     "He's listening." Scott muttered, glancing towards Ethan.

     "Is he gonna do something?" Stiles asked.

     "Not in front of this many people." Scott shook his head.

     "Okay, well, what about the two ticking time-bombs sitting right near him?" Stiles asked, glancing towards Isaac and Boyd.

     "No, they won't―︎not here."

     "Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop 'em?"

     "If I have to." They sat there, the bus unmoving as they were stuck in traffic. But Elaine was forced to turn her attention towards her brother when she heard him stand up.

     "Whoa? Scott, where are you going?" Stiles was quick to ask.

     "Boyd―︎he's gonna do something." Scott answered him. Elaine set up, her face twisting in discomfort and pain.

     "Okay, what? How do you know?"

     Scott nodded towards Boyd. "Look at his hands." Before either of them could stop him, Scott was quick to move towards Boyd, grabbing his hand before he could do anything. The two watched the interaction. Stiles pursed his lips for a moment before moving back into Elaine's seat. She looked up towards him before Stiles held out his arms. Elaine moved so that she was in his embrace, the boy holding her close as she tried to curl into herself, pain shooting all throughout her body.

     "How are you feeling?" Stiles carefully asked her.

     "Like I'm never going to stop bleeding." Elaine mumbled. That's when they noticed Scott come back, taking a seat behind the two. "Everything alright?" Elaine questioned him, going to sit up so that Stiles could move back to his original seat, but the boy refused to let go off her.

     "Mhm." Scott hummed.

     "Good." Stiles nodded. He looked around for a moment before noticing the seat beside of them was empty. "Come on." He helped Elaine up, moving her to the other seat so that they could actually look towards Scott whilst they talked.

     "We got another problem." Stiles spoke up, making Scott look over at him. "Ethan keeps checking his phone, like, every five minutes. It's like, he's waiting for someone, you know? Like, a message or a signal of some kind. I don't know, something evil though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that."

     "I don't like the fact that he's sitting with Danny." Elaine mumbled.

     "Me either." Scott agreed.

     "I'm gonna see what he's waiting for." Stiles spoke, pulling out his phone.

     "What are you doing?"

     "I'm gonna ask." Stiles simply answered before texting Danny. The two watched the exchange between Danny and Stiles, Danny shaking his head and Stiles nodding. Danny turned back around before Stiles quickly shot him another text with Danny sending one in response. Finally, Stiles sent "ask him" in all capitals making Danny glance at him before putting his phone away. Stiles continued to quickly send him texts, making his phone continually go off. He ignored it until Ethan spoke up.

     "Something wrong?" Ethan questioned.

     "Actually, I was wondering the same thing about you." Danny told him, immediately making the alpha turn to look at the three who quickly ducked their head.

     "Well, that wasn't very subtle." Stiles muttered. That's when he got a text, making both him and Elaine furrow his eyebrows before showing Scott the text. Scott frowned.

     "Ennis."

     "Okay, so, does that mean, uh. . ."

     "He's not dead." Scott answered.

     "Not yet." Elaine breathed. Elaine closed her eyes, memories from that night flashing through her mind.

Allison and Elaine arrived at the abandoned mall, the place where the fight was breaking out. They stood there, watching it all go down before Allison shot one of her arrows, making the wolves all go blind. Elaine had been quick to jump down at the distraction, knocking the alpha's away from Cora and Scott, making sure they were both alright whilst Allison kept shooting her arrows. It all happened so fast, and no matter how many spells Elaine shot at them, they still managed to knock her away and get a hold of her brother. And just looking at him, she wanted his oncoming pain to be hers, and it was. The alpha's claws dug into his skin, making them both cry out. And then, watching Derek fall, the devastation falling on her brother's face, it was all a blur.  It happened so fast, and yet she seemed to be able to recall every painful detail.

     "Stilinski, put your hand down."

     "You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half mile up. I don't know, if we stop, and then maybe―︎" Stiles tried, but Coach cut him off.

     "We're not gonna stop."

     "Okay, but if we stop―︎"

     "Stilinski!" Coach blew his whistle. "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!" Stiles pursed his lips for a moment, his jaw clenching.

     "I hate him." The boy muttered before turning towards Scott. "Did you call Deaton?"

     "I keep getting his voicemail." Scott sighed, leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed. He glanced down towards Elaine, watching as she clenched her jaw and tried to fight the pain the was shooting through her body.

     "That's it. I'm calling Lydia and Allison." Stiles sighed before pulling his phone out once more. Both Elaine and Scott furrowed their eyebrows.

     "How are they gonna help, back in Beacon Hills?" Elaine questioned.

     "They're not―︎they've been following us for hours." Stiles answered before scoffing. "Pathetic." He quickly dialed Lydia's number.

     "Hey, Stiles!" Lydia answered. "Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie! Uh, you know, the popcorn, and―︎"

     "I know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker." Stiles told the girl.

      "Okay. . ." The girl muttered before doing as he asked.

     "Okay, look, Scott's still hurt. And if Scott's hurt, so is Elaine."

     "What do you mean, 'still?' He's not healing? And what do you mean if Scott's hurt, so is Elaine?" Allison quickly asked, frowning as she exchanged a look with Lydia who immediately perked up at the sound of her best friend being hurt.

     "No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood's turning, like, a black color. And Elaine won't tell me why, but she has the exact wound as him, and the worse Scott's gets, hers grow ten times worse." Stiles answered them.

     "What's wrong with them?" Lydia asked deeply frowning.

     "'What's wrong with them?' I don't―︎Do I have a Ph.D. in lycanthropy and witchcraft? How am I supposed to know that?" Stiles snapped.

     "We need to get them off the bus." Allison sighed.

     "And take them where, a hospital?" Lydia asked, looking towards Allison.

     "If their dying, yeah. Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over." Allison told the boy.

     Stiles sighed. "Yeah, I've been trying."

     "Well, reason with him."

     "Reason?" Stiles exclaimed, scoffing. "Have you met this guy?"

     "Just try something!" Allison snapped before hanging up the phone. Stiles huffed before removing himself from Elaine's side and walking up to Coach, trying to convince them to stop for a bathroom break.

     "Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay? We've been on this thing for, like, three hours―︎" Coach blew the whistle. " It's sixty miles to the next rest stop―︎" He blew the whistle again. "Being cooped up for hours is not good―︎You know, our bladders aren't exactly―︎Coach, this is―︎Can you―︎" However, he just continued to blow the whistle after every few words making Stiles look at him with frustrated wide eyes. "Let me talk! I'm―︎" However, Coach laughed and blew the whistle again. "Every time―︎" This time, Coach blew the whistle until he was out of breath.

     "Get back to your seat, Stilinski!"

     "OKAY!"

     "And Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon." Coach ordered, immediately making Stiles turn around. He quickly took a seat beside Jared.

     "Hey, Jared. How you doing?" Stiles smiled, and not a few minutes later they were at the rest stop, running out of the bus.