CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN:
WHERE'S STILES?

ELAINE PLACED A HAND ON her brother's shoulder, giving him a kiss on the top of the head before walking away and taking a seat beside Stiles on the bench in the boys locker room, having arrived a few moments ago to make sure he was alright. She needed to talk to him, but she had a feeling she wouldn't get the chance until this whole Kanima situation was done with. Stiles offered the girl a smile as she took a seat beside of him.

"'Good morning! In less than an hour, aircraft from here will be joining others from around the world. . . and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind―︎that word should have new meaning for all of us today.'" Coach started, making Elaine sigh.

"Here we go again." Elaine muttered.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Melissa's voice filled Elaine's ears, making the girl glance up towards her mother before biting down on her lip and looking at the ground instead. Stiels glanced at Elaine, placing a hand on her shoulder before looking up towards the woman and answering her.

"He does this every year."

"Seriously?" Melissa questioned.

"Yeah. . ." Stiles sighed.

"'We are fighting for our right to live!'" Coach continued.

"Wait, is this. . . ?"

"Yeah. It's the speech from Independence Day." Stiles said, nodding his head. "It's Coach's favorite movie."

"'But, as the day the world declared in one voice―︎We will not go quietly into the night!'"

"He doesn't know any sports speeches?" Melissa frowned.

"I don't think he cares." Stiles plainly responded.

"'Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!'" Coach finished and immediately the lacrosse team cheered.

That's when the voice of Gerard filled the air, and Elaine tensed, glancing towards her mother and watching as she did the same. She exchanged a look with Stiles before looking back towards the man that she liked to compare the devil with. "Well spoken, Coach. I might have chosen something with a little more historical value, but there's no denying your passion. And, while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you'll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-captain leading you. Now, I'm your principal, but I'm also a fan. So, don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team. Get out there and murder them."

"You heard the man! Asses on the field!" Coach yelled. The players were quick to scramble out of the room and Elaine was going to follow them, only for Melissa to stop her. Elaine stopped, a sigh falling from her lips as she turned to face her mother.

"Mom, I can't argue with you right now. Can we talk after the game?"

Melissa opened her mouth before nodding her head. "Sure." Elaine nodded before walking out after the group of boys, taking a seat on the bench beside her brother, despite Coach yelling at her.

"Scott." Elaine spoke, grabbing his attention.

"Yeah?"

"We need to talk." Elaine told him, immediately the boy frowned. "It can wait till after the game. But, I need to talk to mom as well, and you, and Stiles. So. . . whenever you get a moment?"

"I'm all ears." He assured her. She turned her head towards Stiles, the boy quick to nod his head. In all honestly, he needed to talk to her as well. Tell her what exactly it was that she had actually said in the hospital, but for the moment, it would wait.

"Pushing my problems aside." Elaine spoke. "We have a more important things to deal with at the moment."

"Your dad coming?" Scott asked, turning his attention away from his sister and towards his best friend.

"Yeah, he's already here." Stiles nodded.

"You seen Allison?"

"Nope." Elaine shook her head. "I didn't see Lyds either. What about you? Do you know what's going on?"

Scott shook his head, sighing. "Not yet."

"It's gonna be bad, isn't it?" Stiles sighed. "Like, people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming-kind of bad?"

"The vivid image that just popped up in my head from that description. . ." Elaine mumbled, scrunching her nose up.

"Looks like it." Scott answered.

"Scott. . . The other night, seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just. . ." Stiles sighed, frowning. "I want to help, you know? But I can't do the things that you guys do. I can't―︎"

"It's okay." Scott assured.

"We've got this handled, alright?" Elaine softly told him, placing a hand on the boys arm as she offered him a reassuring smile. Stiles tried to send one back.

"We're losing, dude." Stiles told them.

"The hell are you talking about?" Coach asked, appearing from behind the three. "The game hasn't even started! Now, put your helmet on and get out there. You're in for Greenberg."

"What? What happened to Greenberg?" Stiles quickly asked, frowning.

"'What happened to Greenberg?' He sucks! You suck slightly less." Coach simply answered.

"I'm playing? On the field? With the team?"

"Yes, unless you'd rather play with yourself."

"I already did that today―︎twice."

"I could've went another thirty years without that knowledge, thanks for that." Elaine mumbled in disgust, her nose scrunching up once again.

"Get the hell out there!" Coach snapped making the boy quickly scramble to do so. Elaine couldn't help but smile widely at the fact that Stiles was actually playing. Her smile widened even more when she heard Sheriff Stilinski stand up and yell, "My son is on the field!" The girl laughed at that. While Elaine winced at how badly Stiles was currently doing, Scott was listening in to what Gerard was saying to him.

"Let's put a real clock on this game, Scott. I'll give you until the last thirty seconds. When that scoreboard clock begins counting down from thirty, if you haven't given me Derek, then Jackson is gonna kill someone. So, you tell me, Scott―︎who's gonna die tonight? Should it be your mother, who so bravely came out to support you? Or the Sheriff, your best friend's father? Or how about your sister? The witch. Yes. . . I know what she is, how powerful she is." Scott seemed to tense up at this, his eyes glancing towards his sister who was too focused on Stiles. "Or, how about the pretty little redhead who managed to survive the bite of an Alpha? Or maybe one of these innocent teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them? Or should I do everyone a favor and kill that ridiculous coach? It's up to you, Scott. But, you are going to help me take Derek down. . . because if you don't, I'll have Jackson rip someone's head off right in the middle of the field and drench everyone you love and care about in blood."

The longer they sat there, the more prominent it was that they were going to lose. Elaine bit her lip, her knee bouncing up and down as she winced every time Stiles got hit with the ball. She wanted to help the boy out, but she knew this was his thing, and she wasn't going to mess with his thing. Scott tried to get up, trying his best to convince Coach to let him play, but the man wasn't having it. So the two sat there with tense shoulders. That's when Isaac Lahey appeared beside of Scott.

"You came to help." Scott breathed.

"I came to win." Isaac responded, looking at the wolf. "You got a plan yet?"

"No. Right now, it's pretty much just keep Jackson from killing anyone." Scott sighed.

"Well, that might be easier if you're actually in the game. We have to make it so Coach has no choice but to play you." Isaac told the boy.

"How do we do that? He's got a bench full of guys he can use before he ever puts me on the field." Scott asked before he and shared a look. "Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?"

"I can try." Isaac shrugged, smirking before placing his helmet on his head and walking onto the field. Elaine shook her head, sharing a look with her brother before they both focused their attention on Isaac.

The whistle was blown and the game started, immediately Isaac slammed into one of their players, sending the boy to the ground and making Coach shout, "Lahey!" With a clenched jaw, Coach quickly sent Ramirez onto the field. But a second later, Isaac was slamming another of their players onto the ground, making Coach huff. "Murphy, you're in!" And then Isaac sent another to the ground, this one making both McCall siblings wince. Coach stood up. "LAHEY! Seriously, what the hell is your problem?"

The two sat there before they watched Isaac get slammed into the ground by Jackson. Elaine and Scott were quickly out of their seats, running onto the field and kneeling down beside the boy. Elaine was quick to look the boy over.

"It's not broken. . .but I can't move it. I think Jackson nicked me, 'cause I can feel it spreading." Isaac informed them. They watched as the paramedics grew closer. The two siblings stood up, watching as Isaac was lifted away before coach showed up, slamming a helmet and lacrosse stick into Scott's chest.

"McCall, either you're in, or we forfeit." Scott took the things from the man's hands, watching as he walked away before the two siblings exchanged looks. That's when their mother appeared.

"Hey, something's happening, isn't it? Something more than a lacrosse game?" Melissa looked between her two kids, Scott nodding his head whilst Elaine answered her.

"Mom, you should go. We don't want you getting hurt."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. And everything I said before? Forget it. All of it. Okay? If you two can do something to help, then you do it. You have to." Melissa told them, glancing between her children who nodded their heads.

"We will." They answered in unison before the whistle was blown and Scott was in the playing field. Elaine decided to join her mother, Noah Stilinski, and Lydia on the bench, sitting between Lydia and her mother as she watched the game. Her attention snapped towards Stiles who had the ball. She looked between the boy and Coach, Coach screaming for the boy to shoot it. Elaine was quick to stand up.

"Shoot it, Stiles!" Elaine yelled, and her voice seemed to reach his ears. For as soon as she said that, he was quick to turn and shoot the ball, scoring. Cheers were thrown around, Lydia and Elaine exchanging excited hugs as they cheered the boy on. She smiled widely as the boy cheered for himself. The girl hadn't even realized her brother had left the field, her sight too focused on the boy she loved. He scored again and again and they were all cheering for the boy until the game was over and they had won. Stiles had been lifted up by the rest of his team mates, Elaine's smile so wide on her face that it almost hurt as she clapped and cheered for him.

Almost drastically things changed. The lights all started to turn off on the field, making everything dark. People started to scream, running around, and Elaine was off the bleachers in split second, her brother grabbing onto her as she passed by. Scott just shook his head at her, silently telling her that nothing had happened. Yet. That's when Melissa came calling for them, and they were both quick to appear.

"Mom, are you okay?" Scott questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but somebody is hurt. Someone is down on the field." That's when the lights turned back on, and Elaine and Melissa were quick to rush over. Melissa kneeled down towards the boy, while Elaine stood there in shock. It was Jackson.

"He's not breathing. No pulse." Melissa spoke before pulling up his jersey only to reveal blood covering his shirt underneath along with claw marks.

"Oh, my God. There's blood. There's blood!" Lydia cried, a hand covering her mouth. Scott stood there beside his sister, and Isaac was quick to join the two. The boy's body was covered in blood, it made Elaine's stomach churn.

"Look." Scott pointed out to the two, making them look down at Jackson's hand that was also covered in blood.

"He did it to himself?" Isaac spoke, frowning.

"Why?" Elaine mumbled.

"Get down here. Get down here and hold his head. Tilt it up." Melissa quickly told Lydia who did as she was told. However, that's when they could hear Sheriff Stilinski's voice, calling out for Stiles. And Elaine's heart stopped.

"Where's Stiles? Where's Stiles? Where the hell is my son?!"