𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Nat, you gotta get up" I hear Scott's voice.

"I don't wanna go to school" I murmur.

I hear my brother sigh and after listening to his feet pad across my floor, I feel the bed dip beside me.

"Hey, listen to me. It's not your fault" Scott assures me.

"Yes, it is. He was with me and I let him go" I mumble guiltily.

"How were you to know that he wasn't going home like he said?" Scott counters.

"I knew he was acting weird. He wasn't himself, Scott" I argue.

"Stop beating yourself up over something you couldn't control" Scott states "Even if you were to know and you were to try to stop him, who's to say that he wouldn't hurt you?"

I don't reply, I just uncover my face and look up at my brother through teary eyes. Scott catches my gaze and his face falls.

"Did he hurt you?" Scott questions.

I nod weakly and pull myself to sit up, letting my covers fall to my lap. Scott's eyes immediately zero in on my neck and he clenches his jaw tightly, his eyes flashing a vivid red.

"Stiles did that?" Scott grits out.

"It wasn't Stiles. I told you, he wasn't himself" I correct him.

Scott seems conflicted between anger and worry as he gets up and walks over to my bathroom. He comes back with a first aid kit and sits back down in front of me, opening the box.

"I'm sorry that I didn't stop Stiles from disappearing" I apologise, a tear running down my cheek.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" Scott declares, wiping my cheek with his knuckles "No one blames you"

I sit in silence as Scott cleans up my neck before putting on a wound dressing, the white band aid looking patch on my neck causing me to sigh in annoyance once I realise how many people will see it and ask questions.

Scott leaves to get ready for school while I drag myself out of bed to do the same thing. My outfit of the day consists of a pair of blue skinny jeans with rips at the knees and a cream coloured cropped cardigan. I brush through my hair and apply minimum makeup before slipping on a pair of white nikes and grabbing my bag.

My brother and I enter the living room to see our mother sat at the table with a distant look on her face.

"Any news?" Scott speaks up.

"They're still looking for him" Mom answers "It's past the 48 hour mark, but I guess if anyone's going to be missing for two days and turn up just fine, it's Stiles"

"What about Isaac?" I ask curiously.

Mom gets up from her seat and places a hand on my shoulder.

"Maybe we should go by the hospital before school" She suggests.

Her eyes fall to the bandage on my neck and she looks me dead in the eyes.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" She asks.

"Burned myself with my curling iron" I lie and she nods.

"Be more careful next time, baby" She warns me.

"I will" I paste on a smile.

❦ ❦ ❦

Scott, our mother and I exit the elevator to see Allison asleep in the waiting chairs and I frown softly. We reach her and I gently place my hand on her shoulder, shaking her a little. Her eyes flutter open and she smiles at me sleepily.

"Hi" She croaks.

"You okay, Alli?" I ask her, my hand not leaving her shoulder.

She nods and I squeeze her softly, making the girl smile up at me.

"Have you been here all night?" Scott asks.

"Yeah, they won't let me see him because I'm not family" She answers "I told them he doesn't have any"

"He's got us" Mom corrects "And i've got a key card"

Allison looks from my mother to me and we share a wide grin. The raven haired girl stands up and her hand immediately reaches for mine as we follow my mother and brother through the hallway.

"What happened to you?" Allison whispers in my ear and I ignore the shivers that are sent down my spine.

"Accident with a curling iron" I lie and she furrows her brows.

"Don't you curl your hair with a straightener?" She questions.

I gulp and turn my head to look at her, the Argent girl looking at me in concern.

"The guy I was making out with took it too far" I admit quietly and she frowns deeply.

"Do you want me to kick their ass?" She asks and I smile in amusement.

"Maybe later" I reply.

We reach Isaac's room and Mom swipes her key card, opening the door to reveal a sickly looking Isaac in a hospital bed with tubes and machines attached to his body.

"Be quick" Mom warns us.

Scott nods and I feel Allison squeezing my hand so I turn my head to see her worried gaze now locked on the Lahey boy. I gently tug her forward and she looks at me, seeming to relax a little.

The three of us stand by Isaac's side and I grimace at the boy's skin which has been burned to a charcoal black.

"I thought he'd be healing by now" Allison speaks up.

"So did I" Scott agrees.

"Why isn't he healing?" I frown in concern.

Scott reaches out and takes a hold of Isaac's arm, his eyebrows shooting up in shock.

"Is he in pain?" Allison asks and Scott nods.

Scott gets a better grip on the boy's arm and I watch as black veins start running up my brother's arm as he takes Isaac's pain. Isaac turns his body, relief flooding his face while Scott screws his face up in pain.

"Scotty, that's enough" I warn him, grabbing his wrist.

He pants heavily and looks down at Isaac with a broken expression of sadness. Allison brings her hand up to cover her mouth, the girl's eyes watering and it looks as though it's just as hard for her to watch the scene before us as it is for me.

"It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain" Scott declares.

"Did Stiles really do this?" Allison demands abruptly and Scott glances at me.

"Whatever's controlling him did it" I answer her.

"Whatever's inside of him" Scott adds.

"Well, then how do we get whatever's inside of him the hell out of him?" Allison questions.

"I'm working on it" Scott replies.