Still ▸ Teen Wolf [Book Two]

fifty two ; destructive knights

     I've been trying to write this chapter for the past few weeks now, and I realized that Letharia Vulpina has got to be the worst episode for me to put into a book even though I absolutely love watching it. So, there's probably a lot of mistakes in this chapter. This episode is the most gutwrenching for me to write, and I just wanted to let you guys know that I love all of the support that you've given me through this book. This chapter is 9K words, just to make up for the lack of updates that I've had lately. I love you. I'm sorry.

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FIFTY TWO;

DESTRUCTIVE KNIGHTS

It seemed like, no matter how hard she tried, the blood refused to come off her hands. The paramedics offered her a towel after they were able to pry her away from Coach's unconscious body, but that did little for what was already dry. The last time she was put in a position like this, it was Scott's father that she was keeping alive and that was a fragile memory all on its own. Sage didn't like the idea of someone's life being placed in her hands; she didn't like the idea of being responsible for something that could be bound with a thousand different outcomes. Had Coach been just a few inches shorter, or had the arrow been a few inches higher, another life would be placed on Stiles' hands with the remaining blood on her own. Now, all she got was a, "Your father would be proud of you, Sage. You saved this man from bleeding out," when the reality was all she did was sacrifice Luke's hoodie and her ability to think.

"If you keep rubbing anymore, your hand is going to fall off," Scott proclaimed, the teenage boy coming back from speaking to the paramedics about Coach's condition. Sage lifted her head when she heard him, the towel stopping its mission to take off her hand in the process. The werewolf sent her a weak smile before grabbing the cloth from her trembling fingers, placing it in the back of his pocket so that she wouldn't be tempted by it. "So, everyone's talking about you saving Coach's life. They said if we'd have taken out the arrow, he would have bled out by the time they arrived. It would have hit one of his organs if anyone moved it."

The blonde returned her eyes to the ground, fingers finding their way to twisting her ring. It didn't sit right in her stomach to know that people were actually capable of thinking she saved Coach's life when, if anything, she was just the fastest one to her knees. "It's common sense. I didn't do anything that any other person wouldn't have."

"Still, Sage," Scott answered, his eyebrows furring as he squeezed her shoulder in comfort, concerned with the way she was staring at the stained blood. The tense events between the two of them from this morning were gone like they never existed, one of the great things about being friends with Scott McCall: there was never any grudges held. "You've got to give yourself more credit sometimes."

She shook her head at the thought, attention moving away from her skin over to Stiles, who was speaking to his father near the cruiser. The second that Sheriff Stilinski showed up on the scene, his entire charade slipped from the sheriff of the town to the father of Stiles the moment he saw his son. Just like Sage and Scott, there was curiosity in Sheriff Stilinski's mind as he couldn't help but wonder where Stiles had been for two days and what he had been doing. No one was up for the job of telling the man that his son was being controlled by a murderous, psychotic spirit that went by the name of the Nogitsune, of whom was responsible for the hospital incident and the one with Coach - and, that they had absolutely no idea how to help him.

"Scott, what are we doing to do?" Sage's voice barely carried over to the boy, the question feeling more rhetorical than ever as she continued to observe Stiles while he talked to his dad. He looked like their Stiles, he talked like their Stiles, but she didn't know if she could ever see him as their Stiles after what has happened. It was like they were playing a continuous game of chess, and every time they thought they had a winning move, another one of their pieces was thrown to the side in a useless attempt. A better opponent came to wipe them off the board. Sage just never thought that opponent would be someone they all trusted with their lives.