Midnight Scarlet » Stilinski

Twenty

                                                            Chapter Twenty

                                                                   • Stiles •

It’s amazing how fast you can fall out of love.

            When I asked Aubrey to meet me in the woods, I was fully prepared to tell her that I wasn’t in love with Lydia anymore― I wanted to tell her. The fact that she took my hand and gazed up at me with her sparkling eyes told me that it was time for me to tell her. I would’ve kissed her, if she hadn’t told me she was engaged.

            She’s engaged. Whether or not she likes her fiancé, she’ll be walking down the aisle soon, and I’m in no place to stop that. Who am I to steal the bride, just because I might be in love with her?

            I had left the woods in a bitter rage, furiously telling her to stay away from me. I didn’t truly mean the words, but it was easier that way. Maybe I can actually survive for three weeks, knowing that she’ll be married, if I can’t see her.

            But Aubrey doesn’t have three weeks. She only has three days.

            I press myself harder against my bed, hoping the mattress will swallow me whole. Aubrey’s scream still rings in my ears, full of despair and frustration. I know exactly how she feels; I feel it, too.

            I know I shouldn’t get involved when it’ll only break my heart, but I can’t just watch from the sidelines while my time with Aubrey ticks down to nothing. Whether it’s three days or three weeks, I want to be with her. If I can’t keep her, maybe I can just borrow her. I don’t want to hand her over to death without her knowing how much she means to me.

            I spring up, reaching for my jacket and shoes. I have to find her, right now, and apologize for earlier. She needs to know, right now.

            My phone buzzes, sliding across the bedside table obnoxiously. Sighing, I read the text from Scott: Get to the clinic now! Allison and Aubrey are here.

            Panic descends to my stomach, and I fight to control my hyperventilating impulse. Aubrey’s okay, I think, playing the words over in a constant loop. She’s okay. She has to be.

                                                                   •  •  •

Waiting, waiting, waiting. It’s so much like the last time I was here, except now it’s almost impossible to sit still. Was I really here only hours ago? It feels like forever ago, the distant memory of a dream half-forgotten.

            Aubrey is on a table in the main room, just as Lydia was, and she’s screaming like someone has clipped the tips of her nerve endings. I grit my teeth, tapping my feet impatiently on the tile floor.

            Allison had filled me and Scott in, telling us about their brush with the kanima. She recovered from being paralyzed, and only suffered from a few minor cuts. Scott took her home not long ago, leaving me to be eaten away by thoughts.

            Aubrey controls the kanima… or she’s supposed to anyway. From what Allison described, she’s clearly the master, but why didn’t the creature listen to her? The kanima is like a bloodthirsty little puppy, only following the commands of its master. But what happens if that puppy doesn’t want to be controlled?