Sacrifice ➣ s.s

Chapter One

"I watched the fire burn and the flames rose high and set the sky ablaze."

-

9:14 pm
2005

"Mama, can we leave now?" Ten year old Alana Lee Ruth tugged at her mother's jacket sleeve. She wanted go home and and watch her favorite Disney movie, Mulan. She was fascinated with how courageous and strong-willed Mulan was. She wanted to be just like her, in almost every way.

But of course, she can't be just like the Disney warrior. She was Alana. And to Alana, herself was boring. But Stiles Stilinski didn't think that— not even close.

The Stilinski boy was her best friend, besides the puppy-like Scott McCall. The three were inseparable really, but Stiles was the closest to Alana. Stiles knew all of her secrets, and she knew all of his— all of their small nine-year-old secrets. They were like un-biological twins.

They had the same mind, same sense of humor, same sarcastic personality. Don't get it wrong— Scott wasn't a third wheel by any means, Stiles and Alana just understood each other down to the last bone in their small bodies.

But McCall was the only one that knew about Alana's crush on little Jackson Whittemore.

And McCall was the only one who knew about Stiles' crush on little Lydia Martin.

It was a confusing relationship between the three, but it seemed to be just right by them. The trio were almost always together, attached by the hips, but not on this night.

Instead, little Alana was at a house party. Her mother wanted her to meet the biological father she'd heard so much about. Her mother had kept him away from her, afraid of reasons unknown.

After two hours of mindlessly wandering around, waiting for her mother to let her meet him or let her leave, she'd decided she had waited long enough. Hence she was attempting to annoy her mother into leaving.

Obviously it didn't work, or they would have already been pulling out of the driveway. They towards the edge of the party, just not how far Alana had hoped. Julia Rune began to pull her little girl into the back room in a drunken haze, a glass of some kind of alcohol in her hand.

"Lana, stop it," she demanded as her daughter struggled in her grasp. Alana only continued to struggle, twisting her wrist and trying to break free from her mother's impossibly strong hold. "ALANA!" Her mother's scream was muffled by all the talking outside of the room. "Mama, let go!" Alana begged, her wrists raw.

She broke free, stumbling back into the wall. She looked up and everything went in slow motion. She saw her mother's glass cup glide from her hand, hurtling toward her face.

Before it could hit her face, she jerked her hand up in front of her in attempt to protect herself. The glass shattered against it and broke the skin causing blood to ooze from the wounds. She cried out in pain, her face burning at the random scratches from pieces of glass that grazed her cheeks.

Blood trickled from them, but not as much as her crimson-covered hand. Alana's mother scolded her, "Look what you made me do, Lana. I'm gonna have to pay for that."

Tears brimmed Alana's eyes as her mother entered the bathroom to the right, closing the door and locking it. She let out a heartbreaking cry, and stared at her mangled and swollen hand. After minutes of crying, she heard screaming come from the party.

The air seemed to get hotter and Alana noticed just how much she'd been sweating. She ran to the door and grabbed the knob with her uncut hand, but retracted when the knob burned her. She hurriedly grabbed the knob and pushed the door open as quick as she could. Once the door was open, flames burst through the opening, barely catching her fingers. She had jumped back just in time.

Alana ran to the bathroom door, bagging on the door and screaming for her mother to come out. She knew that if her mother didn't come out soon, Alana would have to leave her. She felt like the weight of the world was on her small shoulders. She couldn't just leave her mother, but she couldn't stay either.

Sure, her mother wasn't the best drunk, but Alana loved her with all of her heart. After all, she was the one to bring her into this twisted world. She also knew her mother wouldn't be very proud of her for staying there and dying while trying to wake her drunken ass. She would be anything but proud. She'd be disappointed. Alana was sure of it.

Her mother would never do anything to hurt her without that stupid drink she would drink occasionally. It was never this bad before.

Alana ran over to the window on the left side of the room. She pulled at the bottom of it, trying to open it up, but it was either locked or she wasn't strong enough. She started banging on the window, glancing back at the fire that was slowly seeping into the room.

Tears glided down her cheeks, and there was no stopping them. A face appeared in her view as she looked out the window. Derek. He motioned for her to step back, which she had no problem doing. He hit the glass twice and it shattered in.

"Hurry! Come on," he yelled over the crackling of the fire tearing the house down. "Mama!" she screeched one last time, praying for the older woman to emerge from the bathroom. "I'll go back for her, come on, Alana!" Derek exclaimed, grabbing for her.

Suddenly, her mother bursted from the bathroom. Seeing Derek bust the window, she ran over. "Move, I'll pull her out," she drunkenly ordered. Derek helped the older woman out, letting her go in just enough time to pull her child out.

Right as she pulled Alana out, the room was engulfed in fire. She screamed out, feeling the heat grab for her. She felt her mother bring her into her arms, tears soaked on her face. "You're okay, you're okay," she tried to soothe, slurring her sentence.

Derek's eyes met the burned and bleeding hand of Alana, widening. "You need to get her to the hospital. I have to go," he demanded. He turned, running. That was the last time Alana saw the teen, outside of the home he once had, flooded with flames.

"We've got to go home, Lana. You can't speak of this ever. Not even to Scott and Stiles, you hear me?"

-edited #1 June 16th, 2016
-edited #2 July 31st, 2017
-edited #3 May 29th, 2018
-edited #4 July 12th, 2019