Their Story ~ Scott McCall [3]

Chapter 6: Broken Deal

Lydia sits silently against the cold, wet wall. Voices scream in her ear and all she can do to block them out is listen to the voice of the Nogitsune.

"You could have ruined everything!" The Nogitsune seethes angrily at a bored-looking Emma.

"You broke your promise." She retorts, finally looking back at him. "And, it all went according to plan anyway. Why make such a big deal?"

"Because if you had done something wrong... One thing could have destroyed the entire plan!" The Nogitsune yells.

"Maybe I wouldn't have been so gutsy if you had just taught me about the stone!" Emma snaps, crossing her arms and looking down the hall towards Lydia. The strawberry-blonde looks at her, hoping to find some semblance of the girl she saw before.

"My tormenta." He coos, a smirk on his face. His hand goes to rest against her jaw softly. The grip suddenly tightens, making Emma grimace as she turns back to look at him. "If you wanted to do something risky, all you had to do was ask." He tells her teasingly.

She giggles, unaffected by the danger in his tone. "I wanted it to be a surprise." She replies, her hand coming to rest on his bicep. After a second, he smashes his lips against hers.

Lydia is so taken aback, she gasps loud enough to alert the couple. The Nogitsune pulls back, slowly turning his head towards Lydia. The voices seem to intensify in her head, making her stand fearfully, trying to run away.

"Can you hear them?" The Nogitsune's voice bounces off the walls. "Louder than usual, isn't it? Well, that's because a lot of bad things happened down here." He starts to stalk towards her slowly, making her back up quicker. "What are the voices telling you? Are they saying that Stiles is dying? He is, you know. He's dying."

"Then what do you need me for?" She yells back, turning a corner in her escape attempt. "You think I can tell you something?" She reaches a gated door, her hands desperately trying to wiggle it open.

The Nogitsune laughs darkly as Emma stays put, her thoughts swirling in her head. "Oh, I know you can," The Nogitsune says.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Lydia shouts, gasping in fear.

"You won't have to." Emma hears the Nogitsune whisper. "You'll be screaming."

Lydia lets out an ear-piercing screech. All Emma does is manipulate the winds to keep the sound in Lydia's general area.

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"They'll find her," Emma states, glancing at Lydia. "Her friends are going to find her."

"You think so?" The Nogitsune asks condescendingly. "I, myself, was kind of wondering what they're doing right now. What useless lead they're chasing. I wonder if maybe some of them have bigger problems to deal with right now. Are they really spending every minute looking for her? Or... Are they waiting for nightfall? Focused on some hopeless gesture to pass the time."

Emma rolls her eyes. "I know them. They are all probably running through the woods, trying to find their little banshee friend."

"What do you want?" Lydia snaps, tried of hearing them talk.

"More." The Nogitsune answers.

"More what?"

"The Trickster stories are all about food, Lydia," Emma explains. "The Coyote, the Raven, the Fox. They're all hungry."

"I'm the same." The Nogitsune shrugs. "I just crave something a little different. I eat what you feel. And I am insatiable."

"No, you're not." Emma rolls her eyes. The Nogitsune turns back to her, a daring look in his eyes. "Nothing's insatiable. My theory is that you go from place to place, eating all the pain you can and before long, it'll consume you. Your little appetite problem will be the death of you."

Suddenly, the Nogitsune is picking up Emma by the neck. "You might want to shut your mouth." He warns.

Emma starts to laugh. "I know you think you're menacing, but you can't kill me." The Nogitsune's expression turns darker but he does nothing. "You kill me and you lose your little game, isn't that right?"

After a moment, the Nogitsune drops Emma. He growls lowly at her before stalking off.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Lydia observes as Emma bites her lip. "You know they're coming. You know they're going to kill him before you get whatever it is you want."

"Well, that's exactly why he's keeping you so close." Emma sneers, grabbing Lydia's arm and pulling her towards one of the gated doorways.

"They're here," Lydia says suddenly. The Nogitsune appears behind Emma, both of them exchanging a look. The Nogitsune grabs both girls and pulls them into a gated room. "And I don't need to scream to know that they're going to kill you."

"Good. Because that's exactly why I brought you. I needed to know when they'd be close enough." The Nogitsune pulls out a knife, turning around in his hand. "When my own death was closing in." Five Oni appear in the small room. They pull out their swords as Lydia races to the side of the room, terrified. "'Cause only when they're close, can I do this..." He pulls up his knife, one hand on either end. As the Oni close in, Emma's stance turns defensive as the Nogitsune snaps the knife in half. Everything descends into darkness.

Lydia hears only silence with the exception of a whisper in the wind: Save them.

Above the tunnels, Noshiko stands facing Allison, Isaac, and Kira. Noshiko gasps slightly, feeling a weight being lifted off of her. She opens her hand to find a dying firefly. It disintegrates into darkness, leaving only questions.

"Mom?" Kira asks.

"What was that?" Isaac demands. "What does it mean?"

"It means," Everyone turns at the familiar voice. Emma stands on top of a crate as the Nogitsune emerges from the shadows, the Oni behind him. "There's been a change in ownership," Emma smirks at everyone's astonished and frightened expressions. "Now they belong to him."

The Oni pull out their swords and start to battle. Kira swings her sword in vain, Isaac manages to tackle an Oni to the ground for a few seconds before being thrown off. Allison shoots arrows, hoping one would stick. All Emma hopes is that Lydia was wrong.

"How do we stop them?" Isaac yells, swing his claws.

"You can't!" Noshiko replies.

"Come on," Emma mutters, eyes darting from Oni to supernaturals.

Isaac suddenly gets triple-teamed— three Oni swing their swords, each bringing more blood to the ground. The Nogitsune smirks as Emma notices Allison knock her last arrow. Isaac drops to his knees and the Oni swings its sword up for a finishing blow. Allison lets her arrow fly straight into the Oni's chest.

Its sword drops to the ground, clattering loudly. The Oni stares at the arrow before trying to claw at it. A green light emerges as the ground shakes. It bursts into darkness, leaving everyone shocked, including the Nogitsune.

"Not so all-powerful after all." Emma breathes, a small smile on her lips. The emotion does not last, however, as Emma spots an Oni raises its sword. All she can do is open her mouth before the sword reaches Allison's chest.

The Nogitsune grabs her arm but she yanks it out of his grasp, pushing him away. Her eyes go back to Allison as Scott emerges from the tunnels. He catches Allison before she can touch the ground as the Nogitsune wraps his arms around Emma's waist, trying to pull her away.

"Let me go." She snaps, but to no avail. Her eyes meet Allison's before she turns back to face the Nogitsune. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, my little tormenta," it coos. "But we're going now."

"You broke your promise." She hisses, trying to rip herself from his grasp.

"Not like you care." He whispers in her ear. The last thing she sees is Allison's pale face before the Nogitsune pulls her away.