𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰

Chapter 44

I sat in the Archive room reading a book. Okay, I wasn't really reading so much as staring at the book bored out of my mind. That is, until Landon walked by me with a 7 or 8 books in his hand and dropped them on a nearby table with a sigh. I raised a brow curious. He flipped them open obviously searching for something. I ignored him and turned my attention back to the book in front of me. "Let the fish out of water do his own thing." I mumbled to myself before getting to my feet and heading up to my room. 

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"A black-winged what?" Kaleb asked Hope confused. "Shapeshifting dream demon." Hope and Landon said in unison. "I know it sounds bad, but now that we know what the creature is, we can fight it." Hope explained. "How the hell are we supposed to kill a dream demon?" Rafael asked. "Leave that part to me. But since I can't fall asleep without compromising the location of the urn, I need someone else to pull it out of the dream plane and into our waking reality." Hope added. "So, Freddy Krueger. Like I said." MG pointed out. "Wait, how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Raf asked. "If it's anything like the movies, we just grab and pull." MG answered. "Yeah, okay. Is it too late to get on the, uh, evacuation bus?" Kaleb asked. "No. I mean, I'm not gonna ask all of you to stay for this, it has to be your choice." Hope stated. Everyone was silent. "I'm not leaving unless Hope does." Landon voiced getting to his feet. "We already know the answer to that so..." Hope said to no one in particular. "I'm not leaving Landon behind." Rafael said standing as well. "I'm a founding member of the Super Squad, so I can't bail." MG announced standing up next. "Ya'll gonna get yourselves killed. But if MG stays, I stay. No child left behind." Kaleb told everyone. All eyes looked to me. "Well...given my current psychological dilemma. I'm already dealing with three demonic creatures. What's one more?" I said getting to my feet with a sigh. "Now I'm standing, y'all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses, standing in a circle." I said crossing my arms. MG let out a chuckle. "Why are you laughing?" Kaleb asked him. "I understood that reference." He stated. I shook my head with a chuckle. 

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I stood in the Lafayette Cemetery in New Orleans. Before me were multiple tombs. I took a step forward to see Hope's name on the first one. My eyes went wide as I shook my head. "You say that you fear nothing. That you will win against...this war of ours. You are gravely mistaken...boy." A voice said as a tear rolled down my cheek. I looked over to see the rest of my family's names next to Hope's. "No! No! This isn't real!" I yelled. "It is! YOU WILL BE THE CAUSE OF THIS!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! YOU HARBOR DEMONS!!! DEATH FOLLOWS YOU LIKE A SHADOW!! NO IS SAFE FROM YOU! NOT EVEN YOUR DEAREST TWIN SISTER, HOPE! OR THE WITCH OF YOURS...JOSETTE SALTZMAN!" The voice screamed. I spun around at the mention of Josie's name. I saw her body on the ground in front of me. Blood was slowly trickling down her nose and ears. She had a hole in her chest and glassy eyes. I fell to my knees holding her head in my arms. "Josie?" I croaked in tears. "Never forget...Stiles. We do not serve you. You are our vessel. You do as we say. If we wanted you to slaughter your school. You would do it. if we wanted you to murder your family. You would do it. Because...you have no say in the matter. Because we CONTROL you. Not the other way around. We can make them pay, Stiles. We can make them ALL pay. For what they did to us. But the thing is...not matter how much we despise you...we'd have to be pretty stupid to leave your body. Given you happen to be the most powerful person on the planet compared to your sister. The only one of us that actually cares about is the Kasai. The hound and I? Not so much." Two voices ranted. I glanced up with a glare at two figures. One was enveloped in flames with sharp ears, multiple fangs, large black claws, and dark red skin that almost looks black with a glowing red outline. Their eyes were pitch black with glowing orange irises.

The other was...me...but way paler. In a white formal suit, a black long-sleeved button up with unbuttoned at the top. His shoes were as black as his eyes. They were pitch black with yellow-green irises. His hair was a bit longer than mine and covered his right eye a bit. Black smoke emanated off of him like tendrils. He took a step towards me. But when he moved he seemed to glitch...almost teleport each time he stepped towards me. "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU IN WAYS THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE!!" I raged. "Are you threatening us?" He asked glitching to my face. 

He was infinitely more menacing up close. He grabbed my neck and tightened his grip. "We hesitate in killing you, insect." He growled as smoke raged about on his shoulders. "Thought you wanted me alive?" I rasped. "Of course. But don't think for one second that gives you the freedom of doing whatever the hell you want. Or I will make your life more miserable than your father made the lives of his siblings. And every vampire in the world." He snarled baring chrome teeth and fangs. "What are you--" I started before I felt a sharp pain in my gut. I let out a scream of pain. I looked down to see the demon had stabbed a dagger into my stomach. "Would you look that? Now...where have I seen this before? Hmm...Now...You cross me? I'll kill you and everyone you care about. Got it? And if you think you can out-trick me...you got another thing coming...because I will literally gut you...and hang you by your entrails for everyone to see. Then...I'll kill everybody. Starting with that sister of yours...and ending with your beloved crush." He threatened twisting the blade in my stomach. I widened my eyes as I let out a shout of pain. "And I'll make sure...that the Hound...gets his feast that's been about 1000 years overdue. I'm sure he'll love the head of a Siphoner witch, don't you?" He added grabbing my shoulder. I clenched my jaws glaring at him. My eyes flickered violet. "No no." He said quickly. My vision returned to normal. "You see...in your dreams...I am the King. Your nightmares. I rule. Your thoughts. I plague. Everything you do. I orchestrate. Everything you know. I do. THERE'S NO ESCAPING ME, BOY!!! NOW WHERE. IS. THE URN?!" He raged. I stared at him before spitting blood into his face. He wiped it away with clenched jaws. At the moment, I grabbed his hand and yanked it away from me before grabbing the dagger and pulling it out with a painful grunt. I tackled him to the ground. "Two words, jackass." I spat raising the dagger above my head. "Fuck you." I growled before slamming the dagger into his heart. He let out a roar before he morphed into the Night Hag. It disappeared along with the Hellhound. I looked at Josie's dead body before my eyes fluttered. I dropped the dagger before collapsing to the ground.