Give your heart a break ~ Scott McCall

Echo House pt.1

3rd PERSON POV

The twins were both in Aries hospital room trying to help him heal. " I don't get it, why is it taking so long?" Ariadne asked her brother as they both pulled away to catch their breaths. "Look, sometimes it just takes a little longer" Oceanus replied calmly. " But we're not werewolves! We're shadow hunters! We have angle blood" she pressed.

" Calm down. We've gotta go to Deaton's, figure out a way to help Stiles" Oceanus grabbed her shoulders and walked out of the room. Something was wrong, she could tell, and she knew her brother did too.

ARIADNE'S POV

We were all at the clinic talking to Chris over the phone. " Did you have trouble with Ikeda?" Chris asked Deaton. " Only minor. The white wolf was exactly where you said it would be. But we have two problems now. First, the lichen is not a cure. It'll ware off in the matter of days" Deaton explained to him.

" But while it does work, the oni won't go after Stiles, right?" Argent asked him. Personally, I don't think the oni would ever step foot into Eichen House. I know I wouldn't on purpose.

" I hope. Eichen house has an unusual history. It might not be safe for the oni there as well" Deaton theorized. " What's the second problem?" Argent asked.

" I checked with your contacts in Japan. The Yakuza Boss you saw killed by the oni never found the scroll" Deaton looked at us. " What scroll?" Cora asked curiously.

" A Shugendo Scroll. The Shugendo were the ascetic mystics of Japan" Deaton explained. "The scroll on how to exorcise a nogitsune" Chris added. " So we need to find that scroll" Scott said. " Exactly" Deaton confirmed.

" And I did get a name of the last man who purchased it. Kincaid" I looked over at Allison, Oceanus, and Cora. They told me about him.

" He was with Katashi. He's the guy who met with Aries to buy the gun" Allison said to her dad. " Sounds like Katashi wanted the scroll to himself" I mumbled.

" But Stilinski already told me nothing like it was found among his things. And a paranoid like Katashi would've kept it close" Chris dismissed what I said but gave us an idea.

" What does a Shugendo Scroll look like?" Oceanus asked from beside Cora. " Something like this" Deaton pulled a big scroll out from his desk and handed it to us.

" Do these come in different sizes?" My brother asked Deaton, " any size" he replied. " I think I might now where it might be" Ocean realized. Chris said his goodbyes and hung up the phone.

" Care to elaborate?" I asked him. " The scroll comes in any size. So what if it's small enough to fit in his silver finger?" He asked us, we all agreed and turned to Deaton. " It's possible, but you've gotta hurry if you want it" he warned us.

3rd PERSON POV

Derek and Chris were sitting back to back with a few bars putting very little space between them. " Still nothing?" Chris asked Derek, "Derek!" Chris called again. " Hold on" he replied calmly. His eyes were closed as he was trying to focus on what was happening. " You were right. They're moving all the evidence" Derek opened his eyes again.

" Was there anything about the murder itself? Any details?" Chris asked another question. "Just that they're putting Katashi's things in federal lockup. Something about Stilinski being out for the day" Derek told him everything he heard.

" You know that if all of this is true, people are dead because of Stiles" Derek reminded him. He couldn't help but think about the pinky promise he made Ariadne.

" But is it really Stiles? Remember we had this problem before?" Argent remembered the Kanima. " We got lucky with Jackson. What happens when you don't get lucky?" Derek asked him.

" I guess that depends on how much of Stiles is left. Have you ever heard of Berserkers?" Chris asked. He was getting ready to tell a story. "Warriors. They wore the skins of bears to channel their ferocity" Derek remembered the stories that his mom used to tell him.

" They didn't just wear them, they became them. A couple years ago, a family came to us for help with their son. This group of teenagers, they were doing all sorts of rituals with animal skins. Somehow, they tapped into it. With Berserkers, the human side doesn't last very long, they get tempered by the moon" Derek listened with curiosity. " He kill people?" He asked.

" He tore them apart. Eventually, I had to tell the family their son was gone. Took three of us to take him down, almost every bullet we had. And when it was over, I felt no remorse, none. I knew that kid was long gone" Chris ended the story.

" Would you feel any remorse, putting Stiles down?" Derek asked with edge in his tone. He probably would feel remorse if he had to, but only if there was no other way.

" Stiles, yes. But not a nogitsune" he answered honestly.

Meanwhile, Stiles was in Eichen house. " I wanna go back to the topic of guilt today. It might surprise you to hear me say that guilt is a good thing" Morell said to the group. Malia and Stiles made eye contact. " It's a rather, mature emotion" she added.

" Malia," Morell noticed the looks, " you said something about guilt the other day" everybody turned to Malia. " I said it made me feel sick to my stomach" She said as she looked Stiles directly in the eye. If anybody probably felt the most guilt in that place, it would be Malia.

" Guilt often becomes physical. You feel it in your gut, it's not just psychological" Morell was directing all of this to Stiles, but he wasn't paying attention. He looked behind him to see the nogitsune talking with a doctor.

" How does guilt make you feel, Stiles?" Morell asked him. " I'm sorry, what?" He wasn't paying attention. " Guilt. What does it make you feel?" She asked again.

" Nervous" he kept his answer short. " Like a sense of urgency. You feel the need to make up for something that you've done, to apologize" Stiles could feel the nogitsune just staring him down, but he knew it wasn't real. The problem was even though he knew, it still terrified him.

" These are healthy responses. Does anyone know what we call someone who doesn't experience guilt?" She asked the small group. "Sociopath" Oliver raised his hand shyly, afraid of being wrong. " That's right, Oliver" Morell congratulated him with a small smile. But it instantly dropped when she saw the back of Stiles neck.

" I'm sorry, everyone. We need to take a break" she closed her book abruptly, " Stiles, come with me. I'd like to talk to you for a minute" She stood up and Stiles followed after her.

" It's called a Lichtenberg figure. They appear on lighting strike victims" Morell told him as she rubbed her fingers over the mark. " The fact that they're appearing on you after a shot of wolf lichen, is significant and strange" Stiles turned around to face her.

" By significant and strange, you mean hopeful and optimistic?" He was being sarcastic but he was trying to be hopeful. " When the marks fade, the nogitsune's grip will return" Morell held a bottle in front of him.

" What are these, sleeping pills?" He asked curiously as he took the bottle from her hands. " Sleeping is not what you want to do. These will keep you awake. You're vulnerable when you sleep" she warned.

" So all I have to do is stay awake?" It didn't seem that hard to him. " For now. If your friends haven't figured out something by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you" Morell said with an edge in her tone. " To tell me what to do?" He asked curiously. " To give you an injection, Pancuronium Bromide. It caused respiratory paralysis" she held up a small container.

" That sounds a lot like death" he realized. " It's used for lethal injection, yes" she confirmed. "So, when the nogitsune takes over, you're gonna kill me?" He asked in disbelief.

" I'm gonna do what I've always done, maintain balance" Stiles was curious to know how she knew. He figured Deaton must've told her, after all, they're related.

" Okay, I missed our talks. Thanks for the illicit drugs" he held up the bottle and walked away. "Stiles," she called out, making him turn around, " stay awake" she warned.