"What in the hell is wrong with him?"

"I don't know; he almost killed Lydia."

I hear voices bounce around in my head as I slowly start to wake up, it taking me a moment or two to remember what had happened. The moment it finally hits me, I'm sitting up as far as my body lets me and coughing, water burning in my throat. I keep my eyes latched shut for some reason, but I continued to cough until it was finally all out.

The room around me is silent as I slowly open my eyes, taking everything in. I was no longer in the school; instead, I was positive that I was now sitting in the vet clinic. Out of all places they could have taken me, I was surprised that they brought me here. But then again, Deaton technically was the doctor for us supernatural creatures.

Then I recognized who all was standing here. To my right was Jade, followed by Scott and then, of course, Allison. My eyes stop on her when I see her standing there, fear and sadness written on her face. Something inside of me cared, but just when I thought I did, something was pulling that part of me downwards until I eventually forgot that I did once care about her.

"Corey," Allison says, biting her nails before lowering her arm. The rest of them stare at me, waiting for me to make a move, but I already knew my move.

Suddenly, I'm bringing my hands to the side; the same motion I would have used to jump down off of the table I was now sitting on. However, when I go to do this, my hands stop in their spots, not wanting to go any farther. That was when I looked down and found that I was strapped down to the table; my wrists and ankles both.

I narrow my eyes as I look up, making eye contact with Allison. "What in the hell is this?"

"Why did you try and kill Lydia?" Scott snaps back at me. I knew he must be enjoying this.

I cock my head. "Try?"

"She's okay," Jade answers me, shaking her head. "You failed."

I bite my lip, blood being drawn from it. Rage fills my entire body. "Only a few more seconds...if you wouldn't have been there, she would be dead right now!"

Allison yells over me. "Why! Why in the hell do you want her dead?"

Her chest heaves inwards and outwards as I throw myself forwards as far as I can go, insanity in my eyes. "Why? She's a banshee. She's a threat. She's the only person standing between Stiles' freedom from that...fox. Removing her from the equation means we get Stiles back...isn't that what you all want?"

Allison starts crying then. I felt nothing when I should have. "Corey..."

"He's in his head," Jade breathes then, taking a step backwards. "The nogitsune-"

Scott cuts her off, furrowing his eyebrows. "In his head?"

"That's the only thing that explains it," Jade nods. "Deucalion had a way to get in our heads when we wouldn't listen to him; what if the nogitsune does too? Considering it's a trickster spirit, it wouldn't surprise me. The question is how-"

"You're wrong," I laugh, shaking my head at her. Never did I hate Jade as much as I did now; she ruined my life before, she ruined my plan, and here she was now, blaming the nogitsune for what's happening to me. "He just helped me find myself. This is me."

Allison's eyes leave me as she looks over at Jade. "What do you mean Deucalion had a way to get in your head?"

Scott answers. "Peter did the same thing. Back in the school that night we were trapped in there, he used his howl to control me. I almost killed you then, Allison."

"If werewolves have that ability, I'm willing to bet that the nogitsune has a way too." Jade pauses and takes a few steps towards me, her eyes locked in mine. "How'd he do it, Corey?"

"I already told you, you're wrong!" I scream as I thrash around, desperate to get free. Allison and Scott both jump backwards, but Jade stays locked in position. "Let me out of here!"

Scott takes a step forwards, throwing his hands down onto the table I was laying on, screaming. "What? So you can go try and kill Lydia again? She's our friend, Corey! She's your friend!"

I glare up at him, halfway baring my teeth. "She might be my friend, but Stiles is my brother. Stiles is your friend, too! Can't you see the issue here? It's either Stiles or Lydia; make your pick. I made mine." I take a deep breath, my eyes growing sad. "I can't...I can't lose Stiles, you know that, Scott."

His eyes soften in that moment, making me believe for a second that he was on my side, but then that same old hopeful Scott made an appearance. "We aren't going to lose him. We aren't going to lose Lydia either. There is no choice between the two of them, Corey. We're going to find a way to save them both, whether you like it or not."

He turns around then, looking as if he was going to leave, but I wasn't done yet. "That's the difference between you and I, Scott. You're too damn stubborn to make a choice now when it's in plain sight, so you'd rather risk everyone else's lives to save one extra one. You'll never win, Scott; haven't you realized that by now? Death surrounds you."

He looks over his shoulder at me, eyes narrow, but I could tell that what I said got under his skin. "We're going to save them...all of them."

I laugh in that moment; a laugh that I've never even heard myself laugh before. Allison brings her hand up to her mouth as tears fall down her cheeks while Jade stands there with utter disgust, but a mysterious look on her face that sort of worried me.

She stops Scott before he walks out of the door. "Allison, would your dad know more about what could be wrong with him?"

Allison looks up, licking her lips slowly. "Yeah...he might. I think he's out looking for Stiles right now. When I talked to him earlier he was at Stiles', but his phone died before I could get much out of him."

Jade looks back at Scott. "We need to find him and figure this out."

"Come on," Scott says, hand on the door. "Allison, can you stay with Corey?"

She nods as Jade follows after Scott, walking out of the door as Scott stays behind for a moment, looking over at Allison. "Don't let him get in your head."

"No promises!" I shout after them before Scott leaves, leaving Allison and I alone. I laugh at him before looking back over at Allison, cocking my head slightly. "I think the last time I saw you cry was when your mom died. Oh! Wait, I actually think it was-"

"Just stop!" she shouts at me, shaking her head before turning and leaving the room, mumbling under her breath before disappearing from my sight. "This isn't you..."

"Oh but it is Allie!" I shout, making damn sure she could hear me. "Aw come on, let me out of here and let me do the deed Scott won't do. You know it's the only way!"

Silence. I knew Allison was just ignoring me, making me grow angry. I just wanted to get out of here and finish Lydia off; Stiles couldn't wait much longer. God...I'm running out of time. That was when a bright idea came to me.

Suddenly, I force myself to cry; I had to do it to make this believable. Tears start to stream down my face as I make my voice crack, completely changing tones. "A-Allison...oh my God, what is this?"

I pause for a moment, listening for her. It takes a moment, but suddenly she's appearing back in the doorway as I make eye contact with her, shaking my head as I continue to cry. "W-What is wrong with me? A-Allison-"

"Corey?" she breathes, believing it all.

I stare at her, making my voice crack once again. "I-I almost killed Lydia...wh-what-"

"It's not you," she places her hands in mine, shaking her head as tears start to fall down her face again. "You didn't mean to do that."

"But I still did it," I breathe, hiccuping. "Lydia could be dead right now because of me-"

"But she's not," Allison speaks. "Jade saved her before it was too late. She's in the hospital now; the doctors said that she'll be okay. We told them that she was pushed into the pool and couldn't swim; it's all okay."

I take note on what she said about Lydia. I look up at her, making sure to make it look like lost hope was in my eyes. "B-But I'm not okay."

Allison's nose wrinkles up, despair on her face. "We're going to figure out why you're doing this, okay? Jade and Scott are going to figure it out; I know they will."

I tug on the restraints, slowly hinting at what I wanted. I couldn't just come out and say it; Allison wasn't completely on my side yet. "We could be out there trying to help Stiles right now, but here we are, trying to help me-"

"My dad is looking for him, he'll be okay," Allison nods, squeezing my hand. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Nothing is going to be okay," I start my speech, tears continuing to fall down my face. "We're losing Stiles and now I'm losing myself. We're losing, Allison. Every move we make only plummets us farther down on the totem pole. There's no hope...we have no hope. We're running out of time, and we don't have a move. We can't...we can't win this war."

My head falls back down onto the table as Allison stares over me, her mascara starting to run. "I can't tell you that things are going to turn out okay...I can't make that promise, but I can tell you that we still have hope. We may not have a move yet, but even the greatest wars were won at the last second; from that last strand of hope. We'll keep fighting, for Stiles and for you."

She almost snapped me out of it then; she dug up that part of me that still cared, and I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. However, luckily, something else distracted me from that happening.

Suddenly in that moment, everything I just did didn't matter. The next thing I know, I see Isaac stepping into the room, some sort of syringe in his hand. I'm silent as I watch him come up behind Allison, sticking it into her arm as she screams, her eye lids already starting to close. Isaac lets her fall to the ground, dead asleep, before looking up at me.

He doesn't say a word as he extends his claws, using them to cut me free from the restraints. I bring my hands to my chest as I rub the other wrist with my other hand, finding red marks now imprinted on them. After he breaks me free, I stand up, looking down at Allison, who was now completely limp.

Isaac looks up at me as well, cocking his head as a small smirk spreads across his face.

"Let's go get us a banshee."

[] [] [] [] []

LYDIA RUN, YOU AIN'T SAFE CHICKA

but guYS I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW CLOSE I AM TO ENDING THIS BOOK, IM ABOUT TO CRY LEGIT, I DONT WANT IT TO END

*cue tears*