Silence. That's the only thing I would tune into. The sound of the white noise made it hurt less, but even then it wasn't a cure, let alone an escape to what I had done. 

It was easier when we lost Boyd, and I hated to admit that. Just like Boyd, I barely knew Isaac either. The only difference this time around was that I knew that it was me that changed the future; when Boyd died, I didn't have the mindset that I had done it. Knowing that someone that wasn't supposed to die lost their life because of me was almost too much to bear. I felt like the weight of the world was dangling on my shoulders and I couldn't breathe. 

Jade was affected the most. Despite witnessing Isaac die in her arms as she cried over his body, she turned into someone that I didn't know. 

"Jade," Scott breathes as he reaches his hand out to touch her shoulder, but the moment he lays his hand on her, she yanks herself away.

She shakes her head as she looks up then, Isaac's lifeless eyes still gazing upon the sky. "This can't be happening...this isn't happening!"

Scott kneels down next to her as she stares across at him, her face wrinkling up and turning into ugly sobs. Never did I expect Jade to care that much about someone; not even me. She was that type of person to lock away her feelings for anyone, and to see all of that emotion come out at once was something that broke my heart even more.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she breathes as Scott pulls her into him, letting her cry on him. "This wasn't what was supposed to happen!"

Her words echo in my mind as I stare frozen at Scott and her, everything else around me crashing down. Jade was right; this wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be Allison; Isaac wasn't supposed to take her place. 

As I stared at the two of them, I couldn't help but feel almost...relieved. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't stop telling myself that at least it wasn't Allison. At least I wasn't the one crying over her dead body right now. I was selfish. 

But seeing Jade cry that way made me feel as if I had lost her too. She was going to hate me; I killed the boy she cared about. She was too busy focused on saving Allison that she looked  away from Isaac, and she was too slow. She couldn't save both of them.

Jade looks up at me over Scott's shoulder then, her eyes speaking more words than one. "This wasn't supposed to happen..."

She didn't say the words she wanted to, but I knew it was what she was thinking behind those eyes of hers. "It's your fault!" she would scream at me,"I hope you're happy now. You got your perfect ending." I wished that she would go off on me for some reason, just because I deserved it. 

As for Allison, she wouldn't leave my side. The whole time everyone was focused on Isaac, she was busying herself as she tended to my wound from the Oni's sword. I knew she was just doing it to distract herself; that's how she coped with grief. I realized that when her mother had died and she turned to Gerard for relief.

She was still with me as well as I sat in this hospital bed, thinking about what had happened a few hours before. Right now she was asleep in the chair next to me, and I was envious of her. I haven't been able to even close my eyes. Every time I tried to sleep, I was greeted with an image of Isaac being stabbed or Allison, so I eventually just gave up.

I look up then when I see Melissa walk into the room, her face filled with just as much grief as the rest of us. I knew she knew Isaac more than me, but I think most of her grief was because of how young Isaac was. "You're not sleeping are you?"

"I can't sleep," I shake my head as I sit up a little bit farther. I glance down at Allison. "She's passed out cold though."

Melissa stops and smiles faintly down at her. "At least one of us is able to rest."

The room is silent for a long moment before she looks back up at me, walking over quietly not to wake Allison. I thought that she was going to tend to my arm, but instead, she sits down at the foot of the bed, just like how my own mother used to when she wanted to talk to me.

"It amazes me how any of you kids can function," she breathes, her eyes trailing downwards for a few seconds. "When I was your age, I was worried about finals, not how I had to protect my friends every single day. It's...It's not fair what happened to Isaac. No person deserves to go that young. You kids carry so much weight of the world on your shoulders; the weight that not even most adults can say they carry. Along with that weight comes responsibility and loss, and it's not something you kids deserve to go through. What happened to Isaac wasn't anyone's fault. I just hope you kids understand that and don't put the blame on your shoulders."

I try to swallow what she was saying to me, but I couldn't. "But the blame is on my shoulders. Isaac wasn't supposed to die, Melissa. I saw Allison die in a vision; she was supposed to be the one last night, not Isaac. I-It is my fault-"

"Not even someone like you can control fate," she speaks as she takes my hand softly, giving me comfort. "You're just a teenager, Corey. Trying to save your best friend isn't a sin; anyone in your position would have done the same thing. You didn't know about Isaac, and if you would have, you would have tried just as hard to save him too. You can't tell yourself that what happened was because of you, because it wasn't."

I realized then that I had tears in my eyes. "I just can't lose anyone else. Isaac is gone, and Stiles looks as if he's dying too-"

"You won't lose Stiles," Melissa nods, her eyes staring into my own. "I watched the Sheriff lose his wife, and I won't let him lose his son too."

That was the last peaceful moment I had before the sound of all hell breaking loose fills the hospital hallway, along with the lights starting to flicker. Allison jolts awake as Melissa gets up off the bed and walks towards the doorway, sticking her head out to see what was going on. I sit up in bed as Allison looks between the two of us. 

"What's going on?" she asks as she yawns, her eyes going back to Melissa. 

People scream as they dash down the hall, running to nowhere in particular. Melissa shakes her head. "I don't know, but I have a feeling that we need to get out of here."

She comes back to the side of my bed then as she unhooks a couple of the machines attached to me, wrapping another layer of gauze around my arm quickly as well. Allison pulls out one of her ring daggers she had sticking down in her boot before they help me up out of the bed, my arm hurting like hell. 

"You didn't see anything?" Allison asks as I regain my balance, looking up towards the door to see that there weren't anymore people running by.

Melissa shakes her head. "No, just people running. Come on."

The lights continue to flicker above our heads as we make our way out of the room, heading towards the elevator that was just around the corner. Allison trails behind Melissa, holding out her dagger in case anyone decided to come at us. Suddenly then, the lights go out completely and we're left in almost pitch black.

"The elevator is straight ahead," Melissa says to us as we stumble inside. I thought everything was going to be okay before I turn back around and see something off down the hall, not giving me a comforting thought.

"Does anyone else see that too?" I ask as I point down the hall, my finger shaking. Staring back at me was a pair of bright green eyes. At least, that was before the one set turned into three others.

Melissa tenses up before pushing the downwards button repeatedly, trying to make the elevator move faster, but of course it didn't. The eyes come closer to us then, and that was when I saw that it was the Oni, confirming my thoughts about what the eyes were. The elevator doors don't even budge as one of the Oni tries to come inside, but before it can, Allison kicks it back and uses her dagger to block it's katana.

I sulk away into the corner, not sure what to do because of my arm and because I couldn't help even if I wanted to. The doors start to close in that moment, but just before they can shut completely, the creature grabs Allison's arm and pulls her out of the elevator, but just far enough to where she could fit. She screams as the elevator doors try to shut on her arm, the Oni not daring to let her go.

Melissa acts fast as she presses the button for the doors to open again, causing the stress to be relieved on Allison's arm, but also allowing the Oni to get inside once again. Somehow, Allison gets her arm free before kicking the dark creature back one more time, Melissa helping her as she did so. I step forwards and press the button for the doors to shut once again; this time, the doors responding faster than the first.

"Get back!" I scream at  them, since I didn't want what just happened to repeat again. Allison does as I say, along with Melissa, but just before Melissa can get back far enough, one of the Oni's katana is reaching through the small crack and slicing Melissa's leg, causing her to drop to the floor.

I rush to her side as she groans and grunts, the doors now completely shut. I press my hands over the wound as Allison takes off her jacket, using it to wrap it around her leg to help stop the bleeding. As we do this, Melissa moves slowly to prop herself up against the wall in the elevator, clenching her teeth as she does so.

"You're going to be alright," I say to her, trying to provide her that same comfort she had given me earlier. "Just breathe, okay?"

Melissa reaches out and takes my hand then, squeezing it tightly. I could tell that she was in a lot of pain; I knew what that pain felt like. Allison leaves her side then, and I wasn't sure why until I hear the doors ding open once again, Allison standing there with her dagger ready to attack if she needed to. However, instead of being greeted by the Oni once again, the first floor is filled with nurses and doctors running around helping other people that were hurt.

I wanted to lift Melissa up off the ground and carry her to a gurney, but my arm wasn't strong enough now to do it. I was about to ask Allison if she could help me before I look down the hall and see Scott's father coming our way, panic and worry on his face.

"What happened!" he screams as he kneels next to Melissa, his eyes landing on the pool of blood in the middle of the elevator.

Allison wasn't sure how to explain. "Someone attacked us upstairs; they got her leg."

Before I can say anything, he's wrapping his arms around Melissa and carrying her out of the elevator, shouting and yelling for any doctor to help her. Allison helps me up off the ground as we follow after the two of them, my eyes catching all of the other doctors and nurses that were hurt as well. I was starting to wonder if there were any doctors that weren't injured.

Finally though, McCall finds someone to help her. He places Melissa onto a gurney, taking her hand to help her through the pain. Allison and I watch with worried glances as the doctor finds gauze to wrap her leg in, giving her a few injections as well I assumed to help with the pain and the bleeding.

As I watch the doctor help Melissa, Allison's phone rings. I don't pay any attention to the conversation she has on the phone before she pulls me aside and tells me what it was about.

"Scott, Kira, Lydia, and Stiles are headed for the school," she tells me. "They have an idea on how to stop the nogitsune."

"We have to go help," I say, shaking my head as I look around me. "No one else can get hurt."

Allison nods with me, agreeing. "We need to hurry then."

"Hang on," I say to Allison before walking back over to Melissa, seeing her trying to breathe through the pain. Blood was starting to coat her lips, and never in my life was I as nervous for her as I was now. 

She opens her eyes as she looks up at me, taking my hand again. Her eyes were filled with pain yet a bright burning hope. Melissa was the person that helped me find hope again, and I couldn't leave without telling her. However, before I can say anything, she speaks first, her tone sending chills up my spine. 

"Save Stiles."

I nod my head as I clench her hand back, praying to God that she was going to make it through this. 

"I promise."

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I cried while I wrote this whole thing. The reality of this being the second to last chapter hit me hard, guys. I don't want to say goodbye to Corey, he's my favorite character I've created. I just hope you guys love him as much as I do.

I also made this, along with something else you'll see soon, but I wasn't sure whether to call it a trailer or just a video edit with the two of them. I made it awhile back, so sorry if you cringe at my terrible video editing skills. 

https://youtu.be/H7Uh4xO1Xos

comment and vote while you still can 

xx