HOW TO KILL A PHEANIX

​Carter's body felt heavy, almost like it had been weighed down by dumbbells. And when she tried to push herself upright, she was instantly sent back down on her back. In a panic, she snapped her eyes open, glancing around to see that there were restraints secured around her wrists and ankles along with a single restraint across her body – efficiently holding her down to a bed. No matter how hard she struggled to break free of the restraints, she was not going anywhere. Sighing, she lied back and stared at the ceiling but in that moment a sickening feeling ignited in the pit of her stomach; she suddenly began to panic as the revelation of being in Eichen House hit her in the chest like an axe. The invisible blade sliced through her tissue, carving through bone until it reached her heart – and that was when she knew that she was in Stiles' mind.

​"Car, are you all right?" Scott's voice sounded from her left, his words sounded muffled and distant but when she turned her head on the pillow she saw that he was strapped down to a bed right beside her.
​
When their eyes finally met, they both shared looks of panic as neither of them seemed to understand just how they got into that position in the first place. She never thought that she was end up back in that horrific place ever again – even if it was through someone's subconscious. The two teenagers simultaneously were back to struggling to break free of the restraints that were holding them down. They refused to allow Carter to move, the girl squirming as she tried desperately to harness her werewolf strength, but to no avail, it was like she didn't have an ounce of supernatural strength in her body. And that was when she tried to strain her hearing to hone in on Scott's heartbeat, though, all she got in return was silence. Something was wrong with her. Something was different about her.
​
She let out a cry of frustration, body falling limp after several futile attempts to use her now nonexistent abilities. She glanced over toward Scott once again, watching as the True Alpha struggled as well to break free. The brunette tilted her head at him, taken aback slightly as she wondered why breaking out of the restraints had been so difficult for him – she knew that he still had his werewolf abilities, she could practically feel them radiating off him.
​
"Scott," Carter called out, the Alpha turning his head to look at her as his struggled ceased. "Do I actually need to remind you that you're a werewolf?" She asked, her voice echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and ricocheting back to them

​"We're in Stiles' head," Scott pointed out, talking to her like she hadn't already figured that out.

​Carter quirked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, "And you're a supernatural creature with supernatural strength – break free."
​
It was almost as though Carter's words had triggered something in the teen Alpha's mind, the brunette watching as he slowly nodded his head while thoroughly absorbing her words. Her eyes widened when his fists clenched at his sides, beginning to raise them up as he started to harness his strength; fighting against the leather to break free of their hold. He grunted as he began to strain himself, the veins on his arms and neck bulged out from beneath his skin – and just like that, the straps broke, finally releasing Scott from their grip.
​
His dark eyes widened, head snapping back toward Carter to see a knowing looking on her face. He shook off the ripped straps before leaning forward to unbuckle the ones wrapped around his ankles; he quickly shot off the bed and made his way over to Carter. He worked hastily to unclasp each and every buckle that had been restraining the girl to the bed, trying to ignore the intense smell of anxiety that was looming around her while she slowly began to regain control of her body. She sat upright, throwing her legs over the side of the bed while tenderly rubbing at the purplish raw marks around her wrists – it had been obvious to her then that she definitely did not have a single ounce of lycanthropy in her blood, not even the healing as the marks on her skin continued to morph into darker shades as the seconds passed.

​"What now?" Scott pondered, watching as the brunette slowly rose to her feet.

​"I don't know," Carter admitted, her eyes locked on the mental door in front of her. "I've only been inside someone else's mind once and that was just a memory; a rerun – this is live, so I guess we're basically just blind in here."
​
Carter took a step forward, her mind racing with all of the possibilities of what could be lying behind the mental door and knew very well that she would not forgive herself if they were not able to find and save Stiles. A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her bicep, locking her in her place while her feet skidded to a halt. The brunette whirled around to narrow her eyes at Scott, who's jaw was set firmly while he used his werewolf strength to let her know that he needed to say something and that she needed to hear it.
​
As she looked into his eyes she noticed something – something had shattered between them, as though the link that had been created to bound one to the other had been obliterated; neither of them looking at one another the same way they had two days prior – prior to Eichen House. It could have been because of all the lying they had done to each other. It could have been because Carter knew that the feelings that she had for Scott weren't as serious as she had originally thought. Or it could have been because over the past few months Carter and Scott had both been slowly drifting away from one another; the enemy that had arose created dark holes in their hearts and they knew that their feelings wouldn't be enough to fill them.
​
Carter broke the intense stare, turning so that she stood with her back to him, hiding her face.

​"Carter," Scott began, the way that her name rolled off his tongue made her uneasy. "What happened between you and Stiles while you two were in Eichen House?"
​
Her heart lurched up into her throat – he knew. Allison. She immediately knew that the huntress had told him because no one else knew accept for Stiles, and Stiles hadn't been Stiles since then. So, that only left Allison. The room was quiet for a long time while she decided how to answer as her initial shock quickly boiled over into anger at her supposed friend. She had become too angry to analyze the situation with rational thoughts – too blind to see that in the end Allison was only trying to ease the pain for everyone, something that was normally Carter's job.

​"You know."

​"And I'm willing to forget about it if you just tell me why it happened."
​
Carter snorted.

​"Car, please. If you need...a break from us. Well, take it. But don't make it permanent, just, come back."

The desperation in his voice caused Carter's chest to ache, but no matter how guilty she felt, she wasn't going to give in. She needed to stay strong to her word; she knew that she wouldn't be able to continue their relationship after what her and Stiles did. Every time she looked at Scott she felt like she needed to throw up, the guilt taking over.

​"I can't, Scott, and you know why I can't," Scott cocked his head to the side, and his eyes narrowed while he thought over her words. "I can't come back to you because you're just as guilty of cheating as I am. Oh, don't give me that look I'm not stupid, Scott. I may be suffering from an acute psychotic break, but don't act like I'm dumb and that I haven't been noticing just how close you and Kira have been getting."
​
They stared each other down, a certain hostility in their eyes as the seconds ticked by.

​"Carter," Scott said. His voice was strained. "Carter, don't. You don't know what it's like to have the person you love fall for your best friend."

​"You don't love me, Scott, and you know it." Carter whispered. Her voice was low and even. "And in our growing apart I came to realize that the saddest word in the world is the word: almost. You almost loved me. I was almost good for you. You almost fixed me – I almost let you. We almost made it. And you wanted me to be your anchor – to replace Allison – but you didn't notice that it meant that I had to drown, and in drowning I found myself."
​
She stared at him for a second, and then crossed the room in two long strides. She grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, stepping out of the room but before she could turn to face Scott, the door flew shut – locking her and Scott away from each other. Her eyes widened, hand frantically grabbing the doorknob and twisting it, but opened to no avail.

​"Scott!" Carter cried out, her voice laced with panic and it echoed loudly in her ears as she began to repeatedly slam her palms against the door. "Scott!"
​
When she received no response was when she realized that she was completely and horrifically alone at that point – alone in Stiles' mind with no werewolf abilities or protection because who knows what could happen. For all she knew, the Nogitsune could be trying to put her through mental anguish, break down the barriers in her mind in order to finally be able to take possession of the thing that he's wanted since the beginning. No matter what was going to happening, being able to free roam in someone's mind was a completely new concept for her and the brunette had no idea what to do next.
​
Cautiously, Carter began to turn around to survey the new area around her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as a chill rand own her spine like icy cold shards of glass; leaving her fear to consume of what was lying behind her. But when she looked, unlike before, the doors leading into patients' rooms were no longer there. In fact, there weren't any walls or doors at all, she was standing outside in the middle of Beacon Hills Preserve. She took her lip in between her teeth nervously, taking another step forward, knowing that if she didn't take the steps now, that she never would – which was why she was going to follow the mental path that the teenage boy's mind had lied out for her.
​
As she took her first official step onto the leave strewn ground of the Preserve, the temperature seemed to plummet, as though that step had signified her entering an entirely different realm of the subconscious. Her dim surroundings suddenly began to blur; the scenery changing. Everything became extremely hazy, a suppressed memory coming to the surface.
​
And without a second thought, Carter found herself in an extremely familiar setting – the root cellar just beneath the Nemeton. A searing pain flared up at the back of her neck; body screaming at her that this was one of the many memories her mother had taken away from her. The memory of the Nemeton's abilities and its purpose to the supernatural realm.
​
The root cellar was just as she remembered it from her hallucination when they sacrificed themselves to the mystical tree. It was warm – a thick and musty warmth and consumed her. She began to glance around; it was dark being dimly illuminated by the sunlight peeking through the crevasses above her. There were wooden beams supported the ceiling, the air was dusty with the floor being covered in a thick layer of grime. But the thing that had caught her attention was the Nemeton. It's roots were large, spawning in all directions as they twisted and turned throughout the cellar.
​
Carter remembered coming to the root cellar every day with Derek after school and immediately felt as though that place was where everything had truly started for her.

​"I did something, something terrible. Mom, my eyes – they're different."
​
Carter's eyebrows furrowed and she whipped her head to the side to see that beside her was a young teenage boy, his hands and shirt covered in blood as a tall and looming maternal figure towered over him. A dark and tense vibe suddenly radiated through the cellar as the brunette moved toward the two figures that seemed so familiar but were like complete strangers at the same time. She wasn't sure if they could see her or not, but remained silent and cautious just in case.

​"Different, but still beautiful," the woman spoke. Carter felt her chest begin to constrict as she realized she was reliving a very distant memory – the soothing voice of her mother rang painfully in her ears as her body subconsciously moved closer to the figures in front of her. "Just like the rest of you."
​
The young boy opened his eyes; the once brilliant and golden yellow had now become a cold steel blue – the tragic aftermath of taking an innocent's life, taking a part of your soul with it.

​"Mother," an approaching young woman called, her hands folded neatly in front of her as she addressed the woman, the battle of her emotions radiating off her body obvious as she practically tip toed toward her mother and brother. "We're not alone."
​
Carter let out a small cry when she heard the voice of the teenage girl, hand moving to cover her mouth the second it escaped. She couldn't help it though, not when her older sister was standing right before her eyes again, alive and healthy. Laura looked the same as she had the evening she last saw her four years ago when she was thirteen.
​
She was wearing the moon necklace that Carter had fastened around her own neck, a reminder to the brunette that what was happening right now had certainly happened in the past, or at the very least something that she couldn't remember. Then, another face came into view and Carter's heart broke even further at the sight of her father, the man that she had once thought only great things of but now knew nothing about. The man that actually wanted nothing to do with her when she was a child because she wasn't born a werewolf – he was a mystery to her, and now that she was seeing his face again, the replica of Derek's, she couldn't help but feel hatred toward the man.

​"Caterina, my child, come forth." Talia glanced over her shoulder, eyes zoning in on the darkened space beneath the stairs that led back up to the surface. "There is no point in hiding, Caterina. I know you're back there."

​"What are you doing, Talia?" Her father asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife while she waited patiently for the nine year old girl to come out of her hiding spot. "She doesn't need to be involved in this; you know she'll never be able to handle this life as a human."
​
Carter's eyes flickered over to her mother, who had been silently crouched down beside her young son, Derek. A lump formed in her throat, something she tried to swallow to keep the tears at bay. She was always a Mommy's girl, had always enjoyed spending time with her and Derek opposed to being belittled by her father. It was odd to see her stand so quiet in the presence of her husband, when she had always been the one to stand up to him alongside Laura and Derek.
​
The brunette blinked, hardly aware of the hot tears rushing down her face while she flickered her eyes to her right when she saw movement. That was when she noticed that a brunette girl was shyly crawling out of hiding within the shadows, a little girl who witnessed her brother murder his first love. As first Carter thought that her younger-self would run into her mother's arms, but was taken aback when she bolted passed her parents and ran right into the arms of her brother – the person who would become the most important person in her life.
​
Derek, despite what he had just gone through, was overjoyed at the sight of his sister and clung onto her like she was his life source. He tried to show her that he was still the same Derek she had always known, knowing that she had witnessed the entire scene between him and Paige. He didn't want her to be afraid of him, not when she had nothing to fear. "Are you scared of me, Car?"
​
The little girl shook her head, moving her body slightly away from him so that she could look at his face. Her thin eyebrows furrowed when she noticed that her brother was refusing to look at her; she had smudges of dirt all of her face and hands while her pigtails were starting to droop from the humidity. She placed her tiny hands on the sides of his face, Derek slowly looking up until he met her eyes. Slowly, a weak smile fell on her face when she noticed that the eyes he would grow to hate so much were something that the girl thought were so beautiful.

​"Your eyes are really pretty now, Bubba." She proclaimed, her smiling growing wider. Derek beamed immediately after the words left her mouth – there had just been something about the bond between the two of them that just made the world slow down.
​
Carter watched with watery eyes as her older brother hastily wrapped his arms around her nine year old self, knowing that the little girl kept him on his feet – knowing that she would always see the good in him even at his worst. Carter felt a sting in her heart, realizing that this Derek was gone and that all of this was just a memory that her parents refused to let her live with. Fifteen year old Derek wasn't coming back; and as the years went by he wasn't the one that stood up for her when her father put her down. He wasn't there to listen to her cry when Cora refused to play with her. That Derek was gone, and although she still had her brother, he would never be a consolation to the boy that had sworn to always be there when she needed him most.

​"Father, with all due respect," Laura began, peeling her eyes off her sister and brother, moving her hardened glare to her father. "You have no idea what Carter will be able to handle when she gets older. She understands everything now and she's only nine years old."

​"With respect?" Their father mocked, moving to stand next to Talia, who was blankly staring down at Derek and Carter still locked in each other's embrace. "Talia, we should erase this memory. Who knows what she'll think about Derek when she gets older – she might push him away or maybe even show distaste toward him for what he's done. And seeing how close the two of them are, the boy wouldn't be able to cope with her not being in his life."
​
Taking a deep breath to try and control her shaking, she turned back to actually look at her parents. The whole conversation had been about her, about how she would deal with the supernatural world as a mere human. Despite herself, she began to wonder what her parents would think of her now, now that she was actually something that lived outside the mundane realm – a creature so rare and powerful that it was literally driving the girl deeper and deeper into insanity and depression. Would they take pity upon her? Or would they look down on her like she was a broken toy?
​
After Derek and the little girl had finally separated, Talia moved so that she was now crouching in front of her daughter. The seemingly mundane child smiled brightly up at her mother, Talia gently stroking her cheek while pushing away some of the stray hairs that had fallen into her face. The Alpha knew that her husband was right – right about everything that he had said; about Carter not being able to handle their lifestyle as a human; about Carter possibly resenting Derek for what he had done; about Derek plausibly losing his mind if the person he held closest to his heart hated him. He was right. So, as she smiled at her child she allowed her claws to extend from fingers, preparing herself to take away the memories about that night and about the Nemeton completely.
​
Carter felt panic rise in her chest, wanting nothing more than to stop her mother from erasing the memory that she now realized would completely change her outlook on her entire family. But she knew that she couldn't – she was just an invisible figure watching a memory play out before her. She stepped closer, watching as Talia situated her claws at the base of the girl's neck and out of the corner of her eye she could see that her father and Laura were having to restrain Derek, his eyes blazing blue as his fangs protruded from his gums as he began to lose control – seemed like Carter wasn't the only one that wanted her to keep that memory.
​
"Please, Mother," Derek cried out, struggling against his father and sister's holds. "She needs to remember this. Please, don't do this. This isn't fair for her. Mom, please."

But just as the claws were about to sink into the girl's skin, Talia shot up to her full height; crimson eyes locking on Carter as she turned to face the Pheanix. Carter furrowed her brows, wondering why she could suddenly see her now and not before, but just as she opened her mouth to speak Talia reached out and grabbed the sides of her face. All of her claws dug into Carter's temples; the girl cried out in pain as the feeling of having a hundred pound weight on her chest returned – she could suddenly hear everything, see everything, smell everything – her abilities were back.

​"Caterina, you need to wake up," Talia shouted at her daughter. "This isn't real–it's an illusion. Wake up, Caterina. WAKE UP!"
​
She cupped her hands over her ears at the frequency of her mother's voice, the voice sounding more like white noise and nothing like the Talia she remembers. Immediately, she snapped her eyes open and white walls impaired her vision. Her hand shot up to shield her eyes, the brunette blinking several times to adjust to the drastic change in lighting. Her heart was racing in her ears, body still visibly shaking from what she had just witnessed, but a sigh left her lips when she realized that she still remembered it.
​
The brunette was met with the familiar stark white room that they had all been in when they sacrificed themselves to the Nemeton.

Bardo.

​"Carter!" Scott's voice cried out from behind her. She whirled around in the direction of his voice, seeing that Scott was rushing toward her; his hands reaching out to wrap around her forearms, his eyes wide and filled with worry when he saw the blood streaming down the sides of her face, "Are you okay?"
​
Carter reached up to touch her face, feeling the warm fluid trickling down from her temples all the way down the sides of her neck. She gingerly brought the tips of her fingers over the four incisions on her left temple, visibly wincing when she did. It hadn't been an illusion, because if it had then she wouldn't have the marks where her mother had embedded her claws into her head.
​
Scott opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Carter pointed a finger to something off in the distance. The Nemeton, well, what's left of it now, and atop of it sat Stiles and the Nogitsune battling one another with a Japanese board game called Go. It wasn't just a battle to win the game, though, it was battle for Stiles' mind and body. Carter took a step forward, Scott following her action as the no-longer couple raced to save their friend. As they walked, their pace steadily grew to a jog before quickly morphing into a full-on sprint. In that moment, they didn't notice the illusion, but it soon dawned upon them – the more distance they covered, the further away the Nemeton got. Everything they had gone through had all been a trick.
​
Carter had been the first one to figure it out, reaching out to grab Scott's forearm and tug him back instead of keeping their quickened pace. "Stiles!" She cried out, trying to gain his attention, but no matter how loud they were, he just couldn't seem to hear them. "Stiles, over here!"
​
After their futile attempts to gain Stiles' attention, they began to run once again. Carter didn't know how long they had ran, but what she did know, what that she definitely didn't have her supernatural ability of stamina and apparently neither did Scott as the two of them were growing more and more out of breath as they continued on.

​"Stiles is part of our pack," Carter pointed out breathlessly when the two of them finally stopped to take a breath.
​
Confused, Scott looked toward her. "What? What do you mean?"

​"He's human," Carter insisted, pushing back some of her hair that had gotten stuck to the dried blood on her face. "But he's still part of the pack, right? Just like Allison and Lydia."

​"Yeah," Scott whispered, the two of them slowly rising back up to their full height. "Yeah, of course."
​
A slight smirked appeared on the brunette's lips as she continued: "So how do wolves signal their location to the rest of the pack?"
​
Scott turned his head, realization flooding into his body as he noticed the knowing look on Carter's face. She knew that she was on to something, knowing that it could be the only thing that would save Stiles from the Nogitsune's grasp. As they conversed, the mummified creature that called itself the Nogitsune glanced toward them – taking notice that the two supernatural creatures had made it passed the tests Stiles' mind put in front of them.
​
When the True Alpha looked back toward the Nemeton he was fully transformed; fangs, puffs of hair, claws, and glowing eyes. "They howl."
​
He sucked in a lungful of air, using it to release of floor splitting howl – the walls around them rattled as his howl echoed throughout the room, flying in Stiles' direction. The loudness of the howl had been just enough for it to reach the teenage boy, causing him to cast a glance in the direction of his two friends. When his eyes fell upon Carter, rage immediately bubbled in his blood as he prepared himself to make an extremely bold move. His hands reached out before swiping them across the board and shoving all of the black and white pieces to the hard bark beneath them.
​
Enraged, the Nogitsune retaliated with its own bellowing cry; the cries of two supernatural creatures battled one another, but in the end, Scott's had won because it had already gotten to Stiles and gave him the message they intended it to. As it echoed around the them, they were met with the same sensation as before; the world caving in around them as they floated out of the realm of thought and thrown back into the harsh reality of the real world.
​
Carter's eyes snapped open, eyes searing scarlet, at the exact same time Scott and Stiles' eyes opened, the True Alpha tearing his claws out of their necks as they all gasped for air. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, she found herself shooting off the couch and kneeling down in front of Stiles. "Did it work?" she demanded, placing her hands on Stiles' knees as she stared up at his face. "Did it work?"

​"What happened?" Lydia breathed out, looming over Carter and Stiles. "Why didn't it work?"
​
Peter reached out to grab Lydia's bicep. "Because it's not science, Lydia – it's supernatural." He explained, a dark and serious look was on his face as he ushered the Banshee away from everyone else. "I did my part, now, give me the name."

​"What name?" Scott questioned, leaving Carter's side as he became increasingly wary of what Peter was talking about. None of them trusted Peter, and for good reason as he watched him drag Lydia further away from them. "What are you talking about?"

​"Lydia, a deal is a deal – even with me."

​"Malia."
​
And as soon as the name left her lips, something inside of Stiles seemed to be have been ignited. He shot forward, muffled sounds coming from behind the duct tape as his arm began to flail about his sides, reaching up he ripped the black tape off of his lips before heaving over. Alerted and unaware of what was happening, Scott leant down and wrapped an arm around Carter's waist before moving her away from Stiles. They watched in horror, Scott's grip on her tightening as Stiles fell to the floor while pulling a long and thick strand of gauze out of his mouth – the exact same gauze that's wrapped around the Nogitsune's entire body. And within seconds, he was vomiting the cloth up, a hazy black mist exiting the boy along with it. The gauze was piling up on the floor as Stiles continued to dry heave afterward as the people around him continued to watch in complete shock.
​
A mummified hand materialized out of the pile of swirling gauze – Stiles immediately shot back, pushing himself as far away from it as he could. They all watched as a body began to pull itself out of the cloth pile – first its arm, its head came next – gaping in horror as they realized that the Nogitsune had become strong enough to create a body of its own, no longer needing a host to contain it.
​
Once it was completely materialized, its hand reached up to the gauze wrapped around its face, desperately trying to peel it off, but to no avail. It lunged toward the group, Scott and Peter shot forward to grab a hold of the creature before shoving it back onto the couch.

​"Hold him!"

​"I'm trying!" Scott hissed, finding difficultly in the task of holding the thrashing body on the couch. The way that it was trying to uncover its face had caused something to snap in Scott. "Wait, wait, wait!" he cried out, pushing Peter away from it as he hesitantly grabbed the end of the gauze and began to unravel it – it revealing the familiar face of his friend. It was Stiles. It was the real Stiles. Their Stiles. His big caramel eyes were wide and glassy with certain fear, completely oblivious to what was happening.

​"Scott?" Stiles croaked out.
​
Suddenly, Deaton's voice sounded from behind them: "Scott."
​
Scott's head whipped around, instantly noticing that the only people left in his living room had been his mother, Deaton, and Lydia. All three of them were staring toward the back door that was now wide open; his heart beginning to pound against his rib cage violently as the realization hit him square in the chest – knocking the air out of his lungs.
​
Carter and the Nogitsune were gone.

​"Where are they?" Scott demanded, fear evident on his features as he bolted forward. "Where is she!" he cried out, his voice cracking as desperation and panic laced themselves in his voice. He went straight toward the door, his head whipping around in search of her or any sign that could possibly help him find her.
​
But it was too late.

​"Carter!"

→

not edited.

ewwwwww, this chapter is soooooo gross and rushed but i knew that all of you have been waiting oh so patiently for me to post - so, here it is. but even though i hate how this chapter turned out, my favorite part is carter's suppressed memory of derek killing paige and arkfhjeisknskdkg derek and carter's relationship is my favorite relationship to write.

and i know that a lot of you are pissed that McHale (scarter; i changed it lol) has officially broken up :(((( ive been planning how that scene was going to play out for literally weeks on end - knowing that I had to give it justice because they had so much chemistry at the beginning on the series. every event has led up to that scene, so to finally be able to write and publish is has taken so much stress off me.

sooo, on a depressing note, there's only two episodes left in season 3b.

ooh, p.s. don't forget to check out my new teen wolf story called: Blood Moon :))))