"𝒾'𝓂 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾'𝓂 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝓋𝒾ℴ𝓁ℯ𝓃𝒸ℯ"

As they leave Marin Morrell's office, most of the hallways they walk through are dark and desolate. There's no one around. Ophelia glances to her best friend and notices his fingers nervously drumming against his leg, so she grabs onto it. "Hey, we're going to be okay, yeah?" she tells him quietly. He swallows. "Stiles," she says firmly, moving in front of him to look him in the eyes. "We're not going to die. She's not going to kill us. No one's going to kill us because we're going to be fine."

He raises a brow. "Are you suddenly so optimistic 'cause Scott's not here?"

She rolls her eyes. "Ha-ha. I'm serious. Look, we've got a pretty bad track record when it comes to luck, well, at least I do... But I really think this time it's going to be okay. We've got literally everyone in Beacon Hills trying to find something to help, and because Scott's so damn optimistic, he's not going to stop until he does find something."

Stiles sighs, and after a few seconds he nods. "Yeah, okay," he agrees. "I hope you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." Instead of going to her room to meet back with Malia like she had initially planned to, Ophelia follows Stiles through the corridors of Eichen House. After finding the basement earlier, he had told her that they needed to find a way in. She had agreed. If he had dreamt it, if the nogitsune had been in the basement with him in his dream, it has to mean something. Something in the basement is really important.

Finally, they find a door. It stands at the end of the hallway ominously. This is far too easy. There's no one around. Surely the orderlies wouldn't want patients wandering around in the basement... right? The pair share a look and cautiously approach it. Stiles takes a deep breath and places a hand on the doorknob. Of course it's locked.

Ophelia clears her throat and nods her head for him to move aside. "Come on, I'll just bust it open." As she takes a few steps backward to prepare herself to kick the door, she lets out a loud shriek in terror when her back hits someone. She spins around, a growl rumbling in her throat, and Stiles quickly grabs her arm and pulls her back beside him.

Oliver looks between them curiously. "What are you doing?" he questions.

Stiles glances back to the door. "We need to get through here. To the basement."

"Doctors don't even have a key to this door," Oliver tells them. Okay, something's definitely down there. "Only Brunski."

Ophelia's eyes narrow to slits. "Of course he does," she grumbles in annoyance.

Stiles, confused at who they're talking about, looks to Oliver with furrowed brows. "Is that the head orderly?"

"He's got keys to everything in here," Oliver responds with a nod.

"Why can't I just kick the bloody thing open?" the girl protests.

Stiles nudges her side. "Because if we can get a key instead, I'm sure it'll save both of us a lot of pain and suffering." He ignores how she rolls her eyes and glances longingly to the door behind them. "Does he keep them on him all the time?"

Ophelia grins as she begins to understand Stiles' plan. "Are we thinking an elaborate, well planned, violent heist? Stiles, please tell me you're thinking about an elaborate, well planned, violent heist."

Oliver smiles at her in amusement. "Look, if you want 'em," he begins. "You'll probably have to figure out a way to trick him."

Stiles looks to the blonde briefly. "Well, part of me is getting very good at playing tricks," he says. It's clear that he's not worried whatsoever about a task like snatching a keychain off the head orderly.

Her face falls. "Oh, seriously?" Stiles nods. "Come on! Why can't I get my hands dirty for once?"

Once Oliver leaves them alone, Stiles reluctantly agrees to let the girl return to her room and inform Malia on what they had recently just been told by Morrell. A soft hum leaves Ophelia's lips as she strolls through Eichen House. She's only been here for less than a day and it still looks just as pleasant and comforting as when she had first seen it a few weeks ago. She doesn't want to think about what it would be like if she didn't already have friends to keep her company. It would be a very different place.

As soon as the door opens to the room, Malia greets her with a tight hug. But instead of letting Ophelia go ahead and debrief, the werecoyote suggests for them to take a shower instead. The second she had entered, Malia had been hit with a tsunami of emotions. Anxiety, sadness, and fear were some of the most prominent. She figures the last thing Ophelia wants to do right at this very second is to talk about the very things that are causing those emotions.

But as she's lead into the boys' bathroom, Ophelia hesitates in confusion. "Okay, you wanna tell me what we're doing in here? 'Cause I don't really feel like hooking up with someone right now..."

Malia snorts. "No, you idiot." She dumps her towel on the tiled wall and slips off her long-sleeved shirt. "Plus, do you see any guys in here right now?" Ophelia shrugs and follows her friend as they discard their clothing and quickly make their way over to the showers. Turning only the hot tap, Ophelia waits for the water to warm up and sighs in content as she dips her head under. With both showers running, it doesn't take long for the room to fill up with steam. Malia glances over to the blonde and reaches a hand out to test the temperature of her water. "You like it super hot, too?"

Ophelia opens her eyes and grins. "It's the only way to have a shower. What psychopath has it warm? It's gotta be so hot you feel like you're burning." The brunette giggles and tilts her head back as she basks in the warmth of the water. They shower in silence for a few minutes. It's comfortable but Ophelia quickly grows bored. When Malia had been a coyote, she could only talk at her, but now that the girl is able to speak back Ophelia doesn't think she'll ever get sick of her voice. "Fave song?" she questions.

Malia arches a brow. "Favourite song? My favourite song?" Her friend hums. "You've forgotten I've been away from modern society for years."

"That's a good point... Okay, fave song from before?"

The werecoyote takes a moment to think about it. "My mom used to always sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' whenever I would go to bed," she says, a sad smile gracing her face as she's greeted with memories of her childhood.

Ophelia's eyes soften as she watches Malia tear up as she's left alone with her thoughts for a minute. They haven't talked about her family, about how she had caused the car to crash all that time ago. And because they haven't talked about it yet, Ophelia believes that Malia probably still doesn't want to right now. "Well, you're in luck because it turns out that I have a gorgeous voice."

When she suddenly breaks into song, Malia's eyes widen. She definitely doesn't think Ophelia could make it as a professional at all, but... well, the girl is singing in such an exaggerated and theatrical manner, perhaps she could make it as an actor. It doesn't take long for Malia to burst into fits of laughter and Ophelia abruptly stops to do the same. The flamboyant version of the nursery song had managed to make Malia smile. It had managed to take her mind off any sad memories and distracted her as a new, positive one was made.

Then the door to the bathroom is flung open. Ophelia doesn't need to turn around to know it's Stiles. She raises her brows at Malia, but the girl doesn't seem to care one bit. They're just as unbothered as the other for someone to see them naked. Stiles throws a handful of the amphetamines into his mouth and turns the faucet on to wash them down. "Okay. Okay, just got to stay awake, Stiles," he tells himself as he stares in the mirror. "You just gotta stay..."

Feeling eyes on her, Ophelia turns her head slightly and brightly smiles at the boy. "Hey!"

Stiles whirls back around, pointedly keeping his eyes off the two girls that he's realised are also with him. "Don't worry, Stiles," Malia calls out. "You didn't just accidentally walk into the girls' room."

"Thank God." He clears his throat awkwardly and turns around so there's no chance he might see through the steam covering their bodies. "Okay, so, uh, what are you doing in the boys' room?"

"Showering."

"I can see that. I mean, I saw that. Well, actually, I didn't see anything really." Malia looks to the girl in amusement at his rambling. "I just... There was too much steam to, uh... Not that I would prefer there to be less steam..."

"Stiles," Ophelia interrupts with a chuckle. "We really don't care."

"In the woods, there was no boys' and girls' room," Malia adds. She glances over her shoulder to him. "And if you really need to know, they keep the water temperature in the girls' room too low. It's much hotter in here."

Ophelia nods in understanding. "So that's why you brought me here... Plus," she clears her throat and dons a sing-song voice, "The acoustics are amazing."

The brunette smiles. "Ever since I turned back to human, I just can't seem to get warm."

"Maybe you just have a low core temp," Stiles suggests. "You know, you might just be sick or..."

"I used to have a fur coat," Malia interjects.

He nods his head. "Or it could be- hey, it might be that. It's probably that."

Sensing that the boy is just a little uncomfortable, Ophelia turns her shower off and grabs one of the towels, tossing the other to Malia who also steps out. She wraps the material around her body and wrings her hair out as she approaches her best friend. "How many did you take?" she asks, referring to the pills she had seen him take a minute earlier.

Stiles runs a hand down the side of his face and sighs, turning back around to look at her. "Just a few-" He trails off as Malia approaches, towel in hand.

Ophelia's eyes narrow. "Now you're staring," she observes, her tone coming out a little sharp.

Stiles spins around, his eyes flicking around the wall as Malia finally wraps the towel around her body. "No, I'm not..."

Malia's brows furrow as she folds her arms over her chest. "Then what are you doing?"

When he's sure both of them are covered up by their towels, Stiles turns back around and sighs. "Uh..." His eyes settle on Malia. "I was kind of wondering why you looked like you wanted to punch me earlier."

Her lips part in an O shape. "Right! Well, Fi told me all about how we don't kill people just because we don't like something they've done-"

Stiles' eyes widen. "Hold on, kill?"

His words fly right over Malia's head. "And she was saying that you guys are like family, so... If she trusts you, I guess I sort of trust you." As his brows raise in surprise, she rolls her eyes. "I said, sort of."

"Okay, and... why did you want to punch me?"

"Did you think I was going to thank you?" Malia retorts. Ophelia grimaces.

"No." Stiles purses his lips. "Maybe... We did kind of save your life."

"Oh, you're right, Stiles." Malia shakes her head in a sarcastic manner. "Thank you. Thanks for invading my home. For putting me on the run. For turning me back to human, so I can look at my father every day, and try to figure out how to explain to him that the reason my sister and mother are dead is because I almost ate them on a full moon." Ophelia swallows and takes a few steps away from the girl; Malia doesn't notice. "Thank you so very much."

Stiles closes his eyes for a second. "We were just trying to help," he says, guilt hanging off every word.

"Whatever," Malia brushes him off. "Lia says she knows someone that can change me back, so..."

"Wait, you want to go back?" he questions in surprise. "To being a coyote?"

Ophelia's eyes flick between the two. Malia obviously isn't going to tell him much more, so she changes the topic of conversation. "Mal, we need your help with something," she says.

Malia's head snaps over to her. She'd almost forgotten the girl was in the room. "What do you need?" she asks immediately.

The hybrid glances to Stiles then back to her. "We need to get into the basement."

"And to do that, we need to get the keys of Brunski," Stiles adds.

"Done. But just to be clear, I'm doing this for her." Malia nods her head over to Ophelia. "Not for you."

Stiles sighs. "Yeah, that's expected, totally fair..." He clears his throat. "Okay, uh, I'll see you later, I guess..."

As he walks out the room, both girls stay silent. Neither make the first move to say anything. Suddenly the silence isn't as comfortable as before. There's an elephant in the room. A very big one. Malia sighs and turns to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she says apologetically.

Ophelia gives her the smallest of smiles. "No, you did. And that's okay, you have every right to mean it." Malia's face falls. "Hey, it's okay. I get why you're angry. We did everything without your consent, we never asked if it was okay with you. You know, when we all agreed that we were going to try and change you back, I was so worried about that you might hate me for doing it that I almost backed out." She meets Malia's eyes to find them filled with tears. "I couldn't stand this you hating me. But I also couldn't risk your dad killing you." She takes a hesitant step forward, and when Malia doesn't move away, she takes her hand. "Mal, I'm so, so fucking sorry. And if you still want to turn back, I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen for you. It's the least I can do."

Malia stares at her as a tear falls down her cheek. "I don't hate you," she whispers. "I could never hate you." She takes a deep breath as she brushes the tear away. "I mean, I guess I should thank you for saving my life..." She lets out a short laugh. "My dad killing me without knowing it was me would be quite the story."

Ophelia cracks a smile. "Yeah, it would've been..." She squeezes her hand. "I'm serious, Malia. If being a coyote is what you want, I'm gonna make it happen for you."

"Thank you," Malia murmurs. "So, the basement, huh?"

She goes along with the change in topic and sighs in disappointment. "Yeah, Stiles said I couldn't kick down the door. Something about how there's consequences for our actions..."

"No, this'll be fun," the dark-haired girl says with a grin. "When you see Brunski's face once he realises something's gone... it'll be worth all the trouble."

"I take it you've done this before?"

"Stealing? No. Punched him, yes. That's why this will be so much fun!"

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Stiles purses his lips. "Are you sure this is going to work?" He glances to his best friend beside him sceptically.

Malia grits her teeth as Oliver pins her on the ground. "You're lying!" he yells. "You're a liar!"

Patients that have crowded around the pair begin to call out for help and Ophelia grins. "Oh, it's going to work. Actually, I think it already has." She nods her head over to the group of orderlies rushing over to the fight (the well-orchestrated fight) that has broken out between Malia and Oliver.

"Get this nut-job off of me!"

Brunski and two of his colleagues help peel Oliver off the girl and restrain him as he continues to struggle against their grips. "No! She said that they drill holes in your head!"

Ophelia's nose scrunches up. "For the love of Satan, I hope that's not true," she murmurs. Stiles grimaces and nods in agreement.

"She said they're gonna put a hole in my head!"

With feigned concern, Ophelia and Stiles quickly rush over to Malia once she's alone and help her off the ground. As she catches her breath, Malia discreetly hands a chain of keys into her friend's hand and Ophelia slips them into the pocket of her sweatpants. Oliver flashes a brief smile at the group before he returns to yelling as the orderlies drag him away. Brunski, however, lingers behind, staring at the three teenagers with narrowed eyes. It's like he knows they've done something wrong.

The blonde-haired girl cautiously waves a hand to the man. He glares back at her. "Man, I don't think he likes me," Ophelia whispers.

Stiles blinks then turns to look at her in exasperation. "Fi, we don't like him."

"He's a bad dude," Malia adds breathlessly

Ophelia sighs. "Yeah, yep, sorry. You know me, I need the occasional validation..."

"Please, come on! Please don't... Please don't drill a hole in my head!"

Once the orderlies and Oliver are out of the hall, Ophelia glances to the brunette with a little concern. "You okay? He didn't actually hurt you, did he?"

A small smile adorns Malia's face. "Nah, I'm good," she assures.

It's decided for both Stiles and Ophelia to leave and return to the door now while Brunski is distracted with Oliver. The pair dart out the hall and rush through the corridors with an urgency. After all, whatever is in this basement could literally help save not only their lives but everyone's. Stiles shoves one of the keys into the brass lock, twisting it, then finds it to not be the right one. Ophelia glances over her shoulder as she keeps watch while the boy continues the length process of testing all the keys.

Another. Still locked.

The girl rolls her shoulders back and pushes Stiles aside. "This is taking too long, I'm kicking this," she states. At this point, Stiles is so impatient and frustrated that he doesn't even bother arguing. His mature mentality to be wary about consequences disappears.

Then Ophelia's face falls as a hand firmly plants itself on her shoulder. "Anyone ever told you that nothing good ever comes out of violence?" She locks eyes with Stiles who is just as panicked as herself.

Ophelia is panicked for multiple reasons. Firstly, Brunski might only be human, but he still manages to scare the living fuck out of her just based on how much he loves inflicting pain on the patients within Eichen House. Secondly, she hadn't heard his footsteps. She should've heard his heartbeat, smelt his blood... She had gotten nothing. Maybe it could be the nogistune somehow blocking or draining some of her supernatural abilities?

Brunski snatches the keys out of Stiles' hand and smiles. "See, people think I have keys for everything..." He tuts. "But nobody has the key to that room." Don't kill him, don't kill him, don't kill him... The head orderly grabs onto Stiles arms tightly and nods to the side, a second man appearing to take Ophelia.

There are multiple options here. One: kill them all, bust open the door, go downstairs with Stiles... but then what? Two: go along with them to stay with Stiles. None of the orderlies she's come across so far have shown that they know about the supernatural creatures within one of the units in Eichen. She's just going to have to assume that Brunski and his associates don't either.

Neither of the teens protest; there's no point. Brunski unlocks a door with iron bars as a small window. The orderlies lead the pair inside a room with white tiles covering all the walls and floor. There's a small stain of red in the corner, most likely blood that hasn't been cleaned up. "Into the Quiet Room for you kids." Another two orderlies have appeared to make sure both Ophelia and Stiles are held by both of their arms. Brunski holds up the bottle of amphetamines he had found when frisking Stiles. "Want to tell us where you got these?"

"Vending machine," the boy answers dryly.

Brunski huffs a short laugh. "I always love the sarcastic ones."

Ophelia feels a burst of rage fill her veins. "Oh, I'm going to shove your hand so far up-"

"Give them five of Haldol," Brunski interrupts, his jaw clenched as he hands the orderlies syringes.

Stiles quickly begins to struggle against the men holding him. "Wait, what's that? Is that a sedative?" Ophelia's eyes widen in alarm. This wouldn't do anything to her. Brunski doesn't know that and she'll keep it that way. But it will do something to Stiles. Exactly what they need to avoid. "Okay, hang on- hang on! I can't go to sleep!"

Ophelia elbows one of the orderlies firmly in his stomach, but much to her displeasure, they don't budge. She can feel the bruises starting to form on her skin. "Wait, okay, we're sorry! We won't do it again, just- please don't," she calls out."

But an amused smirk only appears on Brunski's face as he watches the teenagers protest as best as they can.

"Get off me, man!" Stiles grunts in pain as the syringe is jabbed in his thigh. "Wait, you don't understand! You don't get it, I've gotta stay awake!"

Ophelia bites onto her tongue as soon as she feels the metal shoved into her own leg. She feels the drug move into her body, and she flutter her eyelids as she stumbles to the side, crashing into one of the walls. "Wait- please-"

Once both of them are on the floor, almost unconscious, Brunski smiles and the orderlies follow out after him.

As soon as the door is slammed shut and locked, Ophelia's eyes widen and she scrambles over to Stiles. She slaps his cheek a few times in alarm. "Stiles?" she calls out. "Stiles, you there?"

"Y-yeah," he slurs.

She can't let him go to sleep. She quickly bites into her wrist and shoves it up against his lips just as his eyes finally close, making sure a few drops fall onto his tongue. Ophelia crouches beside him anxiously as she waits for something to happen. It has to work.

Thirty seconds later, Stiles lurches up off the floor with a loud gasp. He scrambles back until his back hits the wall, eyes darting around in panic. When he finally notices Ophelia crouched before him and reassuring him that he's okay, he drops his head into his hands and breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God," he mutters.

She shuffles back so she's sitting beside him and wraps an arm around his shoulders to pull him into her. "You're okay," she whispers softly. "I got you, dude."

He gives her a small smile as he tilts his head up to her. "Thanks, Fi. Wait, I didn't sleep at all?" She nods. "How the fuck did that-" Ophelia lifts the corner of her lip back to reveal her fangs. "Oh, right, of course... All healing vampire blood."

"See, I do use my Edward side!" He quietly chuckles and exhales a shaky breath as he leans his head onto her shoulder. "We're lucky there's no cameras in here..." Her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why don't they have cameras in here?"

Stiles snorts. "'Cause they're all stupid dicks."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." They sit in silence for a few further minutes, recovering from the violent events that had taken place minutes earlier. Ophelia claps her hands together as she jumps up, offering a hand to Stiles to help him up. "All right, now it's time to go." But when she reaches the locked door and he hasn't said anything, she turns back around. "Not gonna protest?"

"Absolutely not, we need to get the fuck out of this place." She grins and her eyes glow brightly as she launches her body into the door. With a rather loud boom, both the door and Ophelia crash onto the floor. Stiles stands in the doorway and nods with a smile, clearly impressed. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"So you guys obviously got a head start without me..." Both teens whirl around and relax once they realise it's Malia and not a member of the staff. The werecoyote grins, then the smile is replaced by a worried frown. "And you just made a lot of noise so let's get out of here. I would kill everyone in this hell hole for you," she speaks to Ophelia. "But I think we're trying to avoid a bloodbath, so..."

Ophelia nods in agreement. "Great! Time to go kick down another door-"

Malia places a hand on her chest, stopping her from walking any further. "There's another way to the basement," she begins. Stiles' brows raise in interest. "Through the closed unit."

The hybrid grimaces. "You mean the place where I'm meant to be? No thanks, I'd rather kick down the door." She looks to Stiles and upon seeing his raised eyebrows, she groans. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, this is another closed unit. The one you're meant to be the one is where they keep the people with fangs and glowing eyes... This one is where they keep the normal psychos."

Stiles pushes his best friend out as they follow Malia. "This is much better," he tells her.

"How the hell is this better than kicking down a door?" Neither Malia or Stiles respond. Ophelia rolls her eyes. "Why do I associate myself with you people? None of you understand the advantage a little brute strength brings to the team!"

Stiles clasps a hand over her mouth when she gets a little too loud. "Bro, I just let you kick down that fucking door," he hisses.

She shoves his arm away. "Okay, fine, that's a fair point. Through the closed unit it is!"

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It takes the three ten minutes alone to navigate themselves through Eichen House to find the closed unit, making sure they don't come into contact with any members of the staff. Then it takes another fifteen to actually get through the closed unit. That was more complicated. Locks, there were lots of locks. A few more doors had to be 'quietly' kicked down, but they finally get down to the basement of the building. As they follow Malia through the door, Ophelia glances to Stiles in concern as he almost immediately stops moving once realising that they're standing in the room from his dream. "Hey, you okay?" she asks.

Malia hasn't heard her words as she questions, "You guys know what you're looking for?"

His eyes flick to his best friend. He thickly swallows and points to the wall behind Malia. "Something to do with that," Stiles answers. Carved into the concrete wall is a symbol that Ophelia has seen before behind her friends' ears. It's the symbol the oni give once performing the check that the nogitsune isn't hiding inside them. Her eyes squint slightly as she runs her hand over the mark.

"What does it mean?" Malia queries in confusion.

"Self," Stiles replies.

The werecoyote nods slightly, vaguely recalling the story Ophelia had told her explaining their current dilemma. "And... what, your friends have this as a tattoo?"

"Yeah, because they're still themselves. Because they aren't being terrorised by a sadistic spirit who gets off on ruining our fucking lives!"

Stiles and Malia share a look of concern at the girl's sudden outburst. Malia arches a brow and he nods. The brunette takes Ophelia's hand and leads her over to the other side of the room. They're hidden behind bookshelves so Stiles can't seem them, giving them some sort of privacy. "Okay, do you wanna tell me what's going on?" Malia asks quietly. "And I don't mean about the evil spirit. The other thing. Or things, I don't know how many things you're worried about. Or not worried about! You could-"

Ophelia cuts her off with a laugh. She sighs as Malia smiles at her comfortingly. "I..." One of her fangs sink into her bottom lip. "I'm worried, Mal," she whispers. "I haven't heard from my family in a while, so that probably only means bad news. Then there's this vengeful vampire hunting for me." Malia's eyes widen. "Yeah, I killed a few people he loved... Worth it, though. Just- Everything's worrying me at the moment, I'm freaking out. What if it chooses me?"

Malia takes a deep breath and grabs onto her hand, lacing their fingers together. "If it chooses you, then we're gonna figure out a way to cure you or get it out of you as soon as we can, yeah? There has to be a way. You said Scott's looking, right?"

"But what if he doesn't find anything? What if none of them find anything?"

"Then we deal with it if it even happens." Malia watches Ophelia look around the room, and she closes her eyes for a second to concentrate on the blonde's heartbeat. It's still racing. "Why aren't you calming down?"

"I'm calm!" she retorts. "I'm perfectly calm!" Malia taps her ear and Ophelia sighs. "I haven't had some blood in a while... proper blood. It's getting to me."

They're silent for a few seconds. Malia purses her lips together and nods to herself. She brushes her hair off her neck and points a finger against the skin. "So take some," she says.

Ophelia's eyes widen. "Sorry, what?"

"Take some," Malia repeats simply. "You're hungry, I've got blood. Lots of it, by the way. Problem solved."

"Okay, but I don't really have control of myself at the moment and I could totally kill you-"

Malia squeezes her hand once more with a small smile. "You're not gonna kill me. You trust me, right?" Ophelia nods. "Great. I trust you, too. Drink."

She takes a deep breath, which in hindsight wasn't the best idea as her senses are flooded with the scent of blood. All she can focus on is Malia. Ophelia takes a small, hesitant step toward her friend, and Malia rolls her eyes and tugs her so their bodies are pressed up against each other. Ophelia's fangs graze lightly over the skin she's about to puncture and she feels Malia inhale a sharp breath. "Are you sure?" she asks softly. The werecoyote nods.

Ophelia's teeth sink into her neck. Malia gasps in pain and braces herself with a hand up against the nearest wall, causing the hybrid to hesitate for a second. But Malia grabs onto her hand tightly. "It's okay, I'm okay," she mutters.

The first drop of blood is like her thirst is being quenched. The second is when Ophelia realises just how good it tastes. The warm liquid slowly runs down her throat and she begins to feel a little lightheaded. She doesn't remember the last time she drank someone's blood and it was this good. She doesn't think it ever has been. One of Malia's hands wraps around Ophelia's waist, her fingers digging into the skin in a way to ground herself from the slight pain but also almost in a possessive manner. Ophelia's fangs dig a little deeper, and instead of protesting in discomfort this time, a quiet moan leaves Malia's lips.

And then she realises that if she doesn't stop now, it'll be incredibly hard for her to ever do so. Ophelia gently detaches herself from the girl's neck and her tongue darts out to grab the leftover blood lingering on her lips. Malia takes a deep breath as she centres herself and they lock eyes. "Thank you," Ophelia says quietly.

"That was hot," Malia says with a small smile.

She grins. "It was." Ophelia watches the puncture marks slowly knit back together on Malia's neck and she leans forward to run her fingers over the healing wounds. She refrains herself from smiling when she feels the girl shiver.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Stiles calls. "I think I found something!" The girls share another smile and return to Stiles to find him on the floor and in the middle of hundreds of papers strewn about. He hands them both documents that are plastered with photographs, old newspaper articles, and diagrams of medical procedures.

Malia shuffles through her pile of papers. "This place definitely used to be a lot more fun," she comments. "Electroshock, ice baths... trepanation?"

Ophelia squints her eyes. "Say what now?"

"Trepanation," Stiles repeats. "That's what Oliver was talking about. It's when they drill into your head. They used to say it would release evil spirits from the body."

The blonde's lips part. "Holy mother of Satan... I'm all for some torture, but that's just..."

"No wonder they don't want anyone down here."

After another ten minutes of reading, Stiles huffs a heavy sigh. "There's nothing here," he mumbles in defeat.

"Nothing here to help us, anyway," Ophelia adds.

Her eyes drift over to the boy's neck and when he notices her looking, he sighs once more. "Can you check?" he asks. She nods and moves over to lift his shirt up. Almost all of his back is clean of the marks.

"Hey, they're almost gone!" Malia observes. But once she takes notice of Stiles and Ophelia's expressions, her face falls. "... That's not a good thing, is it?"

Ophelia meets Stiles' eyes. "It means our time's almost up. Anyone wanna place bets on what's gonna happen?" She cracks a small smile when Stiles chuckles. "Someone's gotta keep the mood from dropping any lower." Malia's smile morphs into a frown and she suddenly stands up.

The teens on the ground share a look of confusion and quickly follow the girl as she leads them back over to the wall with the kanji carved into it. Malia squats down and knocks on the wall. She glances back to the two behind her. "Do you hear that?"

Ophelia's eyes widen in surprise as she listens to the knocking echo through the entire room. "Time to see what these shits have been hiding," she declares. Just as Stiles finds a pipe on the floor to help break through, she punches her fist through the drywall.

"You people really like punching things," Stiles mumbles. He and Malia quickly get to work with helping the hybrid tear away chunks of the wall. When the hole is big enough, they all lean closer to get a look at what is inside. Ophelia's heart drops to her feet, and she assumes Stiles' has also done the same. Slumped on the ground behind the wall is a dead body. But a dead body wouldn't scare Ophelia. No, this body is covered in bandages and wears the same jacket of the nogitsune who had been tormenting the both of them. Stiles takes a deep breath. "T-this is him."

Malia glances between them. "The nogitsune?" Ophelia nods. Once realising that neither of them are going to do anything, Malia reaches inside and opens the pocket of the corpse's jacket, pulling out a weathered photograph. "Recognise them?" She hands the picture to Ophelia and returns to searching the body.

The blonde's eyes squint as she studies the picture, then she grabs Stiles' arm and pulls him over. He immediately tenses at what he sees. "Holy shit... Fi, we need to get this to Scott." She quickly nods in agreement. The last time she had checked, Kira Yukimura is only seventeen years old. So why the hell is she in a photograph that looks like it's been taken in the nineteen-forties?

Then the sound of bones cracking rings through Stiles' ears. His head snaps to the side and his eyes widen in horror at the sight of his best friend's body crumpled on the ground. But before he can do or say anything, a taser is firmly pressed against his back and he collapses to the floor as his body convulses.

Malia's involuntarily glow a bright blue when she realises Ophelia is temporarily dead, then she spots Stiles beside her. She stares at Oliver in shock and anger. "You took Brunski's keys," the boy says, a sheepish smile on his face. "I took his taser."

A growl rumbles in Malia's throat. "You b-"

Oliver darts forward and tases her before she can try and attack him. As she slides down the wall, he crouches before her with a syringe in his hand. "I also got his Haldol." He stabs it into Malia's leg and injects the drug, her eyes quickly falling shut. "Like I was saying, Stiles, I heard they used to do trepanation down here."

"Oliver," Stiles calls out weakly. "What are you doing?" He can only watch as the boy picks up a hand drill.

"I'm going to let the evil spirits out."

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Ophelia groans as she begins to wake up, instantly feeling the annoyingly familiar pain in her neck. Her eyes glow brightly as she remembers what had happened. "Son of a bitch," she growls. However, when she tries to move she's stopped by restraints tying her arms and legs down to a chair. She grits her teeth and harshly tugs, but to her surprise nothing happens.

Then he giggles. Oliver slowly makes his way into her line of sight. "You know, I heard along the grapevine that you were something else," he begins. "I kind of liked you, too."

When she tries to tug again, she cries out in pain at the burning sensation that appears on her calf. Veins crawl down her cheeks and she glares at Oliver with such fury the boy takes a step back. "Yeah, well, I never liked you," she seethes. "Vervain, seriously? You really think a tiny purple flower is going to stop me from killing you?"

Oliver's smile returns. "Nope," he says. "But it's gonna stop you from trying to stop me from killing them." Then Stiles wakes. Similar to Ophelia, he quickly begins to try and break free from the restraints. Oliver turns around. "Oh, yeah, I borrowed a few pointers from the five-point restraint system."

"No shit," Ophelia snaps.

Her eyes flick over to Stiles who is just as panicked as her, if not more. "Oliver, stop this," he pleads. Oliver opens his mouth to reply but he begins to violently cough. After a few seconds, he removes his hand from his mouth for Stiles and Ophelia to find that his palm is covered in blood. A dead fly sits in the centre. "Oliver, listen to me. Stop! Oliver-"

The boy wipes the blood off his lips and turns to Stiles, drill in hand. The tool whirrs as Oliver moves it toward Stiles' head, and chaos erupts in the basement of Eichen House. Stiles and Ophelia's desperate yells are ignored as the drill only inches closer to Stiles. Then he suddenly stops. Oliver's head tilts to the side slightly as if he's listening to someone.

Ophelia's heart thuds faster as he quickly moves over to Malia who is also bound in a chair. "No, no, Oliver, stop," she yells in terror. "Oliver!" Stiles starts pulling at his restraints again as he realises as well that Malia is going to be the target of the drill. But then something catches her eye.

The bandaged head.

"Ophelia..."

Taking a deep breath, Ophelia flicks her claws out and tries to get hold of the vervain wedged into each of the restraints on her body. She ignores the searing pain as the petals touch her skin and continues trying to get it out.

"Ophelia..."

"Oh, just piss off!" she yells. A tear born out of frustration falls down her cheek. Then she stops her movements and slowly looks back up to the nogitsune. "You did this," she says in realisation. Stiles' head snaps over to her in alarm, but this time he can't see nor hear what she can. "You got into his head."

"Every Dracula needs a Renfield."

Ophelia watches Oliver tighten Malia's restraints and another tear drops. "Let her go," she pleads. "Please just let her go, she has nothing to do with any of this." Her eyes briefly flick over to her best friend. "Let them both go."

The nogitsune stands up from its place hidden behind a pillar and stalks toward her slowly. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it."

She shakes her head vigorously. "I don't know. I don't know!" This is not the time for riddles.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." It takes another step. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." Another step. The nogitsune places a hand on her arm. "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it."

Ophelia freezes. "A shadow," she whispers. She tilts her head to look at the dark spirit, all of her supernatural features on show. "You can lose a shadow, you piece of shit! Just turn off the bloody lights!"

But something's already changed. The darkness living within her has grown darker. The pain she's feeling only grows sharper and stronger. Everything suddenly intensifies, and she wonders briefly if things would ever be normal again. The nogitsune is a Machiavellian bastard. It wants power. And it knows that it has Ophelia Stone exactly where it wants her to be. The bandaged figure trails a hand down her arm and lands on one of the restraints. "Let me in," it begins quietly.

She looks back to Malia. The girl looks peaceful in her unconsciousness. She has no idea what she's about to wake up to. Stiles has started to realise something is very wrong, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't get through to Ophelia. She can see his mouth moving but can't hear the yells leaving it.

"Let me in."

Her head falls back onto the chair as she sobs.

"Let me in, Ophelia."

She watches Oliver start up the drill and it hovers above Malia's skull.

"All you need to do is let me in."

As Ophelia closes her eyes, tears drop down her cheeks. She's experienced so much terror, agony, and horror throughout her life. She had become used to it. But just like comfort, suffering can become the new norm. She had welcomed the suffering with open arms a long time ago. Now? Now she lets it go because she has to. Because she's been forced to. Without suffering she no longer feels, because despite how excruciating it is, suffering still brings emotion. It still makes you feel. And now the suffering has been taken away. Everything has been taken away.

"Hey, Oliver?"

The drill abruptly turns off. Oliver turns around and nervously takes a step away from Malia. He watches her walk toward him. She beams brightly at him.

Then his heart is ripped out.

Stiles' eyes widen in terror as he watches Ophelia Stone lift the organ up to her lips and let a drop of blood fall onto her tongue. With whatever strength is left in him, he uses it in a frantic attempt to try and rid himself out of the restraints.

She slowly turns to him. "Hi, Stiles," she greets softly.

His hands begin to tremble which only makes it harder for him to free himself. He glances up to her for a second, and she looks normal until he focuses on her eyes. They're cold and emotionless. This version of her reminds him of her without her humanity. Although in reality, this version is so, so much worse. Ophelia stops beside him and brushes sweaty hair off his forehead. The last thing Stiles sees before he's knocked unconscious is her sweet smile.

"Fi? Stiles?"

Her smile doesn't leave her face as she looks back to find Malia stirring. Then she disappears in the blink of an eye. As Ophelia Stone wrenches open the gates of Eichen House, she stops to listen to the distant screams from inside as bloodied orderlies and patients fight to keep breathing.

After all, it's called Echo House for a reason.

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵... 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘬𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸!!

𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘞 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘊 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥/𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘵𝘤. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧

𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 🤍