Reversis

Noelle tugged her knit cap further down over her ears as she walked up the driveway to the Stilinski house. It seemed all quiet, nothing out of the ordinary as she walked the perimeter and checked everything. By the time she rounded back to the front door it was popped open with Stiles leaning against the door jam and his arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re late.”

“Were you attacked and/or killed?”

He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his arms. “Obviously not.”

“Then I’m not late.” She smiled as she passed him through the door and tossed her jacket onto the couch. “We dropped off Roux first at the redhead’s house. I’m lacking a car on this continent.”

“Don’t you drive on the other side of the road in France?”

“You’re thinking of England.”

“I’m thinking there’s a strange girl in my house that tried to kill me earlier but is now supposed to protect me so I have a lot of questions and confusion is extremely likely.”

“I’ve been strictly ordered not to hurt you so don’t worry.” She flopped down on the couch and propped her boots up on the coffee table. “As for your questions – I cannot promise to answer them all but something tells me you like the sound of your own voice so you’ll ask them anyway.” She stretched her arms out along the back of the couch and motioned for him to sit across from her.

He sat and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and stared her down. His right eye twitched a ring of blue before going back to its normal brown. Though she was intrigued, she made no note of it and waited for him to start. She’d find out what he was sooner or later. “What are you?”

“A girl.”

“You’re more than that.”

“I’m a demon hunter. Daughter of the Praestus. The Keeper of Hunters. Demon hunters rule because we are the strongest. The Argents are under our rule, like all hunting families, but being that they hunt werewolves they aren’t as strong. Or as well paid.”

“So, you have powers or something?”

She smirked and sat forward unwinding her cuff to its natural state of a whip inlayed with gold. “There’s a legend about the origin of demon hunters. The Roman goddess, Juno, is a protector in her own right. Of women, especially. Demons were overrunning the world and she was seeing the destruction firsthand so she contacted Vulcan, the maker of godly weapons, to make ones made of obsidian to combat the darkness. These weapons, like my whip, were made of pure obsidian and inlayed with godly gold to ensure they would destroy any evil it touched. When Juno bestowed these weapons upon the women of Rome to protect their city, it instilled them with powers beyond that of the average human. Those powers have been passed down through families, through the mothers, since then. That’s the story, anyway.”

“But you’re French?”

“My father is French, my mother is Italian.”

“French … that’s how your family knows the Argents personally.”

“You make connections quickly. That’s good. Means I don’t have to explain as much. That can be very cumbersome.”

“So your whip was made by the gods?”

“That’s what the story says.”

“But you were going to use it on Lydia and I … we’re not demons.”

“It’d still hurt.”

He cleared his throat and sat back. “Fair enough.”

“Why doesn’t – and more importantly how doesn’t – Scott know you were bitten?”

“What?”

Noelle cocked her head to the side. “Bitten.” She mimicked a bite by clicking her teeth together and raised an eyebrow. “Most often by wolves.”

“I wasn’t … I haven’t been.”

“You’re a pretty awful liar, you know that?”

“I honestly don’t remember it. There was this fight. A lot was happening.”

“You’re not a wolf. You didn’t change at all.”

“No, but neither did Lydia. She was changed into a Banshee. I’m not one of those, either, just FYI.”

“No. You’re not.”

“Can you sense what I am?”

“I’m still mostly human, Stiles. It’s not like I can smell your moods or read your mind. I can just sense there isn’t darkness in you. But there was. Once.”

“I’d rather not talk about that.”

Stiles was lucky that a noise interrupted, because Noelle was about to push for more information about the past darkness. She didn’t like not having all the facts but the rustling outside was more pressing. Both she and Stiles stood up and walked to the front window to peer outside. She pulled back the curtains while Stiles stood behind her and saw what she expected.

The remnants of Allison Argent.

“Stiles, stay back.”

“Shouldn’t you call your sister? Or Chris?”

“If Allison is here, then the other is there and she will deal with it as I will – alone. Do not come outside.”

“But -”

“I mean it.” She pushed him back away from the window and moved to the front door. She opened it and stepped out onto the porch but Allison’s eyes, her entire body, stayed trained on where Stiles was inside the house. “Allison …”

The Revenant of Allison slowly turned her entire ghastly pale body towards Noelle. Her eyes were black pits, soulless and empty, and she felt they were sucking the life right out of her as they gazed upon her. She was a skeleton and a ghost all in one as she took a gliding step across the grass and hissed an awful sound, opening her mouth wide like she was readying to devour her whole. She let out a terrifying wail that chilled Noelle to the bone. She had seen many demons in her life, but one wearing the face of an old friend was something completely different.

When Allison took another step towards her, instinct kicked in and she whipped off the cuff from her wrist. The gold shimmered and heated in the moonlight as she faced Allison head on. She wailed up into the night sky and pointed her hand at the house. Noelle spotted the mark on her translucent skin of her hand and aimed for it with her whip. Just as it was about to wrap around Allison’s wrist, the Revenant gripped it in her other hand and twisted it, cracking the obsidian.

Which really pissed Noelle off.

“That was my favorite whip, you bitch.” Noelle tossed the cracked whip aside and charged her jumping and delivering a high kick to Allison’s head. She screeched like nails on a chalkboard and grasped at Noelle’s calf. Her blackened, sharp nails sliced at her pants but didn’t graze the skin though Noelle could feel the chill on her skin as though they had.

She did a back flip away and crouched down as Allison crawled back into a standing position. Whipping out an obsidian dagger, she threw it right for her head but Allison caught it. The chill of her skin concentrated on the knife and froze it to the point that it shattered in her hands and fell to the ground. Realizing she was going to need a lot of assistance, and possibly some advice, to take on a Revenant she started to back away. Allison sensed her hesitation and pounced. The sound of a shotgun ringing through the air surprised Noelle and she turned to see Stiles at his door with the gun trained on Allison. The gun had landed a hit on the shoulder – a blackened hole that was soon repairing itself as she let out another agonized cry and ran off into the night.

Noelle ran back to the house and pulled Stiles behind her to shut the door and lock it. Her eyes studied him to make sure he was untouched then swiftly took the gun from his hands. “I said stay inside.”

“I saved your life.”

“But … I said to stay inside.”

“But … you were about to be eaten by a ghost-demon thing. I thought you were from the top demon hunting family.”

“Revenants are rare. No one has seen one for centuries. They were a myth. The obsidian … it should have worked. She broke it in her hand like it was nothing. It should have worked.” Noelle paced in the living room, biting her nails. “I need to call Roux. I need to call Roux!” She frantically grasped at Stiles’ flannel.

“Okay, okay. Here, phone.” He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed for Lydia.

“Hello?”

“Give me Roux.”

“Noelle?”

“Give me Roux!” Shuffling on the other end alerted Noelle the phone was being passed. Stiles watched her, his eyes gleaming a technical blue as they processed what was going on. She narrowed her eyes but turned away when she heard her sister on the other line. “Did he show?”

“He did, but he just ran off. You?”

“The obsidian didn’t work. She shattered it in her hands. She shattered it, Roux!”

“You engaged?! Noelle!”

“Can we please focus on the more important aspect of the obsidian shattering in her hands?”

“Were you cut?”

“What?”

“Étiez-vous coupez?!” (Were you cut?)

“No!” She heard her sister sigh. “Why?”

“Are you certain?”

Noelle looked down at her ripped jeans. “Stiles, check my leg.” Confusingly, he knelt down and grabbed her leg to look at it, noting Noelle’s impeccable balance on one foot.

“What am I looking for?”

“A scratch.”

“No.”

“I’m certain I wasn’t cut, Roux. Now, the obsidian?”

“We’ll call father in the morning. Do notengage should she return. Est-ce que tu comprends?” (Do you understand?)

“Oui.”

Noelle tossed the phone to Stiles who easily caught it and slipped it back into his pocket. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing. We wait until the morning.” Noelle put her hand on her hip and looked him over, her eyes catching the gun leaning against the wall behind him and smirked. “You are pretty good with that thing.”

“I was aiming for her head.”

“Close enough.” Noelle glanced at the window and walked over to look out at the vacant yard. “Curious.”

“What is?” He asked, walking over to stand beside her as his eyes roamed around the yard looking for any sign of her.

“She obviously was not mortally wounded by your shot but she ran off, as did the other.”

“Maybe it just scared her?”

“They don’t have emotions, Stiles. They are not human anymore. I know it’s hard to think that way.”

“You were really close to Allison?”

“You should go to bed. I’ll keep watch and in the morning we will get some new information from my father.”

“But -” One look from Noelle cut him off. “Fine. I’ll see you in the morning then.”