From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski [#𝟏]

𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 [ demons. ]

A/N: WHAT?! AN UPDATE?! Yeah, I'm back. I'm at a really weird part in the story that has to bridge something I've been planning for 2 years but I just didn't want to do this part. Being real here. That being said, Happy Halloween! Some tricks and a small treat.

Song Recommendation ["Losing My Religion (cover)" - Clelia Vega]
NOTE: For the full experience, I do personally suggest seeking out each song rec.

☽ † ☾

Before

The training room was freezing, the cold dulling the stench of various sickly sweet body sprays and sweat. Maddie was in the corner, seated at a low, wooden bench while she tied her generic blue and white sneakers. She already missed her boots, even if it was only ten hours since she last wore them. She loved them even before they were broken in and now she never felt the need for any other shoes - but she couldn't train in them, according to Xander and Kennedy. Xander was at least nice about it and Maddie pulled the double knot as tight as she could.

"Since when did you start gettin' here so early?" a voice drawled in a light, nonchalant tone to Maddie's side and just out of her peripheral, even though there was no mistaking who it belonged to. "And without me? I'm offended."

Maddie forced a small smile for two reasons: number one, this was the tone that Marie used around the other girls, the one to show she didn't care when she really did; and number two, this was the tone Marie had recently taken on when speaking to Maddie. Maddie, of course, didn't understand why. The best part of their friendship started when Marie dropped the 'playing nice' mask and Maddie had no idea why Marie's guard had gone back up on her.

Maddie shrugged and didn't turn. "Didn't want to wake you, I guess. Yesterday you said you haven't been sleeping all that much."

"No, yesterday I said 'why turn in early when there's a party happening over on Delancey?'" Marie's tone was still light and conversational but any expert on the girl - which was a short list that started and ended with Maddie - would've been able to detect the thinnest edge in her voice.

"And you went by yourself."

"I asked you if you wanted to go - and going to a party doesn't mean I have sleep problems."

"Then there was the rave two days ago," Maddie said without hesitation, like she was reading off an itemized list she didn't even realize she kept. It was a whole month since the rave that landed on Maddie's birthday and as time passed, the frequency of Marie's partying went from once a week to about three a week on the lowest end. Maddie opted out of most of them to patrol or binge watch movies and TV shows with Terra and Em. When she did go, which was about once a week, she went for a very specific reason and it wasn't Marie.

"So what?" Marie snapped but barely. Her voice sounded like anxious fingers snapping but there was no anger there. Not yet. "So I like to hang out with people after I patrol. There's nothin' wrong with that, right?"