Hope Andrea Argent

Party Guessed (Part 1)

Plumes of steam billow up under the white noise of a shower spray. Eyes closed, Lydia stands underneath the water, letting it pummel her neck and shoulders.

She blinks her eyes open when another sound drifts in. Voices. Distant, but rising.

Confused, Lydia turns off the water, listening to what sounds like the muted roar of a crowd. With a shaky hand, she grasps the shower curtain and draws it back to reveal an impossible sight just beyond it the high school lacrosse field where dozens of fans in the bleachers cheer and holler for their Beacon Hills team.

Lydia blinks, gazing on the crowd while completely alone in the field. Peering down, she discovers she's now wearing her winter formal dress.

The crowd cheers as if a goal had been scored despite Lydia remaining the only one on the field.

Amid the excited crowd, one teenage can be seen shrieking. Silent, terrified screams. No one seems to pay any attention, their smiling faces offering a bizarre contrast.

Coach sits at the benches among his players. Helmets pulled low, they sit like gladiators ready for the attack.

Then, as if sensing another presence, Lydia begins to turn.

A silhouette walks out from between the lights. With a steady and purposeful gait, Peter Hale rapidly crosses the field toward Lydia.

Retreating back, she spins to run when a hand grabs her. Lydia opens her mouth to scream, but the crowd's cheers drown her out.

Fangs distended, Peter ruthlessly drags her to the ground. She struggles forward, digging at the grass.

In the bleachers, a spectator raises a sign that reads: We Love You Lydia!

Another sign rises next to it: Everyone Loves Lydia!

Among them, the Teenage Girl continues her frantic, silent screaming, fingers clawing at her neck as if she were literally on fire.

Lydia struggles, trying to free herself from Peter's grasp while the cheering is rapidly overtaken by horrifying snarls. The snapping and thrashing of teeth. Vicious rising to an ear-shattering crescendo as Lydia snaps her head up with a shocked gasp. Clutching sheets and blankets in her hands, she finds herself in bed.

For a moment, her body eases, settling with a relieved breath. Until she draws back the sheets to find clumps of dirt from the lacrosse field all over the bed.

"Leave me alone," She whispers.

"Unfortunately, I can't," Peter says, laying on the bed next to her,"At least not yet."

She doesn't turn around, too frightened to look at him,"Are you real?"

"Interestingly, that question could also be answered with not yet," Peter replies, and as she closes her eyes, his clawed fingers glide lovingly up her bare arms to her shoulders,"I promise things will get back to normal. All you have to do, Lydia, is every single thing I ask."

His claws dig into her skin causing her to snap her eyes open.

Finding herself at the top of the stairs, Lydia nearly stumbles into a fall. She grabs the banister to steady herself. But then Peter takes her arm, pulling her down.

"Timing is key here, Lydia. Crucial, really," Peter tells her, yanking her roughly down the last steps while she glances back noticing odd drips of black blood seeping horizontally across the wall,"It all needs to happen by the next full moon. Do you know what they call the full moon in March, Lydia? The Worm Moon."

Lydia looks down to see her bare feet surrounded by worms.

"They call it that because it was the last moon of winter and the worms would crawl out of the earth as it thawed."