CONTROL ➳ D. HALE [2]

24 ; all too familiar

24 ➳ ALL TOO FAMILIAR

Elise took a tentative step forward toward the figure, the cold stone floor sending waves of chilling sensations through the skin of her bare feet with each move she made. As she neared the figure, she was able to witness it in its entirety.

His face was wrapped in tattered bandages, with no visible features. Despite this, Elise could have sworn that she could hear some sort of muffled whisper sound from behind the layers of cloth, almost like a cry.

Before she could think better of it, she reached out a hand, unraveling the bandages with a single touch.

She jerked backward when the mask of bandages fell away to reveal an all too familiar face.

Elise's eyes slowly opened, and she quickly grew aware of the incessant ringing in her ear. She lazily untangled an arm from her mass of sheets, hearing Derek sleepily mutter something along the lines of "five more minutes" into his pillow. Elise chuckled softly as she tugged her phone off of the nightstand and into her hand. She didn't check who was calling before lifting it to her ear.

"Hello? Who're you?" she mumbled into the phone, still half asleep.

"What? Elise, it's me, Scott! I need your help. It's Stiles, he's-"

As if someone had flicked a switch inside of her mind, Elise sat up, fully awake. She sudden motion woke Derek, who stirred slightly next to her. "Scott, slow down," she interrupted, her eyes wide as she tried to focus them in the darkness of the room. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"I-I don't know. Stiles just called me. He said he has no idea where he is and he's stuck somewhere. He made me promise not to tell his dad, but..."

"No, Scott, he's right," Elise breathed. She dragged a hand through her tousled, slept-in hair. "His dad is already facing enough at work, and knowing him, he'll try to send every officer out looking for Stiles, he can't get involved unless there isn't another option."

"Okay," Scott said. Even though he was trying desperately to mask it, Elise could faintly make out the worried tremor in her brother's voice.

"What can I do to help?"

"Isaac and I are going out to look for him and since you found Lydia, I was hoping you could help. Maybe you can trigger a vision or something."

"I can try," Elise nodded. Her powers had been anything but reliable as of late, but she wasn't going to tell Scott that she couldn't help before she even tried. "I'll be at the house in, like, twenty minutes."

"Okay," Scott breathed. "Hurry."

With that, Scott ended the call, leaving Elise suspended not only in darkness but in silence as well. The brunette quickly climbed out of the bed, pulling on more suitable attire for finding a missing teenager than the clothes she'd been sleeping in.

"Who was that?" Derek asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Scott," Elise replied as she pulled her jacket over her shoulders. "Stiles called him saying that he needed help and Scott thinks that I can use my powers to find him and make sure that he's okay."

At that, Derek perked up. "Do you want me to come with?"

Elise considered it for a moment before nodding. "I have a feeling that we're going to need all of the help we can get."

Derek nodded, quickly getting out of the bed and following Elise to the door of the loft. The two slid the door open, stepping out of the main room before Elise paused. Her hand lingered lightly on the door frame and her brows were furrowed slightly. She had the faintest feeling in the back of her mind that she was forgetting something