𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ➢ ᴅᴇʀᴇᴋ ʜᴀʟᴇ / ᴊᴏʀᴅᴀɴ ᴘᴀʀʀɪꜱʜ

Ch. 25 - ANCHORS

"Stop laughing." Isaac said and Aurora chuckled and glanced at him as she pulled into the school. "It's funny. You can't blame me for laughing." She said before pulling into her normal parking spot, "Now get out of my car." She said.

Aurora walked into the school when all of the sudden Allison ran through the double doors completely freaked out. "Allison, are you okay?" Lydia asked as she came over to stand next to Aurora. Allison glanced up at them, breathing heavily, still freaked out.

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"No, you're not. It's happening to you too. You're seeing things, aren't you?" Stiles asked making Scott eyes widen slightly. "How'd you know?" Scott asked Stiles as Lydia, Allison and Aurora walked up to them, "Because it's happening to all three of you." Aurora said making them all look at each other.

"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia said as they walked into school making Aurora chuckle. "We're not crazy." Allison said Lydia hummed and turn to them. "Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine." She said sarcastically.

"We did die and come back to life. That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Scott asked looking over at Aurora who nodded, "Definitely." She said. The bell rang making Stiles turn to them, "We keep an eye on each other. Okay? And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much." He said walking past her.

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"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked the next day as they all the teens sat around outside at lunch while Aurora leaned her hands on the end of the table, "And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles asked.

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison asked, "They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac said making everyone give him a look. "Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles asked, squinting at him, "For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."

"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles asked and Isaac nodded, "Yeah, maybe I am still milking that." He said making Aurora roll her eyes. "Both of you shut up." She making both Isaac and Stiles pout slightly.

"Hi." A voice said making them all turn to see Kira standing at the end of the table, "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called "Bardo." It literally means "in-between state." The state between life and death." She explained, looking at the six friends nervously.

"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked but this time Scott answered, "Kira." He said making everyone look at him with raised eyebrows. "She's in our History class." He said and Kira looked down with a small smile.

"Are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Aurora asked and Kira sat down next to Stiles. "Either, I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can by visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities? And what are those?" Isaac asked, "Demons." Aurora said making all their eyes widen slightly. "Demons. Why not?" Stiles said looking at everyone, "Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked.

"Death. You die." Kira said making everyone take a deep breath looking around at each other.

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"It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you." Deaton said as he, Scott, Stiles and Aurora walked into the clinic. "Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually know?"

"Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and movement of the hands?" Aurora asked and Scott raised his eyebrows, "You know sign language?" He asked and Aurora nodded, "Some spells use sign language so I took a class and Deaton helped me with it." Aurora said.

"Okay, the first one was like this. Then." Stiles said, demonstrating what he saw, "That's 'when'." Aurora said and Stiles did another one. "Then there was this, twice." Stiles said and Deaton nodded, "That's door." He said. "And this in between it." Stiles said and Deaton raised his eyebrows, "That's it?" Deaton asked and Stiles nodded.

"When is a door not a door?" Aurora said making Stiles squint at her, "When is a door not a door?" He asked. "When it's ajar." Scott said making Stiles glance at him, "You're kidding me. A riddle? My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle?"

"Not necessarily. When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from unconsciousness to a kind of super-consciousness You essentially opened a door in your minds." Deaton explained. "So what does that mean? The door's still open?" Scott asked.

"Ajar."

"A door into our minds?"

"He did tell you it was risky." Aurora said and they sighed, "What do we do about it?" Scott asked and Deaton sighed. "Well, that's difficult to answer." Deaton said and Stiles pointed at him, "Oh, no, wait a second, I know that look. That's the- I know exactly what's wrong with you, but I have no idea how to fix it- look." Stiles said and Deaton sighed.

"One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind, it's not good. You each need to close that door. And you need to do it as soon as possible."

🦊

Aurora walked in and almost instantly Leah walked up to her with an alarmed look. "There is a very very attractive woman sitting in out kitchen looking for you. I don't know weather to be intimidated by her or be jealous that she's looking for you and not me." Leah said making Aurora furrow her brows before setting her bag down.

She walked into the kitchen to see a woman, with long claw mark scars across her neck. "You Aurora?" The woman asked and Aurora cocked an eyebrow, "Depends on whose asking." She said. "I'm Braeden." The woman said and Aurora shrugged slightly, "Still doesn't tell me who you are." Aurora said.

"I'm the mercenary that was hired to save your brother from the Alpha Pack." Braeden said and Aurora furrowed her brows, "Thank you for that, but why are you here?" Aurora asked. "Because I have a new job... Save your boyfriend from the Calaveras." Braeden said making Aurora stand up straighter.

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Author's Note:
New chapter layout because I just found out that none of the gifs I've been putting at the top have saved.

Hopefully it looks good.