𝙎𝙆𝙔𝙁𝘼𝙇𝙇 // 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙆𝙄

Chapter 5.

Alex smiled at the woman, "no thank you, but if we need something I'll ask"

Claudia nodded, she walked away.

"What are we doing here" Alex sighed, watching as Lydia inspected every crack in the house "I have no idea what I'm doing"

"When you stand in this house, what do you feel?"

Alex thought about it for a second, she felt familiar, like she had been here more then once but they never made a habit of camping out in the sheriffs house.

Even the room she stood in felt familiar, like she had spent nights here.

"Familiar" Alex said, "this house feels familiar"

"Follow it, follow the feeling. You've healed pretty much everyone in our pack, and that has to leave some sort of connection, well what if you healed stiles"

Alex wasn't sure what Lydia was trying to say, but she did as the girl said.

Alex closed her eyes and followed the familiar feeling, she moved throughout the house with her eyes closed, that would only be so easy if she had spent a lot of time there.

Alex opened her eyes, she stood in the hallway, wondering what brought her there but something felt right. Something was pulling her to this particular spot.

Alex closed her eyes once again, she focused on the quiet and tried to listen beyond it, that's when she heard it, a faint sound of laughter.

"Stiles, I will kick you now in a minute"  Alex grunted, feeling half his weight on her

"Oh, what was that, kiss me?"

Alex rolled her eyes, "I'm serious"

"Well than" he leaned against her, "I'll have to risk it"

Alex grunted, she shoved her boyfriend forgetting how strong she could be, she felt his weight lighten and a grunt come after.

Alex looked at the bed and noticed the empty spot, she looked over the edge and seen stiles on the floor, a few seconds of silence passed before she started to laugh, it wasn't long till stiles joined her.

That's what she heard, the sound of his laughter.

"What are you doing!"

Alex felt a hand clasp around her wrist, she gasped quietly, staring at the wallpaper she had started to tear.

Alex felt a tear on her cheek, "I'm so sorry.. I don't - I shouldn't have done that" she stammered

"I think that's something we can agree on."

...

"Do you think I'm insane?" Alex mumbled,

"Of course not" Lydia shook her head, "come on, I've led us to weirder places"

Alex gave a small laugh, "true"

"Anything from Allison?"

"No, shes helping dad"

The office door open, Natalie walked in "Alex, did you tear Claudia stilinkis and wallpaper off"

"No" Lydia answered for her

"Yeah" Alex sighed, it was obviously a rhetorical question, no point lying

"She's worried about your mental health."

"Something took me there, a feeling" Alex justified, "I didn't even realise what I was doing till it was done"

"We were trying to find something stiles might have left behind" Lydia explained

"Did you?"

"No. Mrs. Stilinski asked us to leave before She could find anything."

Ms Martian chuckled "Probably because you were tearing her wallpaper."

"I offered to to pay" Alex defended

Natalie looked over to the screen, she sighed "Oh, girls. I've known Claudia since high school. I trust her."

"Do you know what a confirmation bias is?" She asked them, sitting down

"The tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms an existing preconception" Lydia explained

"Yes. It's a biased perspective. You're looking for proof to support what you already believe is true. Because you want it to be true." She explained

Alex shook her he's "I know he's real, I can feel it. I can hear it"

"But do you believe there's a possibility he's not?" She asked

Alex shook her head, "I can't because ever since he was taken, I've felt empty. I've felt like something inside me is missing, and today when I was standing in that hallway, I heard his laugh, I heard it and.. I felt whole for a few seconds"

A few tears were shed, Alex took the tissue that was offered to her, mumbling an apology

"Okay. Tell me everything you know. I'll be your unbiased perspective."

...

After both girls explained their reasoning behind what seemed like a far fetched theory, Natalie Martin had actually started to believe them, so much so she had convinced Melissa to let them see Claudius file.

"Sorry, guys. According to her medical records, Claudia never had children"

"Well, but she had... Frontotemporal dementia" Lydia pointed to the screen,

Alex felt her ears ring, a voice echoed around her brain

"You know what they're looking for, right? It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink"

"Alex"

Alex blinked, "yeah"

"What's wrong?"

Alex felt the tears that prickled her eyes, "I.. his voice, I heard his voice"

"What did he say?"

"Something about dementia"

Melissa walked back in, Alex hadn't even realised she left.

Alex noticed the dreaded look on Melissa's face,

"What?" Alex asked

"Your dad. He's been hurt"

Alex gulped, she felt her chest tighten; almost like she'd felt that fear before. "Allison..

"She's okay, come with me" 

Alex followed Melissa, they both rushed to the injured man, Alex feeling like she could pass out at any minutes

Alex's breath was taken at the sight of her father, he was covered in whip marks, he looked barely conscious

"Is he okay?" Scott asked

"He has blunt force trauma to his temporal bone, three broken ribs, and multiple surface lacerations which seem to be from whip marks?"

Alex sucked in a breath "is he gonna be okay?

"He needs a lot of rest"

"Alex"

Alex whirled around, she exhaled a breath when she seen her sister

"I thought"

"I'm okay" Allison reassured

Alex and Allison rejoined with their friends, they had been discussing what they found - or didn't find

"We're fighting the wrong battle." They heard malia

"We're trying to bring Stiles back. The Ghost Riders came back. We still have no way of stopping them. And whatever they are, they're real. We can't keep chasing someone who isn't. He didn't leave anything behind." Malia explained

"Just us"