Cry Me A River | Book Two/Season Two

6

I watch in horror as it throws Erica across the room and into a wall, scratching and paralyzing her in the process.

"Run!" Derek yells to me and Stiles before getting slashed in the neck with the reptile's claws.

"Derek, your neck." I say, not leaving like he told us to. He starts to fall, and Stiles catches him.

"Get him out of here. I'll stall." I tell Stiles. When he doesn't move, I throw my hands in the air in frustration. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Not leaving you here with that thing, that's for sure."

"I'll be fine."

"Alara-"

"Go!" Then, after hesitating, he turns and struggles to walk away while holding Derek's weight.

I spin back around to see that it's gone. I spin in a circle, searching the room for it.

"Where'd it go?" I call out to Stiles and Derek who haven't made it out yet.

"I don't know." Stiles calls back, stopping to look around.

"Just hurry!" Derek shouts at Stiles, causing him to resume his attempt at fast walking. "Call Scott."

As Stiles tries to follow Derek's commands, he drops his phone and when he bends over to get it, Derek's paralyzed body falls into the pool. Then, Stiles dives in after him and returns to the surface with Derek.

I sprint over to the edge of the pool and lean over to help them up but am stopped by a sharp, stinging pain in the back of my neck.

I struggle to catch my breath from the discomfort of my body becoming numb. I attempt to stop myself from falling but fail. I land on my side on the concrete next to the pool.

"A-Alara!" Stiles struggles to get the word out while holding Derek and treading water.

"Do you see it?" I ask, not being able to look around for it myself.

"No." Derek replies breathlessly.

"Okay, maybe he took off." At the end of Stiles' sentence, a loud screeching sound rings all throughout the pool room.

"Maybe not." I say, trying to stay calm.

"Will you get me out of here before I drown?" Derek asks, sounding annoyed.

"You're worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth?" Stiles questions sarcastically. I roll my eyes and stare at the ceiling, wishing I could help them.

"Did you notice that I'm paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?!" Derek raises his voice at Stiles.

"Okay." Stiles backs down. "I don't see it." Is what he says before I hear him start to swim towards the edge of the pool.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop, stop." Derek demands, and the splashing ceases. I notice a shadow of its body progressing towards us, and my heart rate starts to quicken.

I hear the sound of it hissing as it prowls but doesn't attack.

"What's it waiting for?" I ask. There's no response.

Suddenly, it's right next to me. I watch out of the corner of my eye as it dips its hand into the water and pulls back as if it's been hurt.

"Wait, did you see that?" I hear Stiles ask Derek. "I don't think it can swim." He adds.

It goes silent for a moment, the only sounds being our breathing, before the thing is in my face, hissing at me. I clench my eyes shut in fear, knowing I have no way to defend myself.