Til The Dawn [Midnights #1] ✓

chapter 25

Stiles' leg had been bouncing uncontrollably since the call had come on his dad's radio. They'd only been on the clock for a grand total of five minutes when it had crackled loudly, signaling some life was still left in the old machine. Based on the way it looked, you'd never assume that to be the case.

But it was when they came into the parking lot, already swarming with other cops, that made his heart leap into his chest. For one thing, there was a body bag. The second one Stiles had seen in their tiny, normally very sleepy town, in the last few weeks. For another thing, both Jackson and Lydia seemed to be in the center of the madness.

He hardly had time to take in the rest of the scene before his dad parked and he was out of the front seat as fast as his feet would carry him. He put his hands in his pockets as he approached them, trying to slow his pace and make himself seem as non-threatening as possible. The last thing either of them seemed to need was someone rushing up to them with the million questions running through Stiles' head.

Not that his head was ever a particularly quiet place to begin with.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," he whispered under his breath as he took in the large broken window behind them. "Hey, guys. You okay?"

Jackson shrugged, but didn't move from where he was draped around Lydia. She had his jacket on and he was rubbing her shoulders, but the look on her face told Stiles she was anywhere but here currently. Her eyes were completely glazed over, and for the first time since he had met her, she looked fragile. Vulnerable even.

It made Stiles uneasy.

"We were picking out movies," she began, her voice hoarse. "The lights went out, and there was so much noise. It sounded like an animal, like, eating someone."

Stiles' head snapped upward again from where he'd been staring at the ground, scuffing his tennis shoes against the asphalt at the mention of yet another animal attack.

"An animal?" he asked.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, but man, it was too tall, you know? Like, if it was an animal, it was standing on its hind legs or something. We could see its eyes behind the counter."

"Red eyes," Lydia whispered suddenly. "It had red eyes, Stiles."

She finally looked at him when she said the last bit, speaking the words directly to him and no one else. It made the world disappear, but not in the way he ever imagined it would when she did that. A shiver ran down his spine as a coldness seemed to descend on the scene.

"Red eyes?" he repeated unnecessarily. "What... what else did you see? Like see see. Not guessing. What did you see?"

He could hear his dad making his way over to them, and he knew he wasn't going to get another answer out of them without an audience, but he didn't really need any further information either. This was plenty to go on. And, thankfully, he knew just who to call.

"Leave the questioning to me and my people, okay, Stiles?" his dad said, clapping him on the back and jolting him back to reality.

Stiles nodded and smiled to his dad, pulling out his phone in the process. He angled it away from anyone who might be dumb enough to try and read it as he tapped away on the keyboard furiously fast.

"Yeah, Dad. Sorry," he mumbled.

He pocketed his phone just as his dad went into full Sheriff mode, pulling out his trusty pad and pen.

"I was just worried about them," he explained. "They're my friends."

"I know, son. I know," he said, taking Stiles' explanation at face value. "Look, once I'm finished, you can go with them, okay? Make sure they get home all right."