CHASING PHANTOMS // TEEN WOLF [bxb]

WANDERING NIGHTS

       "Try to use your phone flashlight, Stiles. Can you see how bad it is?" Jake suggested while forcing himself to keep his tone calm as to not betray his overwhelming panic. He was fairly certain he had never been this stressed in his entire life.

       Stiles did as requested and hit the flashlight button on his phone to light up the space around him, gasping wetly with a choked sob at the sight of the bear trap clamped around his bleeding calf.

       "It's bad," he croaked, now able to see around him a bit better. "I'm in a basement-" he paused at Scott's questioning about what type. "Like industrial. There's a furnace but I'm really cold, it's freezing down here," he shivered.

       "I'm gonna call your dad," Scott decided instantly as he opened his closet to get his jacket. As soon as he got more information from Stiles, he was waking Isaac and getting on the street.

       "No!" Stiles panicked at the thought. "No, Scott, please, don't call him. He worries about me too much, please," he begged as if the Sheriff searching for his missing son was a burden. "Promise me you won't call him, Scott. Promise me," he pleaded.

       "Stiles, I don't know if I can make a promise like that," Scott shook his head even though he couldn't see it. He took Jake's silence in stride because he trusted it was for a reason. "We need his help, I can't do this on my own," he reasoned.

       "No, no, you can find me," Stiles assured, whether it was more for Scott or himself he wasn't sure anymore. "Promise me, please. Just come find me, okay? You can find me without him knowing," he begged, his voice sounding like he was on the verge of crying when in reality he'd far surpassed it.

       "Okay. Okay, I'll find you," Scott promised just so Stiles wouldn't work himself up into anymore of a panic. The last thing he needed was to freak out in whatever basement he was stuck in.

       The reason Jake stayed quiet was so that he wouldn't have to make the same promise. In Stiles's distress, he didn't recognize the tactic enough to call him out on it. As soon as he was off this call, Jake was dialing the Sheriff.

       "It's going to be okay. We'll find you, I promise. Whatever it takes, we'll find you," he assured soothingly instead. That was a promise Jake could make because even if he had to figure out how to trigger a vision to do it, he would. "Take deep breaths, Stiles," he instructed and listened to make sure he followed to the best of his ability.

       It worked for all of thirty seconds before the panic came back, a rustle in the background of Stiles's phone alerting both Jake and Scott.

       "I have to go," Stiles spoke suddenly as if spooked, his voice at least five times softer than it had been a minute ago. "I have to turn the phone off, it's dying," he rambled.

       "Stiles, wait," Scott interjected before the call could end abruptly. "Why are you whispering?" he asked hesitantly because he wasn't sure he was ready for the answer.

       "Because I think there's someone in here with me," Stiles barely breathed, his words shaking.

       "Stiles-" Jake started and then the line went dead. "Stiles!" he tried again and then swore when the only answer he got was Scott yelling for Isaac in the distance. "Scott, we need to go right now," he urged while leaving his house to rush to his car.

       "I don't even know where to start!" Scott replied as he met Isaac in the hallway and gave him half of an explanation before the two rushed downstairs. "Okay, what about the school? It could be that basement," he tried while passing Isaac a second helmet to his bike, hearing Jake starting his car on the other end.