Return ↠ Argent [2]

22. Slumber Party

Silence wrapped around my head; no thoughts, no emotions, no sound. Just silence.

It was like a soft buzzing on loop that I couldn't get out of my head, starting to slowly drive me mad. It wasn't like I didn't try to think of something, but it was hard to after what I had just witnessed not even five hours ago. The image was stuck in my mind, with no sound attached, playing over and over again.

Boyd was one of those guys that would act all tough around other people, but when you're locked in a vault with him for two months, you learn that it's all just an act. Yeah, he was a big guy, but he helped keep my sanity while I was in there. He was the one constantly reassuring that we would be aright; even after he had watched his best friend get mauled in front of him. Cora barely ever said a word; it was all Boyd.

And now he was gone.

I regretted not getting to know him better; he at least deserved that. What Kali did to him was so painful, it stung. Thinking about what his future could have held made me sick to my stomach, and I desperately wanted to let my rage out. For him.

Derek couldn't stand to look us in the eye after it happened. He fled the scene and didn't look back, but no one went after him. He had a perfectly good reason to leave, and if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't be able to rest until Kali got what she deserves. I knew that revenge was written all over Derek, but something about the way he acted after what happened was different than normal. It was the same way he had acted after finding out about Erica; but this time, way worse.

I had told Allison I needed the night alone to think, and she respected that. She knew I knew Boyd better than her, and I respected that she respected me. So, here I was, staring up at a dull celling in Stiles' room as the empty feeling of nothingness consumed me alive.

Stiles was fast asleep, and I was more than jealous. Being able to sleep after witnessing something like that made me envious. Maybe it was just my mind not letting me sleep or the pre-ghost life still inside me, but whatever it was, I hated it. I needed a break from my thoughts.

"You're still awake too?"

My eyes flick over to Stiles, who was still lying down in his bed, not even looking at me. "Can't sleep."

He sighs. "Me either; only for periods at a time."

The room is quiet again, neither of us saying anything. I pretended that the silence was for Boyd; respecting him somehow if he was watching us now. It did make me wonder though, if Boyd was out there watching us now. What if he is in the same situation as I had been? What if we could bring him back?

"Distract me," I say finally, knowing that my thoughts were going to start eating me alive if I didn't stop. "I need to think about something else."

I see Stiles' eyes look at me then, the light shining from the window reflecting off them ever so slightly, making them glow amber. "What was is like...you know, to die."

For some odd reason, I wasn't taken back by his question. "In one word, peaceful I suppose. After awhile you just become numb, and then you're just...gone."

Stiles folds his hands across his stomach as he stares up at the celling like me. "Is it bad I'm not afraid to die?"

I look over at him slightly. "I guess not. I'm not either, but I already have died before, so that doesn't count."

"I should be," Stiles goes on to say, and I could just tell by the tone in his voice that he was serious. "After everything I've been through, I should be terrified. It's a miracle we're all still alive. Our luck has to run short sometime though, doesn't it?"