The first few chapters are going to be a little different with a third person POV since Riley is currently preoccupied.
Also, I know the start of this chapter is from the end of 5A, but for this timeline, it's the start of 5B
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"Come on, come on. Riley, why aren't you picking up?" Stiles mumbled into the phone as he listened to it dial for the fifth time. He had also tried Scott, but he knew that would be useless.
A soft beep escaped the phone, and then her voice, 'Hey, you've reached Riley. I can't get to the phone right now, but you know what to do.'
"Damn it," the boy growled as he lowered his phone. Stiles went to call her again when a car drove into the parking lot near him.
They pulled over, leaving the car running as they climbed out. Squinting past the headlights, Stiles saw that Theo had finally gotten there. He had called him after the first few failed attempts to call Riley, reaching a point of desperation.
"Sorry," Theo said as he walked over. "I got here as fast as I could. . ."
"We gotta go. Now. Parrish has got the bodies," Stiles told him.
"Okay, wait up. . . Stiles, wait."
Shaking his head, Stiles headed to the passenger side of Theo's car, considering that the Jeep was still unavailable. "Parrish is out and he's got the bodies. I still can't get a hold of Riley, but we've got to find Scott. And we've got to tell him."
"Stiles!" Theo shouted as the Stilinski boy opened the door. Closing it, Stiles turned to him. "I don't think Scott wants to talk to you right now."
"Yeah, thanks, I'm aware of that," Stiles stated bluntly, not appreciating the reminder that his best friend wasn't talking to him. Not to mention, he wasn't even able to get in touch with his own girlfriend.
The things he said to her, he knew that they were horrible. But at that moment, after everything that happened with Scott, all he could see was red. And Riley, unfortunately, just so happened to be there.
Stiles reached for the car door again, pushing past the hurt. "It doesn't matter. He needs to know about this."
"Stiles," Theo said again, softer this time, but there was a note of a threat in his voice. "Scott doesn't want to talk to you. But I think your dad does."
Stiles watched as the werewolf held something up. Peering closer, he found it was his library card; the same one he had used to get into the library the night he killed Donovan and the same one that he threw out in the hospital.
The boy shifted from one foot to the other, a breath escaping him in realisation. He stared for a moment, trying to figure out what this was. A threat? An opportunity? What had he done to his father?
"Where'd you get that?" The Stilinski boy asked quietly.
Theo turned, turning the card in his hands. "Your dad was looking for you, Stiles. He found me instead."
"Where is he?" Stiles asked nervously, following close behind Theo as he walked away.
"I covered for you. This was taken care of," Theo informed him, glancing over his shoulder as his voice raised. "If Melissa didn't find it at the hospital. . . I guess even the son of a cop can make mistakes."
"Did you hurt him?"
This made Theo stop, turning to face the boy. "I never lied about why I came to Beacon Hills. I'm here for a Pack."
His words were mimicking those he had said to Riley not too many hours ago. Theo felt part of himself wondering if she had listened to him when he had told her to save her breath. Was she still alive?
When Stiles stared at him blankly, Theo continued with a nasty smirk. "I came for the were coyote. The one whose first instinct is to kill. I came for the Banshee, the girl surrounded by death. I came for the dark Kitsune, the Beta with anger issues, the Sylph with control issues. . . I came for Void Stiles. That's the Pack I want. Sorry to say, it doesn't include Scott."
Stiles' teeth ground against each other as he straightened his back, glaring at the supernatural boy. He had been right. Riley had been right. Theo had turned them all on Scott, just to take them from him.
Theo raised his brows as he watched the boy. "Your heartbeat's rising, Stiles. It's not because you're afraid. The Nogitsune is gone, but you've still got more blood on your hands than any of us."
The boy took a breath, his voice falling so low that you could hear the anger in every word. "I'm about to get more."
The werewolf smirked, looking down at the library card as he walked over to his car and laid it on the hood. "I'll tell you where your dad is if you promise not to help Scott."
Stiles didn't hesitate to curl his fingers into a ball and punch Theo right across the face. The boy spun, laughing as he turned back to the teenager. He saw now just how alike Stiles and Riley were; how easily corrupted that they had both been by the Nogitsune.
"There he is! That's Void Stiles! It felt good, didn't it?"
Stiles punched the boy again, this time hard enough that he fell to the ground. Theo rolled up onto one elbow, smiling through bloody teeth. "We won't tell Scott. 'Cause you can't lose your best friend, right? Even though we both know, you never needed him."
He was on top of the werewolf in seconds, grabbing him by the collar roughly. "Shut the hell up."
"Is he worth losing your dad over? Your girlfriend?"
Stiles' jaw fell slack for a moment, his jaw clenching as he watched Theo pull a phone out of his pocket. He hadn't been able to get ahold of Riley all day, but he had just figured she had been ignoring him after what he had said to her. Theo had had her phone this whole time.
"What have you done with her? With my dad?"
His lips twisted into a smirk, "You hate me now, but you'll get it eventually. This is the hard part. 'Cause you can't help Scott and save Riley and your dad's life. Weigh the odds, Stiles. What's more important to you? You've still got time, Stiles. You've still got time."
Stiles wanted nothing more than to punch the boy again, but he was right. He had time, but not enough time to help them all.
Climbing off of Theo, he snatched Riley's phone from the boy's grasp, before pulling his own phone out and dialling the first person that came to mind.
♧♤♢♡
Isaac had been walking around the Preserve for at least an hour now. It had grown dark, so he was relying completely on his werewolf senses to search for Riley.
From Riley Winters:
I'm sorry. I had to
If I'm not back soon, we're at the Preserve
He had called her several times, but still hadn't heard anything from her. He wasn't completely sure she was even still there, but until he knew for sure he had no plans on leaving.
Walking past another tree, Isaac focussed his hearing. "Riley! Riley, where are you?" he shouted, his voice traveling through the dark, empty woods.
When his phone began buzzing, his heart stopped for a moment. Without even looking at the ID on the screen, Isaac answered it and brought it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Stiles. Have you heard from Riley?" The Stilinski boy's voice said quickly.
Isaac couldn't help but feel disappointed to hear the boy's voice, praying that it was Riley on the other end. "No. I'm out in the Preserve looking for her right now."
"The Preserve?" Stiles asked.
"Yeah," Isaac sighed. "We were talking earlier and she got a call from Theo and she sent me a text saying that she was meeting him at the Preserve-"
"And you let her go alone?" Stiles said angrily, cutting him off. "Why'd you even let her go at all?"
"Hey, I made her promise me she wasn't going. I don't control what she does, Stilinski," Isaac bit back. "And maybe she wouldn't have been so determined to stop Theo on her own if you had just listened to her."
Stiles was stuck for words at this point, his breaths the only noise coming through the receiver. Finally, Isaac heard his voice again, much softer this time.
"Look, Theo has done something to my dad, so I'm on my way to him right now. Just. . . find her. I need you to find her. Please, Isaac."
"I'm not leaving without her," he assured the boy. "Go to your dad. I'll let you know when I find her."
"Thanks, man. Really."
The boys had a strange moment of silence, before they both finally hung up their phones. Between Riley and the supernatural aspects of their lives, the two had never really seen eye-to-eye. But with Riley missing, they were overlooking that.
Theo had been right about someone being in danger bringing the Pack together. He expected them to turn to him and ask for the girl's location in exchange for their loyalty. But both Isaac and Stiles knew that the Sylph would never forgive them if they traded away their allegiance like that.
Moving deeper into the woods without any luck was beginning to make Isaac question the decision, however. Bringing Riley's jacket - which he had taken from her car that remained in the parking lot - to his nose, he breathed in her scent deeply.
It smelt like the perfume she used to wear back when they dated. Some things never changed, apparently.
As he walked, he felt himself come to a stop suddenly when he thought he finally got a lock on her scent. Turning in a circle, it happened; he had found it.
Following it like a. . . well like a wolf, he ran through the underbrush. Trees flashed by as he ran, passing several he had already seen on his way in.
He finally reached the point where it was strongest, but she was no where to be seen. Isaac figured that maybe she had dropped a scarf or her phone or something, but there was nothing.
Weird, Isaac thought to himself, looking around the area. He knew it matched her scent, and it was fairly strong. But if she was here, it would be stronger. So what did this mean?
Grabbing his phone out, he turned on the flashlight and shone it around, just to be sure he hadn't missed anything. When he didn't see anything, his hand fell and his head rolled back in frustration.
Taking a breath, he looked down to his phone. That's when he saw it. The dirt he was standing on looked freshly shifted. He would know, considering that he used to dig graves as an afterschool job.
The thought made his eyes grow wide and his stomach drop. "No," he whispered, falling to his knees and beginning to dig desperately.
It made sense; the shifted dirt, the fact that her scent lead here but was still faint, the reason she couldn't escape. Isaac had been sure to do research of his own after finding out what his ex-girlfriend really was.
Earth and air were opposing elements - Theo putting her in the ground like this had the capability to kill her.
Dirt was gathering beneath his claws as he dug ferociously, the soil going everywhere. Isaac couldn't care less, he had to get to her.
The deeper he got, the stronger her scent was becoming. The fucking sociopath buried her alive, he thought to himself as he continued to scoop the dirt away.
He was thankful that he had found it now. Any longer, and the dirt would've begun to compact and the wind would've covered the ground in leaves, meaning he wouldn't have noticed the freshly shifted earth.
After nearly forty minutes of non-stop digging, Isaac's claws were finally met with something solid. Turning his flashlight on again, he saw that he had dug up a wooden box.
Leaning his torch against one side of the shallow grave, he used both hands to pry open one of the wooden slats going the length of what was basically a coffin. Eyes glowing, a growl escaped him as he ripped it free, throwing it away.
Grabbing the torch again, he shone it into the box. "Riley," he said in a soft gasp, seeing the girl laying in the bottom of the wooden box. It was hard to see her properly, but she looked paler than normal, her hair messy and dirt on her skin.
"Riley?" The boy repeated, touching his fingers to her neck. Pressing, he desperately prayed to feel something. "No, no, no, no, you can't be dead," he whispered.
Not wanting to believe it, he instead focussed his hearing for any signs of life. A small gasp of relief left him as he heard the faintest of heartbeats escape her chest. She was alive, but only just.
Putting the phone on the outside of the hole, he grabbed her with both hands and gently lifted her limp body out of the box. He laid her on the ground beside the hole, climbing out and kneeling above her.
"Riley?" he repeated, as if it would result in a different outcome. Not wanting to risk having her out there any longer, he shoved his phone into his pocket before slipping one arm under her legs and the other under her neck.
Running as fast as he dared with the girl in his arms, he got back to parking lot. Coming face to face with his motorcycle, he felt like an idiot. Until he looked over and saw Riley's car sitting idle.
Thankfully, Theo hadn't taken Riley's keys. Isaac removed them from the girl's pocket and placed her in the passenger seat, locking the belt across her.
He ran around to the driver's side, making his way to the hospital as fast as he could.
♧♤♢♡
"Stilinski, right?" the nurse at the desk asked the teenage boy. "You said his insurance was with the county? He's a Deputy?"
"No, he's the Sheriff," the boy responded, trying his best to keep his cool. "He's the county Sheriff. Okay. He's covered. I mean he should be covered."
The nurse wasn't flustered, having had to deal with worse than a frustrated teenager in the past. To both of their reliefs, however, Melissa McCall appeared at the boy's side.
"I'll take care of it," she assured him, grabbing the clipboard and leading the boy away from the desk. "I texted Scott and Riley. Scott's coming as soon as he can and I haven't heard back from Riley. Do you want me to try calling her?"
Stiles knew she wasn't going to answer, considering he was yet to hear back from Isaac. Therefore, he told the woman not to bother; he hadn't even wanted her to tell Scott. Frankly, his face was probably the last one she wanted to see.
"Is there anyone else we need to notify? A next of kin?" The nurse asked from the desk, still going through the paperwork for the Sheriff.
Melissa looked down sadly as Stiles turned to answer the nurse. "No, it's me. It's just me."
Knowing there was nothing he could do, for now, Melissa lead Stiles to the waiting area just outside the rooms on the floor where his dad was being treated. Stiles had hesitated at first but went eventually.
He took a seat, feeling his foot tapping against the ground impatiently. Taking his phone out he begged to see something on the screen. But, just like the last five times he had checked, there was nothing. No messages or missed calls from Isaac or Riley.
Stiles considered calling Malia to let her know but didn't see the point in worrying her until there was something to worry about. Riley was okay. She had to be.
Biting his lip, he put his phone down, putting his head in his hands. He felt like he was losing everything.
The sound of yelling caught Stiles' attention, the boy raising his face from his hands. Getting to his feet and moving through the hallway, he made his way back towards the nurse's desk, hoping that his dad was okay.
When he saw who had come rushing out of the elevator, trailing a nurse, Stiles felt like he might be sick. It was Isaac, sweat on his forehead and his eyes darting. But none of that concerned him, it was the seemingly lifeless body in his arms that made his heart stop.
Isaac had found Riley.
"Please, help her!" Isaac shouted, trying to get the attention of anyone who would listen, thinking the nurse who had led him onto that floor was taking too long. "Help her!"
Multiple other nurses were rushing over to him seconds later, a doctor leading Isaac to a room, getting him to put her on the bed.
"What happened to her?" the doctor asked, beginning to assess her.
"I- I don't know," Isaac stuttered.
The doctor looked the boy up and down, noticing the dirt beneath his nails, and the dirt covering the girl. "You need to stay here, son. The Deputies will be wanting to talk to you about this."
He then turned to one of the nurses, instructing her to get the police on the phone. The doctor knew better than to believe someone when they said they didn't know what happened, and he was unable to just let it slide when a teenager came into his hospital looking like someone may have done this to her.
Stiles stumbled into the room, watching as they began compressions, and turning on several monitors.
"She has a heartbeat, I checked," Isaac insisted from the side, running a hand through his hair as he also watched the doctors.
"You need to leave the room, now," the doctor insisted. He turned, noticing that Stiles had also entered the room. "Both of you, out."
Melissa grabbed an arm of them both, leading them out even though she also wanted to stay.
"What happened to her?" She demanded as soon as they were away from the room.
Isaac was shaking, hands in his hair. "She-uh, she was meeting with Theo. But then she never came back. I went to the Preserve to look for her and she was there. He'd buried her."
Stiles felt his blood run ice cold as he looked over Melissa's shoulder towards the room containing his girlfriend. The last conversation that they'd had began replaying in his mind, and any hope he had left was draining away.