I'm not ready for Stiles to disappear. I've been excitedly dreading this ever since I started writing the second book
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It didn't take much to convince Scott to come along after he had seen the shard of glass. The blue-green tint wasn't normal, anyone could tell.
Just in case though, Scott took it to our biology teacher to get a second opinion. While he did so, Stiles and I waited out in the hallway.
"You're really sure about this, aren't you?" I asked quietly.
A moment passed before he nodded. "I know you don't want it to be, and I don't want you to think that I want this to be supernatural for the sake of it being supernatural-"
"I don't think that," I told him quickly. "I get why you want it to be. Saving everyone when the Beast attacked, you felt something. I saw it in you; it's the sort of person you are. That's why you want to go into law enforcement like your dad, right?"
He pursed his lips, before nodding. "Sometimes, I feel like you know me better than anyone."
I nodded also, a small smile on my face, "And being that person, I know that you're not going to stop until you've helped this boy. So, for better or worse, I'm going to be by your side the whole time."
He put an arm around me and hugged me to his side, resting his head against my own. "Thank you for always believing me," he whispered.
A few minutes later, Scott finally emerged from the classroom, holding up the shard. "We need to go and check out that house."
"Are you okay with making that 39 classes you've missed, Scottie?" I asked the boy as we began to walk out the door.
"I don't think we have much of a choice," he admitted.
We had barely taken five steps out the door when Mrs Martin blocked our path. She forced us all to turn around, grabbing the boys by their backpacks and shepherding us all back into the school. "None of you are going anywhere. 38 classes, Scott. I had to beg the superintendent."
"Mrs Martin, Scott is the sworn protector of Beacon Hills," Stiles said.
Releasing the boys' bags, Mrs Martin gave us all a small push forward back towards our classes. "He can protect it at 3:30."
She stood watching as the three of us walked away, not looking back at her. I glanced at my two best friends, brows furrowed. "We're not waiting until 3:30, right?"
♧♤♢♡
Not having a way out of the school where Mrs Martin wouldn't figure out we had left, we were forced to go to class. We had our history class for our final period, where the teacher decided to just chuck a video on while she corrected work.
Throughout the whole thing, Stiles sat at the desk beside me, tapping his fingers in frustration. He didn't watch one second of the video, his eyes glued to the clock on the wall, watching as the hands ticked away with each passing minute.
As soon as the hands reached 3:30 and the bell rung, the two boys packed their bags and headed towards the door. I looked at Lydia over my shoulder as I picked up my bag, "I'll call you later once we've left Alex's house."
She nodded with a smile, "Be careful. I'll let you know how my tutoring session with Malia goes."
"Thank you again for doing that."
"You know I'd help any of you," she reminded with a grin.
Thanking her again, I shifted my bag onto my shoulder and rushed after the two boys. "So, we're doing this?"
"We have to find out what happened to his parents," Stiles said, leading us all to his Jeep.
Scott got into the backseat, allowing me the front as Stiles started up the car. "But you said that the address that Alex gave them was for an abandoned house. That means it might not even be his house, so what do you think we'll find there?"
The Alpha had a point. If Alex didn't live there, then looking for clues at that address would just be a complete waste of time.
"Something," Stiles shrugged as he pulled out of the school car park. "Anything. I don't know. We said we would help him, so we owe it to Alex to at least check it out."
"Stiles is right," I stated as I looked over to Scott. "We've followed leads with a lot less."
"Okay, let's do it," Scott agreed.
We arrived at Alex's house about twenty minutes later. It was alone at the top of a hill, plants were overgrown all around it, its two storeys standing tall as dark clouds gathered above it.
"That's not creepy at all," Stiles sighed as we approached the building.
Stiles handed Scott and me each a flashlight that he had retrieved from the boot of the Jeep. We entered the house, pushing the door open as it creaked.
The inside was dark and dusty, everything looking almost antique. There wasn't a lot of furniture, and what was there was covered in a thin layer of dust. It seemed as if no one had lived here for at least several years.
We walked around what I presumed to be the living room, shining our flashlights across the room in search of any hint that Alex's family had indeed lived there. All signs indicated otherwise, unfortunately.
"You guys wanna split up?" Scott asked as we prepared to search the rest of the house.
Stiles' eyes widened as he shook his head, "Uh, absolutely not."
Nodding in agreement, the three of us began our search. Figuring we should work our way from the top downward, we headed upstairs first.
The floorboards creaked eerily beneath the weight of our footsteps. We shone our flashlights as we went, looking through the doors into each room.
Coming across yet another empty room, Scott gave a small shrug. "Maybe Alex got the address wrong."
"Or he lied," Siles suggested.
"Why would he lie?"
"I don't know. But either way, it doesn't look like anyone has lived here in years, guys," I stated quietly, my voice still loud in the emptiness.
We passed more empty rooms, every door open and waiting for us to look. I had lost most of my hope that we would find something at that point. What was there to find in an empty house, after all?
Continuing down the hallway, we saw that there was one door closed. Every other door had been open, except for this one at the end. We all gave each other a wary glance but approached it anyway.
Stiles hesitated as he reached for the doorknob, before turning it and revealing the room behind it. My mouth fell open as I saw it. This room wasn't empty and covered in dust.
It had a bed, desk, clothes, photos, and everything else you would expect to find in a room. It was so strange to see a completely furnished room amongst the empty ghost-like nature of the rest of the house.
"He didn't lie," Stiles stated, pointing out the rather obvious.
We all walked into the room, taking it all in. It was here, proof that Alex had lived here. But what had happened to the rest of the house?
"Why didn't the cops say anything about this?" Scott asked.
"They don't know it's here."
I picked up a book, turning it over as I looked over to my boyfriend. "We found it, how didn't they?"
"They can't come here without a warrant," he explained. "And there's no owner or record to serve a warrant to. So unless there's some kind of threat or imminent danger, they wouldn't come in."
Sitting the book down, I noticed a look cross Scott's face. "What is it?"
He glanced up from the floor, confused, "I think I heard something."
As Scott left the room, Stiles and I followed. Heading down the stairs quietly, we kept our eyes open in case of any danger. We shined our flashlights over at the table, seeing the glasses and plates still untouched.
When a floorboard creaked, we turned quickly, but nothing was there. That's when I noticed that Stiles hadn't followed us downstairs after all.
Looking back at the table, the glasses and plates were gone, leaving only dustrings as proof that they had been there at all.
"I'm not crazy, there was stuff on this table before. Right?" I asked Scott quietly.
He gave a confused nod, walking further into the house. I wanted to call Stiles' name, but if something dangerous was in the house, I didn't want to alert it of our presence.
Walking forward cautiously, we turned a corner and came face to face with our fellow intruders. We all jumped as we ran into each other, gathering ourselves.
Mason and Liam stood across from us, Mason holding his chest in shock. Liam looked at us both, just as surprised, "What are you guys doing here?"
"This is Alex's house," Scott replied. "What are you doing here?"
"This is where the compass led us."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused as to what he meant. Compasses normally pointed in a set direction, after all.
Mason stepped forward, opening his hand to reveal a compass. Scott and I both looked down at it, to see the needle spinning eratically, not pointing to its set directions like it should have been.
"What the hell?" I mumbled.
"Why is it doing that?" Scott asked the boy.
Mason shook his head, "I have no idea."
Liam showed us the compass on his phone, telling us all the compasses were the same. None could tell us which ways was North - their one job. It didn't make sense.
A gasp escaped me as the compass in Mason's hand suddenly cracked. Then, a loud thudding sound came from the second floor. "Stiles," I said beneath my breath.
Running upstairs, I went in search of my boyfriend. I saw him at the end of the hall, climbing to his feet. He was looking around as if he had lost something, sounding quite out of breath.
"What happened?" Scott asked from behind me, Liam and Mason there as well.
"He was here. He shot at me," Stiles stated. He was panting, pointing to the door before turning back to all of us. "It was one of the guys you saw in Alex's memory."
"Someone shot at you?" I asked panickedly, walking over to him and assessing him quickly. When I didn't find any bullet wounds, I looked over his shoulder and examined the door. Stiles claimed that he had been shot at, but I couldn't see any bullet holes anywhere.
"The guy who took his parents?" Mason clarified.
"No, no, no," Stiles said quickly. "They weren't just taken. "They were, they were made to disappear. That's why there's no furniture, that's why they weren't in any of the photos. They were erased."
A moment of realisation fell over the three of us who knew what was behind the door Stiles had closed. When he reopened it, however, it was different.
The room was empty - just like the rest of the house.
♧♤♢♡
Later that afternoon, I was back home sitting on my bed reading. Stiles had wanted to do more research into what had happened at Alex's house, so he had stayed at school to research in the library.
As I turned the page, I heard my phone beep with a notification. Picking it up, I saw I had received a text from Sydney.
From Sydney:
Hey Riley, here's that photo you wanted along with a few others
After texting her a quick thank you, I began to scroll through the attachments. The first few were our group photos that Sydney had taken and then, some of my attempts at year book photos which Stiles had stepped into.
I laughed as I looked through them, smiling. I reached one at the bottom, stopping to look at it. I was smiling for the photo and Stiles was on the side.
He was looking at me with this look that gave me butterflies all over again. He looked at me like I was all that mattered in that moment, and it made my heart swell.
I scrolled back to one of the group photos, zooming in on Stiles and me holding hands sitting at the table. Cropping it, I set it as my phone background, smiling at the final result.
Putting my phone back down, I went back to my book, only to notice someone standing at my door. I jumped at their sudden appearance, looking up to see Isaac.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he laughed. "Iris let me in."
I out my hand to my chest as I steadied myself, putting my book down and sitting up. "What are you doing here?"
"We were supposed to be going over that homework assignment, remember?" he stated, walking over and sitting beside me.
"Right," I sighed. "Sorry, it's been a long day."
He shrugged, smiling, "It's fine. Do you just wanna watch a move instead?"
"That sounds great, actually," I replied. "Stiles was supposed to be coming over, but I think he's gotten distracted at the library."
"Who?"
I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my laptop out. "You're hilarious. Very original, Isaac. Go grab some snacks, or something."
Isaac mouthed an 'okay', before leaving to go and grab some snacks from the kitchen like I had asked, while I set up my laptop. Not two seconds into searching Netflix, I got a call from Lydia.
"Hey, how's the research going?" I asked.
"It's the Wild Hunt," she said quickly. "They're taking people. You need to get down here Riley. Anyone who sees them, they're taking, and I think that means they're coming for Stiles."
"Isaac!" I shouted.
The boy came rushing into the room, eyes wide in panic, "What? What's wrong?"
"Tell me right now, who is Stiles?"
His brows pulled together as he looked at me, "What? I tried to ask you who that was before, but you brushed me off. Why, who is it?"
My stomach dropped, Isaac's confusion at hearing his name making more sense. He hadn't been just making some dumb joke, he didn't know who he was.
"We'll be there soon," I told Lydia.
Grabbing my keys, purse and phone, I ran out of my room and towards the front door. Isaac followed behind me, trying to ask what was going on.
"Hey, where are you going so late?" Iris asked as I went towards the door.
"Stiles is in danger," I said quickly.
Her head fell to the side, "Is that another supernatural creature? I haven't heard of that one."
My anxiety kicked up another notch, leaving without another word. I didn't have time for this, I needed to get to Stiles before the Wild Hunt could.
Isaac and I both got into my car and I sped the whole way to the school. Isaac kept asking questions, but I ignored him. If he didn't know who Stiles was, I wasn't going to distract myself explaining.
When we got to the school, I instructed him to go and find Lydia. He appeared confused by the request, but did so anyway.
Running through the school, I ran directly into Scott. Taking a breath, I felt myself calm down a bit.
"Riley? Are you okay?" he asked, putting his hands on my shoulders to get me to focus.
I shook my head, taking another breath. "No. I need you to tell me where Stiles is, right now."
Scott's lips formed a frown, "Stiles? Who's that?"
I took a step back, Scott's hands falling from my shoulders. "Not you, too," I said softly.
Turning around, I ran back out of the school. Scott called after me, but I didn't stop. Running around a corner, I spotted the Jeep on the other end of the car park.
"Riley!" I heard a voice scream.
Turning, I saw him standing near one of the entrances to the school. A breath of relief escaped me as I ran towards him. I practically jumped on him, throwing my arms around him.
His arms were around my waist in seconds, holding me close. "Thank god. I thought you had forgotten me, too," he whispered into my hair.
"Never." I shook my head, hugging him tighter, "Stiles, what's happening?"
He let me go so that we could face each other. The look on his face was breaking my heart. "I saw them. They got Alex, and now, they're coming for me."
"What? Alex? Who's Alex?" I asked quickly, trying to make sense of what he was saying.
Stiles' eyes widened for a moment, before he pushed me back slightly. "That doesn't matter now. They're coming for me, which means you need to get away from me, okay? Right now. Get away from here."
"Stiles, you're fucking crazy if you think I'm leaving you," I scoffed.
"Riley-"
"No!" I said firmly. "I'm not leaving you!"
His eyes softened, before they widened. "Do you see that?"
I looked around, but nothing was there. "See what? What's there?"
Stiles gulped heavily, before he grabbed his hand. "Come on, they're coming. This way, this way, come on."
He led us away from the school, before skidding to a stop. He changed direction a few times, before stopping completely.
"Stiles, where are they?" I asked, looking around.
His eyes flitted from one thing to another, but I still couldn't see any of it. "They're everywhere."
Scanning our surrounding, I nodded towards his car. "The Jeep."
He acknowledged his agreement, running towards it with me in tow. "Don't look at them," he instructed me. "Don't scream, don't use your ability. They'll take you, too. Just do not look at them."
We ran towards the Jeep as fast as we could. It was closer than my car, and at that point, it was our only hope of getting him away from the Wild Hunt.
"I won't," I yelled. My heart was beating uncontrollably fast. He was terrified, and so was I. I couldn't lose him; I just couldn't.
We both got into the car, locking the doors behind us. Stiles fumbled with the keys for a moment, almost dropping them.
When I noticed that he had given up starting the car and removed the key altogether, I gave him a confused look. "Stiles, what are you doing? We need to go before they get you."
He lowered the key, his eyes shifting to meet mine. "There's not enough time."
"Of course there is."
"Riley, I'm going to be erased, okay? Just like you've forgotten Alex, you're going to forget about me."
"No, Stiles," I said quickly, biting back tears. "I'm not going to forget you. I'm not-"
"Riley, stop being your stubborn self and just listen," he laughed sadly. "You will. I just. . . I need you to find some way to remember me, okay?"
I grabbed his hands, jaw clenching as I tried not to cry. "Stiles. . ."
He squeezed my hands, a small smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Remember that I was an idiot who was too scared to admit my feelings for you. That I carried around a crush for you for years. Our movie nights where you let me make you watch Star Wars. That you were the first girl I had ever kissed. The first girl I ever loved."
Thinking back, I remembered some of the things he was saying, but not all of them. I couldn't stop it at that point, my tears beginning to fall. "Stiles, I can't do this without you."
"You can," he said quickly. "Okay? You're Riley Winters, you can do anything. I need you to promise me, okay? Promise me you'll remember me."
I went to say his name, my mind failing me for a moment. "Stiles," I said quickly, grabbing ahold of it and trying not to let go.
One of his hands reached up, wiping away my tears.
"Remember that night when we almost kissed for the first time? You told me you wanted the boombox next time? You need to remember me, because I owe you one boombox. I want to give you that. I want to give you the world."
"I love you," I said, trying desperately to hold onto the memories that I could feel trying to leave me. "I'll remember you. I will. I promise."
"I love you so much," he said as he squeezed my hands again. "Completely, totally, desperately."
The way he said the words made me think that they were supposed to mean something. Before I could ask, though, the door flew open and he was ripped away from me.
My mouth fell open, trying to comprehend what had just happened as the door banged shut. Gathering my thoughts as best I could, I rummaged through the glove compartment in the Jeep, desperate to find a pen to write his name down.
When I finally located one, I uncapped it and brought it to my hand. Just as the nib pressed against my skin, ready to write, I stopped.
I sat back in the chair, confused as I let my hand and the pen fall into my lap. What was it that I had been wanting to write?