I miss Stiles
Also, I finished writing Part A instead of doing my uni work (procrastination wasn't just a phase, apparently) and I've realised that I'm not ready to let go just yet, so I will be writing 6B after all.
Let me know what you're thinking x
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We went to school straight from Scott's house after examining the lightning strike. Mason, Liam and Corey went their own way - Mason and Liam mentioning going to the library to look into the lightning.
Meanwhile, Scott, Isaac and I went through the halls to where we said we'd meet Lydia and Malia. The two girls were already there when we arrived, talking amongst themselves.
"Hey, guys, how are you?" I asked, hugging them both.
"Chris shot me, I woke up in a morgue with him and Scott's mum and then had to rip a bullet out of my own leg," Malia said casually. "But, it healed, so I'm doing fine, all things considered."
The four of us stared at her for a moment, not having expected that answer. There was never a dull moment with her around.
"Right," Scott nodded, before reaching into his pocket and handing something to Lydia. "This is what I was telling you about - what Corey and Liam found in the library."
My brows pulled together as I looked at the card he handed over. "Corey and Liam found a clue and you didn't think to mention it?"
"Sorry," he winced.
Lydia examined the card, before lowering it to look at us all. "It's a relic."
"What's a relic?" Malia asked.
"An object with a fixed association to the past. Jake's ID was left behind after he was taken. And Gwen found her sister's bracelet on her bedroom floor."
"Wait," Isaac said, holding a hand up. "I thought we said that people were being erased? So, how are they leaving things behind?"
"A conservation of mass," Lydia answered as if that explained it clearly to everyone. "The total mass of any isolated system remains constant."
"So, even the Ghost Riders have a weakness," Scott concluded.
"We could find a relic to prove that Stiles existed," I added, a twinge of hope in my heart.
"And maybe we can bring him back."
If this Jake kid could leave something behind, then that meant that Stiles could have to. And if he did, I was going to find it.
"Feel like skipping school today, by any chance?" I asked Lydia.
♧♤♢♡
"Thanks for coming with me," I told the strawberry blonde as we walked through the doors of the Sheriff's station. "Even if he lets me into his house, I don't know if I'll be able to find anything, and you and your Banshee ability kind've have a knack for that."
She put an arm around me as we walked, smiling, "Banshee or not, you know I would've helped you either way."
"Thanks, Lyds," I breathed, relieved to be surrounded by such great friends.
The Sheriff wasn't busy, so we got straight in to see him. He wasn't all that happy to see that we had left school to be there, but he had to have known that I wasn't just going to go about my day after what he'd said last night.
Explaining the situation and the relics to him, and even showing him Jake's card, we left nothing out. I hoped our honestly would get us back into his good books after the incident with his father, and give us a better chance at getting into his house.
"You want to search my house?" The Sheriff asked slowly, turning the card in his hand.
"People are leaving things behind," Lydia told him, putting her hands on his desk. "So if Stiles left anything-"
"Why, why would it be there?"
"Because you can't just erase people," I replied, slowly beginning to believe myself with each piece of evidence we uncovered. "You can't. They leave things behind."
The Sheriff watched me for a moment, maybe trying to think of what to say. This situation was something we had never faced before, and to come to terms with a whole person being erased from our lives was difficult for everyone - especially if this person was his son.
"I couldn't sleep last night," the Sheriff told us as he put the library ID down on his desk. "So, um, I got up, figured I'd do some paperwork. The files were in the back of my car. So, I, I go to the garage, and some junk has fallen off a shelf and I, I stubbed my toe on an old baseball bat. Without thinking I yelled a name. . ."
"Stiles," I whispered softly, tears brimming in my eyes. We were getting closer by the second.
The Sheriff bobbed his head, grabbing his phone. "I can't leave, but Claudia is home. I'll let her know you're on your way."
"Thank you, Sheriff."
We left immediately, not wanting to waste any time. We got into Lydia's car, mine still being at home since Isaac had taken me to school on his bike.
Neither of us spoke on the way to the Stilinski house, both of us nervous and on edge. We were finally getting somewhere. And now, if we found a relic, there was a chance we could bring him back.
♧♤♢♡
Mrs Stilinski didn't interfere when we arrived at her house, acting like a welcoming guest. I thought it was strange, given her behaviour in the Sheriff's office when I had been asking him for help whilst she had been there, but I wasn't about to question it.
We had been searching the living room for about fifteen minutes, going over everything. My first instinct was to check the photos in hopes of finding something similar to what I had pinned to my wall.
Unfortunately, every photo seemed complete. Whether it be an anniversary or just a cute couples photo, the Stilinskis were in every photo.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Claudia asked from off to the side.
"No," Lydia answered a bit too quickly, before composing herself. "But thank you, Mrs Stilinski."
"Well, good luck," she sighed, offering the both of us a smile. "I'll leave you girls to it."
She left the room a moment later, silence falling as she did so. I found myself turning to Lydia, who looked like she was getting strange vibes off of Mrs Stilinski also.
I couldn't explain it, there was just something about how she was acting. Had Mr Stilinski not told her about the dream? About how the person we were looking for might be her son?
Shaking my thoughts, I zoned back in to see Lydia walking down the hallway. I followed close behind her, not saying anything in case she was in one of her trance-like states she experienced sometimes.
Rounding the corner, she didn't stop until she was standing and staring at a wall. There was no door, or photos, just a blank wall.
Confused, given her record of usually being right, I leaned forward to face her. "What's going on, Lydia? There's nothing here."
"There's something," she mumbled, reaching a hand out. Just as she was about to touch it, she gasped, retracting her hand.
I looked around quickly, but there was nothing there.
"See what?" Lydia asked.
I was about to ask her what she was talking about when I realised that it was a Banshee thing after all. Meaning that this wall wasn't nothing.
Lydia steadied her breathing as she turned back to the wall. Reaching out again, she picked at where two sheets of wallpaper met. Gripping the edge between her fingers, she began to pull.
My eyes widened as I watched her, not expecting that we were going to be damaging anything on our visit here. But I still remained quiet - I trusted my friend.
Lydia began to tear the wallpaper slowly. Both of us were so focused on watching her do so, that we hadn't even seen Mrs Stilinski approaching us.
The woman grabbed Lydia's wrist harshly, pulling her fingers away from the wall. "What are you doing?"
I felt my heart jump as I took a step back, the woman scaring the shit out of me. And Lydia, too, by the looks of it.
The strawberry blonde looked at the woman, trying not to react, "You're hurting me."
As Lydia pulled her wrist free from Mrs Stilinski, the woman reached up and attempted to press the wallpaper back down.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," Lydia said, her eyes looking away from Claudia.
"I think that's something we can agree on," the woman said bitterly, anger clear on her face.
Grabbing Lydia's hand, I helped her to step around Claudia so that we could leave. I looked back for a moment to see the woman before we turned the corner.
I had never seen her so mad before. I mean, I understand that it's her house, but grabbing Lydia like that?
"What do you want to do?" Lydia asked when we got to her car.
I bit my lip in thought as I shut the car door. "Can you take me home? I need to do some research of my own."
Scott and Isaac were dealing with the Ghost Riders, which left me with time to look at my photo wall.
Lydia nodded as she started her car. "I'm sorry we didn't find anything."
"You tried, that's what matters," I smiled. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine," she smiled tightly. "I just want to find Stiles."
"Me too."
"I think I'm going to do some research, too," Lydia thought aloud. "Claudia's hiding something. I can feel it."
♧♤♢♡
After Lydia dropped me home I went straight to my room. Rifling through my desk I found pens, sticky notes, more pins and some yarn.
From there, I began to look at the pictures again. Any photo that looked like it had more of a story than just some random selfie, I wrote down whatever I could remember on a sticky note and stuck it to the side of the picture. If any number looked like they were taken in the same location, I connected them with a pin and some yarn.
I spent almost three hours going through all of them nearly three times. There weren't as many visible connections as I would have liked, but it was something.
Unfortunately, even after all of that, I hadn't managed to find any groundbreaking discoveries. I knew when they were taken and where, but I couldn't see anything significant.
Well, nearly where all of them were taken. There were some that looked like I was inside a car, but I didn't recognise the car. It wasn't mine or anyone else in the Pack - I could tell from the interior.
And it didn't appear to be a one off ride in some random's car either, as there were several and I had been wearing different outfits.
So far, I could only see the interior of the vehicle, so I was unable to figure out what sort've car it was. Either way, it was better than haven't absolutely nothing.
Removing my chair from my desk, I planted it about a metre away from my wall and took a seat. I don't know if I was just expecting the answer to pop out at me, but I didn't want to just walk away either.
"Hey, thought you might be hungry," Charlotte stated as she walked in with a plate of vegetables and some chicken on the side.
"Thanks," I sighed, accepting the plate.
Charlotte didn't leave, eyes beginning to scan my wall. "Why have you pinned photos of yourself all over your wall?"
Taking a bit of the chicken, I shook my head. "It's not like that. I'm trying to find someone."
"You're trying to find someone?"
I gave her a confused look before I realised I hadn't really kept her in the loop that past few days. "You might want to call Iris in here."
Charlotte's head lolled to the side before she sighed and went to get her girlfriend. I didn't even have to say anything to make her realise that this was serious and was obviously related to the supernatural.
When they both were in my room and sitting on my bed, I sat my plate down so I could explain the situation. "Okay, so basically something called the Wild Hunt has come to Beacon Hills. We-"
"What is the Wild Hunt?" Iris asked.
"I was just about to answer. Please leave all questions and inquiries until the end of the story, please. It'll just make things easier for everyone," I said quickly.
"So, as I was saying before. The Wild Hunt has come to Beacon Hills. It's these things called Ghost Riders. We thought they just took people, but we were wrong; they completely erase them.
"And we're all pretty sure that someone we knew has been erased and the reason for all the photos is because I think that person was in them with me."
"Is that it? Can we talk?" Charlotte checked. When I nodded, she went to the wall again and took a look with the new information in mind. "I know you, you don't take many photos - even with your friends. And yet, you think the person who is missing was in all of these with you?"
I looked at my hands, picking at my nails nervously. "I think he was more than a friend to me."
"What about Isaac?"
"We were broken up," I explained. "We both remember breaking up, but neither of us could remember when we got back together. And I've been hearing this voice, and I think it might be him."
Iris went to stand beside Charlotte, both of them watching me. "Alright, tell us everything you know about him."
Thinking for a moment, I began to list what I knew. "We think his name is Stiles and he's our age. He was with Scott and I the night Scott was bitten. He was my- I think he might have been more than just my best friend. And we also think that he is the Sheriff's son."
At this, Charlotte became confused, "Sheriff Stilinski? He and Claudia don't have a son."
"Not one that we remember," I insisted. "We're going to find him. He's real."
When my phone began ringing, Charlotte and Iris headed towards my bedroom door. "Okay. Just let us know if there's anything we can do to help."
I answered my phone quickly, asking Lydia if she could wait a moment, before calling Iris' name.
The woman backtracked, coming back into my room "What's wrong?"
Pulling a few photos down from the wall, I held them out to her so that she could see them, "Is this your car?"
Iris accepted the photos, scanning over them quickly. "No, that's not mine. Sorry, Ri."
"Thanks anyway," I said, giving her an appreciative smile, before she left again.
Putting the photos back on the desk, I brought my phone back to my ear. "Hey Lydia, sorry I was just talking to Charlotte and Iris. What's up?"
"The Ghost Riders attacked. I'm on my way to meet Scott at the hospital. Can you make it?"
"I'll be there," I answered, hanging up and rushing out of my house.
♧♤♢♡
I had been the last to arrive at the hospital. Scott, Malia, Isaac and Lydia were all off to one side of the hallway talking when I found them.
"Hey, what happened?" I asked as I approached.
"Argent got attacked by a Ghost Rider trying to protect those kids. It clipped him with his whip," Scott explained.
Malia nodded with a frown, "They took everyone. We barely slowed them down."
"Tell us one of you found something."
My eyes fell to the floor in disappointment, "Nothing yet. But I know there's something there. I'm still making connections between the photos. There's one I think that might be a lead, but I'm not sure."
Lydia glanced at me for a moment, before sharing the information she'd gathered. "I found out Claudia never had children. So, Stiles can't be her son."
"What about a relic?" Malia inquired. When Lydia and I both shook our heads, the werecoyote turned to Scott. "There never was a Stiles, was there?"
"Yes, there was," I said immediately, not about to let them give up.
Scott gave a half-shrug as he looked at me, "Ri, come on. It doesn't even sound like a real name."
"We have to keep looking," Lydia insisted, backing me up. "Check the school records again, or try Scott's dad."
"They're right, Scott," Isaac agreed. "We can't just stop because of one roadbump."
"This isn't a roadbump. We're fighting the wrong battle," Malia countered.
"How is trying to bring Stiles back the wrong battle?" I scoffed. I could feel my anger and frustration beginning to burn inside me. We had barely been searching for two days, and they were ready to just throw in the towel.
"The Ghost Riders came back. We still have no way of stopping them. And whatever they are, they're real. We can't keep chasing someone who isn't."
"He is real!" I defended rather loudly, looking across them all. Even Isaac was beginning to look doubtful. "I heard his voice. How do you explain that?"
"You have enhanced hearing, Riley," Malia reminded me.
"No, it wasn't that, I know it wasn't. It was different, it was like he was right beside me," I explained.
Scott put a hand on my shoulder rather patronizingly. "We believe you."
I scoffed, stepping out of his reach, "No, you don't. I've known you forever, Scott, I'm not stupid. I know when you're lying."
"Ri-"
Holding back tears, I scowled at him, "How are you just giving up? He was our friend."
"He didn't leave anything behind," Scott said softly, handling me with kid gloves.
"He left us," I spat angrily, taking a step towards him. I swallowed roughly, glancing around at all of them. "He left me."
A small whimper left my lips as I let a few tears fall, unable to hold them back any more. Scott's frown deepened as his eyes met mine. I could tell he felt guilty, but what I said hadn't changed his mind, either. If anything, he looked like he thought I was losing my mind.
"We need to focus on the Ghost Riders, Ri," he said barely above a whisper.
I looked to my friends for support, but all of them - except for Lydia - looked away. They didn't want to admit that they agreed.
"I'll find him myself," I muttered, leaving the hospital, letting a gust of wind blow down the hall in my wake, not hiding my anger.