Azalea's outfit:
Chapter Eighty-Nine
⚡Memory Found⚡
"The tunnel gate's locked. Everything is locked." Lydia said as she ran into the bunker and Scott closed and locked the door behind him. "Think it'll hold them off?" Malia asked and Azalea sighed softly, "Probably not." She said and Lydia shook her head. "Definitely not." She said.
"You guys aren't hoping I'm gonna be the optimist, are you?" Malia asked and Azalea chuckled as she walked past her to the metal ice box. "So, how cold does this thing get?" Scott asked as he walked up to stand next to Azalea, "Cold enough for a Hellhound. It's not the same thing as the ice bath we gave Isaac, but it can lower your core temperature past anything a human can survive." She explained.
"So, what does freezing our asses off have to do with our memories?" Malia asked, looking at Azalea crazy, "It'll slow your heart rate and put you in a trance-like state." Lydia said and Scott raised his eyebrows. "Like hypnosis." He said and Lydia nodded, "Hypnotic regression. If we can figure out how to work it." She said and Malia glanced around.
"This says "start." So, maybe it's not that complicated." Malia said, pointing at a button on the side while Scott looked at the other side where a bunch of knobs and dials where. "...It's complicated." He said. "So, optimistically, how much time do you think we need to do this?" Malia asked and Scott looked over at her, "As much time as Liam, Stefan and Stilinski can buy us." He said.
⚡
Malia pressed the start button and it came to life. "Okay. It's doing something. Whose first?" Malia asked as she glanced at everyone, "I'll go." Azalea said as she took her jacket off and Scott grabbed her hand. "Are you sure?' He asked and she nodded, "I'm sure." She said before squeezing his hand before moving to go into the box. She looked at them through the small window and nodded making Malia lock it.
"Remember, this will get cold enough to kill you. So, if something feels wrong, or, like it's not working..." Lydia trailed off and Azalea just nodded, "It's going to be work... I hope." He said and Lydia raised her eyebrows. "I hope you're not saying that because you think we know what we're doing." Lydia said and Azalea chuckled, "I'm saying that because I know you can figure it out."
Scott sighed softly and nodded before turning all the dials making cold air blow into the box. Azalea sucked in a deep slightly before closing her eyes. "So, what are we supposed to do? Talk to her? Help her remember? Wait 'til she turns into a Strigoi freezy-pop?" Malia asked looking over and Scott and Lydia.
"We need to guide her, keep her focused." Lydia said before looking over at Azalea, "Azalea, you have to think about him. Concentrate on Stiles. Try to picture him in your head. Think about what he looks like, things he's said." She said and Azalea nodded. All of the sudden the machine made a noise and started beeping making them look around alarmed.
"I don't like this. Something's wrong." Scott asked and Lydia shook her head slightly, "Wait. Give it a few more seconds." She said. Azalea groaned slightly making Malia shake her head, "I'm getting her out of there." Malia said and went to grab one of the handles but Lydia grabbed her arm.
"Wait!" She said when she saw Azalea relaxing, "Azalea... Can you hear me?" She asked calmly and Azalea slowly looked up with smokey grey-silver eyes. She didn't say anything for a few seconds before her eyes started fluttering, "Azalea, don't fall asleep. You have to keep your eyes open." Lydia said.
"I know..." Azalea mumbled and Lydia sigh softly, "It's not sleep. I think you're losing consciousness... And, if you do that, I think we're gonna lose you." Lydia said and Azalea didn't say anything as her eyes kelt fluttering. "Azalea, stay awake! Azalea!" Scott yelled.
Azalea glanced around as she stood in the hallway of the highschool. "Azalea!" She heard someone yell making her turn around to see two people flickering in an out. "I need a favor." The same person said before everything went clear and she saw Stiles dragging her down the hall.
**"Which is?" Azalea asked, "Scott almost let my dad get hurt- thank you for saving him by the way." He said and she nodded slightly." Anyway, I'm going to give Scott the silent treatment and I need you to keep me from breaking and talking to him." He said making her furrow her brows slightly, "Why me?" She asked. "Because you scare me." He said and she rolled her eyes before stopping and turning to him.
"Do I have to remind you that we are not friends? Scott isnt my friend either." She said and he nodded, "I know." He said and she raised her eyebrows. "And you still want me to do this?" She asked and he nodded, "Yeah, obviously." He said and she sighed in annoyance before walking away.**
They watched worriedly as Azalea seemed to be in a trance. "Azalea, try to find him." Lydia said as Azalea's eyes glanced around the box as she kept seeing and hearing short flashes of moment with Stiles. "Try to find him in your memories." Lydia said calmly, "Find him in any memory! Good or bad!" She said and she frantically glanced around.
"What's happening to her?" Scott asked worriedly and Lydia shook her head, "I don't know." She said. "She doesn't look good. He looks...Lost." Malia said and Lydia nodded and sighed, "Because she is. I think it's too much information. Like she's getting buried under all the memories, being overloaded by them." She explained and her looked over at her.
"So what do we do to help him?"
"Azalea? Azalea, do you hear me? You have to try to focus!" Lydia yelled as she lightly tapped on the window. "You hear that?" Malia asked after a few minutes as she walked over to the door, "Thunder?" Scott asked as Malia listened for a moment. "Maybe." She said and Lydia sighed, "This isn't working." She said looking back at Azalea.
"Then we have to figure something else out." Malia said as she walked back over, "I know. I know." Lydia said. "Is she gonna freeze to death in there?" Scott asked and Lydia sighed, "If her memories don't kill her first." She said.
"There has to be another way to do this... isn't there?" Malia asked and Lydia shrugged anxiously, "I don't know! This is my first attempt at trying to open a dimensional rift in space-time, so we're kind of fumbling around in the dark, okay?" She said.
"I'm getting her out." Scott said and Lydia grabbed his arm, "Wait-" She said making them look at her. "I'm not the only one fumbling around in the dark." Lydia said and Malia just looked at her confused, "What does that mean?"
"We have to treat this more like actual hypnosis. They use images to guide you through memories. Like a stairwell- the steps take you down through one year of your life to the next. That's how they regress you back." Lydia explained and Malia nodded along, getting what Lydia was meaning, "So, she needs to imagine something." She said.
"What do we tell her?" Scott asked and Lydia looked back at Azalea. "Azalea? Can you hear me?" She asked calmly. "Azalea, listen... Imagine this you're in the high school, in the corridor. Just try to imagine standing there. That's where your memories are. They're all behind door. They're locked away behind each door. Every memory of Stiles is behind a door. Azalea, you're there... in the high school... you're standing there now." She said calmly.
Azalea glanced around as she stood in the hallways again before quickly walking over to a door. She took a deep breath before slowly opening the door getting sucked into a memory.
**Azalea helped Scott into the examination room before leaning him against a metal table. "This is gonna hurt." Azalea said, looking at Scott as she wrapped her hand around the sword and he nodded. She was about to pull it out but all of the sudden there was a loud thud making them glance back right as Kira fell to the ground.
"Stiles?" Azalea asked as she furrowed her brows while he walked up to them. Realization crossed over her features and she quickly went to pull the sword out but Stiles grabbed her wrist. He pulled her hand away from the sword making her furrow her brows and wince slightly as he tightly gripped her hand.
All of the sudden Stiles grabbed the back of her head before slamming her head down on the metal table.**
Azalea quickly shut the door and glanced around slightly. "Hey, Lydia... I need your help. I don't think I can do this. I can't figure it out." She called out. "Keep looking." She heard Lydia said and Azalea furrowed her brows. "There are memories, but I don't know which one's the right one. What am I supposed to do?" Azalea asked, "Find another memory. Just find another memory."
Azalea sighed softly before walking around the hall and opening the door.
"It's getting too cold. She's getting too cold." Lydia said as the window started to frost over making Malia turn to them. "What if it's not enough to remember him? What if it's some kind of a connection she's supposed to make because of a memory?" She asked.
"Like an emotional connection?" Scott asked and Malia nodded, "That could be why it worked for Stilinski, right?" She asked and Lydia nodded slightly. "He wasn't just remembering someone. He was remembering his son." She said and Malia walked over to them while realization crossed over Scott's features and he looked at Azalea.
"Hey, Azalea? I think I remember something. Before you left for Romania, I had asked if you were going to come back. You said that Stiles wasn't giving you a choice because he refused to lose his Star Wars buddy. I remember you said that you would never admit it to him but he was one of your best friends." Scott said.
Azalea glanced around slightly before walking over to a door and getting sucked into a memory.
** Why can't you trust anyone?" Scott asked, "Because you trust everyone!" Stiles yelled before punching the jeep in frustration. "Stiles!" Azalea said, slightly pulling him away from the jeep, "Are you okay?" Scott asked and Stiles nodded. "I'm fine." He said and Azalea gave him a look, "You could've broken it-"
"It's not broken." He said, cutting her off making her raise her eyebrows, "Let me see it." She said and he shook his head. "I'm fine." He said making her roll her eyes, "Stiles, don't piss me off." She said and he sighed before holding his hand out. She grabbed it and black veins trailed from his hand to hers.
When she pulled away he looked down at his hand, moving it around not feeling any pain. "Idiot." Azalea said and Stiles gave her a look was about to say something but she raised her eyebrows at him almost daring him. **
Lydia watched for a minute going to unlock everything, "What are you doing?" Malia asked and Lydia glanced at her. "We have to get her out, she's dying." She said before opening the door. Azalea fell out making Scott instantly catch her.
"Why'd you bring me out?" Azalea asked as she glanced at all of them, "Your heart rate dropped- you were gonna die." Lydia said and Malia nodded. "We had to." She said making Azalea look at her before looking back at the box with furrowed brows.
"Nothing happened, did it?" She said before Scott helped her stand up and Malia handed Scott and blanket and he instantly wrapped it around Azalea's shoulder. "Someone else has to go in." Azalea said and Lydia went to protest but Azalea spoke up again, "Nothing might have happened out here but something happened to me. I remember him now, maybe I just don't have a strong enough connection to him to bring him back." Azalea said and Scott nodded slightly.
"I'll go." He said and Lydia sighed, "It's dangerous." She said and he shook his head. "It's worth a shot." He said before taking his shirt off and handing it to Azalea before walking into the box and Malia shut the door.
"Scott? Can you hear me?" Lydia asked calmly. "Imagine this you're in the high school, in the corridor where all the lockers are. Just try to imagine standing there. That's where your memories are. They're all in the lockers. They're locked away behind each one. Every memory of Stiles is in a separate locker. Scott, you're there... in the high school... you're standing there now." She said calmly.
"It's getting too cold. He's getting too cold." Azalea said as she stared at Scott worriedly before looking at Lydia and Malia.
"Should we try to give him an example like he did to me?" Azalea asked and Malia nodded slightly, "I think I have an idea." She said before looking at Scott.
"Scott? Scott, can you hear me? At the start of the year, Stiles was trying to find a place for you guys to live after graduation. He said you were getting an apartment together. And I remember saying something to Stiles, something like "it's not always a good idea to live with your friends, even your best friend. But Stiles said it wouldn't matter, because you weren't just friends- you guys were more like brothers."
They waiting for a couple minutes before Azalea shook her head, "We have to get him out." She said before unlocking the door. Scott fell out the ice box and Azalea instantly caught him as he took a deep breath. "What? What's wrong? Why did you pull me out?" He asked and Lydia sighed, "Your heart rate was going to drop any second." She said.
"But, then... But then nothing happened. It didn't work." He said and Azalea shook her head as she helped him stand up. "I'm going back in." He said making Azalea quickly stand in front of him. "No, you're not!" She said, "It was working. Something was happening, I could feel it." He said and she just shook her head. "But nothing was happening out here. Nothing, Scott. All we saw was you freezing to death." She said and he tried to move past her but Azalea pulled him back.
"You're still too cold." She said and he sighed, "We can't give up now." He said and Malia shook her head. "We're not. It's my turn." Malia said before taking off her shirt making them looked at each other warily,
"I have plenty of memories of Stiles, too."
"It's too dangerous." Lydia said and Scott slightly shook his head, "Not as dangerous as doing nothing. She'll probably handle the cold better than me." Scott said and Malia nodded. "If it's all about connection, then Stiles was the first person I connected with in a long time."
"She'll need a visual." Scott said, looking over at Lydia making her sigh, "Okay, I think I have an idea. But Malia, if your heart rate goes down like Azalea's and Scott's, or if we think you're going to freeze to death-" Lydia said and Malia cut her off. "Then get me the hell out of there." She said before walking into the ice box.
Azalea shut it and locked it while Lydia stood in front of the window. "Imagine you're in the library. There's book all around the place " She said calmly and waited a moment. "Can you see yourself there? Are you in the library now?" She asked, "I'm here. I'm in the library." Malia said.
"Can you see the books?"
"I see them." Malia said and Lydia glanced at Scott and Azalea for a second before looking back at Malia. "Concentrate on them. The books on the shelves are your memories- everything that's ever happened to you. Find the shelf that has all your memories of Stiles. Try to find a memory where you made some kind of connection with him." She said calmly.
"Did you find something?" Lydia asked, "I definitely connected." She said making Azalea furrow her brows for a moment before remembering when Stiles told her about how Malia had punched him the second she saw him at Eichen. "Stiles, where are you going?" Malia whispered making them glance at each other.
"Malia?" Lydia asked when she noticed Malia had closed her eyes, "Malia, open your eyes." Azalea said. "Malia, can you hear us?" Lydia asked but Malia didnt make a move or sound. "Malia, you have to open your eyes." Azalea said and then all of the sudden Malia's eyes shot open and her hand pressed on the window.
Azalea instantly went to get the door open but Lydia tapped her arms. "Guys, look! Something's happening." She said making them follow her line of sight to see a bright green light shine through the greats as the room shook slightly.
Azalea looked back at the box when she heard Malia gasp. "She's freezing to death. We need to get her out." Azalea said before quickly unlocking it and opening the door.
Lydia started to turned the box off as Azalea wrapped her blanket around Malia, "What are you doing?" Scott asked when he looked over at Lydia. "It's too dangerous. We're not going to save anyone by freezing you guys to death." Lydia said as she turned to them.
"But it was working, wasn't it?" Malia asked and Lydia sighed, "There was a light and a strange noise. No Stiles." She said with a slight shrug. "But I remember him now. I can see him in my head." Scott said and Malia nodded in agreement, "So can I." She said and Azalea nodded.
"He's more real now than he's ever been. If we can bring Stiles back, we can bring everyone back!" Scott said and Lydia sighed, "There's a huge difference in being a vivid memory and an actual corporeal human being." She said and Scott nodded. "I know. Which is why I think it should be you." He said making Lydia scoff.
"I won't last two minutes in there." She said and Scott shrugged slightly, "Then think of something else. Malia's right. It's all about the connection. When I was remembering him, I was also remembering the two of you together. I don't think anyone had a connection like you guys." He said and both Azalea and Malia nodded in agreement.
"I saw it, too. You have to try, Lydia." Azalea said and Lydia sighed softly, "Then we have to do it the old-fashioned way. We're going to have to actually hypnotize me. "
A few minutes later Azalea, Scott and Malia were looking around for a candle and lighter to use to hypnotize Lydia while she wrote something down. "My mother had a hypnotist who helped her quit smoking. She had me see the same one when I was ten." She said making Scott look at her incredulously, "You smoked when you were ten?" He asked making her sigh and roll her eyes.
"No! I bit my fingernails. Just find a lighter or a candle, please." She said and Malia turned around, holding up a torch and turning it on. "Too much?" She asked making Lydia's eyes widen slightly as Scott ran over, holding up a white candle, "I got one." He said. Malia grabbed it and set it on the table before lighting it as Lydia and Azalea walked over.
"What's that?" Scott asked looking at the note pad, "An induction script. One of you guys is going to have to talk me through this." She head before holding it out and Malia grabbed it. "So I just read?" She asked and Lydia shrugged slightly, "Well, you have to soften your voice. Keep it relaxed, but not monotone. Go for clarity, not volume. Try it." She said before taking a deep breath while Malia's eyes widened slightly.
"Take... a... deep... breath... and... look... at... the... candle-" Malia read painfully slowly before Lydia grabbed the notepad before handing it to Azalea. She glanced at Scott and Malia before shrugging slightly before reading
"Take a deep breath and look at the candle. Feel the muscles in your body begin to relax. You hands relaxing. Your eyelids relaxing. As you relax, imagine you're sitting in front of a TV... When you turn the TV on, it's going to play memories from your life... The remote gives you total control. You can play any memory you want... All you have to do is hit the button."
"Try to find a memory of Stiles. A memory where you felt a connection with him." Azalea said as they watched Lydia's hand look like she was actually holding a remote. "That's when it happened." Lydia whispered making Azalea raise her eyebrows, "When what happened?" She asked but Lydia didn't answer right away.
"Lydia, what do you mean? When what happened?" Azalea asked as a tear ran down Lydia's face, "When I kissed him. That's when it all changed. I never said it back. I never said it back." Lydia said as she looked at them with teary eyes.
All of the sudden a bright green light shined into the room through the grates and everyone around them started to shake. Lydia looked at the door before getting up and slowly walking over to it. She pulled the handle up and push the door open to see a bright white light down the tunnel.
She stepped out, everyone following as she started into the light. And that's when she noticed a figure coming through the light making her eyes widen.
"Stiles?"