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[TW: Graphic descriptions of blood, violence, and murder. Slight/implied smut.]
Olive stirred awake, sitting up in her bed and looking down at Isaac sleeping next to her, a small smile on her face. She got up, padding her way to the adjoining bathroom, and looking at herself in the mirror, splashing some water in her face. She sighed, walking back into her room and stopping in her tracks when she saw Isaac being held with a garrotte around his throat. Her breath caught in her own as she approached the faceless assailant. The room was too dark, so she couldn't see who was holding him, but as she approached the two, the moonlight began to shine on his face, causing Olive to widen her eyes.
"Dad?"
"Hello, Olive," He gave her a sinister grin, tightening the wire around Isaac's throat.
"No! Stop stop stop," She began to approach them but her father shook his head.
"Don't come any closer, there's fine," He nodded and Olive's breath quickened as tears filled her eyes. "I like this one, he's a good boy. If it weren't for his...infliction, I would say you two make quite the pair."
"Dad, please stop," She whispered and her father shook his head.
"Although, it's kind of a given that you two are quite compatible, because of your twin flame connection, your mothers been teaching you about that, right?"
"Sort of."
"Well, there are a few things she didn't tell you," Her father quirks an eyebrow, turning to Isaac. "If he dies, you will most likely never find love again, that's not being dramatic, he's supposed to be it for you."
"Please just let him go."
"No, let's test the theory, shall we?" With that, David tightens the garrotte on Isaac's neck and he gasps for air before finally passing out. Olive listened to his heartbeat, but nothing. She screamed as she ran to him and suddenly...
She shot out of bed. Olive looked around, seeing Isaac perfectly fine next to her. She sighed, gasping for air as she repeated her actions from her dream, going to the bathroom to splash water in her face but when she came out, the cycle repeated itself. Her father haunts her, kills Isaac, and then she wakes up, repeating the same dream over and over again until she inevitably wakes up screaming.
Chris and Susan rush into Olive's room, seeing her on the floor in her pajamas, screaming and crying. They both rush to her, wrapping her into a safe hug and telling her she's going to be alright, much like they'd done almost every night this week.
"I'm sorry" Olive sniffles, looking between the both of them and Susan shakes her head, wiping Olive's tears.
"There's nothing to be sorry for," She whispers gently to her. Olive looks up to her bed, seeing it empty.
"He was never even here?" She furrows her eyebrows, whispering to herself and Chris and Susan share a concerned look.
"Who was never here?" Chris asks her, tone still calm.
"No one, I just, I'm still half asleep. Thanks for coming in but um, I'm just gonna go back to bed," She looks at both of them, standing up from her place on the floor and the two of them nod hesitantly before getting up to leave.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Susan asks gently from the door and Olive shakes her head, pulling the covers over her.
"I'm okay, really, it was just a dream," She nods and Susan sighs, kissing her on the forehead before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Olive, however, was not going back to sleep, possibly ever again. She pulled out her phone to look at the time: 3:45 a.m. She shook her head, knowing Isaac was not going to be awake at this hour, and opted just to text him instead of calling him. She sent him a text, just saying I love you, and then rolled over, staring at the ceiling. Her phone rang 20 minutes later. She furrowed her eyebrows, answering it.
"I love you too," Isaac's voice came through the phone groggily, as if he'd just woken up. She smiled, exhaling slightly. "Are you okay? Why are you awake?"
"No reason, just woke up," She shrugged and Isaac furrowed his eyebrows, propping himself up on his arm.
"Did it happen again?" He asked, his voice low. Olive stayed silent, knowing she couldn't lie to him so she just opted for no response. "Do you want me to come over?"
"Yes, but no," She shook her head, chewing the inside of her cheek. "It's almost 4 a.m, I'll just see you at school."
"Too late, I'm already on my way," He said and she heard rustling over the phone. She smiled to herself as she heard his window snap shut.
"Are you just gonna run here?" She furrowed her eyebrows as she heard him land on the ground and take off.
"Yep, it's what, a 20-minute walk? Granted not all of us are super speedy like some of the present company but I'm still a werewolf, I can be there in like 10."
"Okay," She sighed, resting her head back on her pillow, and sure enough, ten minutes later Isaac was standing on her balcony, softly knocking on the door. She smiled, walking over to it and unlocking it, allowing him to come in.
He looked down at her, noticing the bags under her eyes and the tear stains on her cheeks, yet she was still smiling up at him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and she immediately returned the hug, squeezing him so tight she might've popped a blood vessel.
"Hey," He furrowed his eyebrows at her, speaking softly as he pulled away. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, visibly trying to keep tears from reaching her eyes. Isaac nodded, taking her hand and leading her over to her bed. He got in first, looking up at her noticing she was hesitant, but got in anyway, allowing him to wrap his arms around her as she snuggled into his chest, taking a deep breath, inhaling his familiar scent.
"Get some rest," He whispered, placing a kiss on her hair and she nodded slowly against him. But still, she lay there, eyes wide open and staring at whatever she could focus on to keep her awake. Isaac noticed this and looked down at her with a concerned gaze.
"Are you ever gonna tell me what it's about?" He asks lowly and Olive looks up at him, shaking her head. "That bad, huh?"
"It's certainly not good," She whispers and Isaac exhales softly and kisses her head again.
"It's just a dream, it can't hurt you," He squeezed her once and Olive nodded, wrapping her arms around him.
"This one's just really bad," She sighs, snuggling into his chest. He looks down at her, worry littering his face.
"You gonna sleep?" He raises an eyebrow and Olive shrugs in his grasp.
"Dunno," She mumbles against his chest, fighting the sleep trying to overtake her. "I don't want to, but I'm really tired."
"I'm here," He whispers, holding her tightly. "Nothings gonna hurt you, I promise."
Olive smiles, nodding as she let her eyes flutter closed. Before he knew it, Isaac heard soft snores coming from her lips. He smiled to himself, sighing as he made himself comfortable and drifted off to sleep as well.
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Olive's alarm awoke them both bright and early, earning a groan from the two. Olive reached over to turn it off, sighing as she sat up and turning to look down at Isaac. His hair was a mess and he wore a sleepy smile, staring right back up at her. He leaned up, going in for a kiss but she pulled back, scrunching her face up.
"Did you just dodge my kiss?" He looked at her, slightly offended and she giggled, nodding.
"Morning breath," She said, shaking her head. Isaac rolled his eyes, grabbing her face and pulling her in for a kiss. She laughed into it, wrapping an arm around his neck.
"I want this every morning," He looked into her eyes as they pulled away and Olive stared back at him, smiling wide.
"That could be arranged..." She trailed off, looking to the side and Isaac grinned as well. "We should get ready if we're going to school."
"I forgot about that," Isaac rolled his eyes, dramatically falling back on the bed with a groan. Olive laughed as she picked up a pillow and tossed it at his head, standing up and making her way to the closet.
"Hey, which one?" She came around the corner, holding up 2 shirts and Isaac sat up, furrowing his brow and looking between them.
"Neither," He turned back to her, smirking. She rolled her eyes and looked between the shirts, holding up a blue henley.
"This one it is," She widened her eyes slightly and turned back into the closet, picking out the rest of her outfit. Isaac came around the corner, peering into her closet and looking around, noticing a familiar sweater on the floor.
"Olly," He narrowed his eyes, looking from the sweater to her. "Is that mine?"
Olive tried to bite back her grin as she slowly nodded, avoiding eye contact.
"When did you take that?" He tried to look offended, but he was smiling ear to ear.
"You'd be surprised how much I can fit in my bag," She looked at him, smiling playfully as she opened a drawer, revealing a couple of his shirts. Isaac's jaw dropped slightly as he laughed, grabbing one out and swapping his shirts.
"Here, I'll trade you," He hands her the one from the night before and she rolls her eyes, tossing it into the hamper. "Got any pants of mine in there too while you're at it?"
"No you're pants don't fit me," She said as if it were obvious. He rolled his eyes, turning around and sitting on her bed, digging in his backpack.
"Do you have stuff to get ready or do you need to go back to Scott's before school?" She says as she moves from the closet to the bathroom.
"Nah, I'm good I have my stuff," He shouts back, pulling out his toothbrush and some deodorant.
"You keep your toiletries in your backpack?" Olive narrows her eyes at him, watching him from the doorway. Isaac rolls his eyes and turns back to her.
"Yes, for situations like this specifically," He mocks her gaze and she laughs lightly, turning to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
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The two finish getting ready and head out the door, Olive all but pushing Isaac as they walk so he isn't seen in the apartment. As she drives to school she feels that familiar feeling, poking at the back of her chest, the darkness trying to creep its way in again. She shakes it off, turning to Isaac and their intertwined hands and smiling to herself, letting the light overpower the darkness. She pulls into the school parking lot and the two get out and begin making their way into the school before Olive stops, rummaging through her bag.
"I think I left my lanyard in the console, I'll be right back," She turns to Isaac, letting go of his hand and he nods, turning to follow her. "I'm good, you go ahead I'll meet you in there."
She sighs, running back to her car and unlocking it. Sure enough, there her lanyard was, right in the console. She rolls her eyes, grabbing it and turning around to meet Isaac in the school.
Except she was no longer in the parking lot. As if it were magic, she turned to see the hallways of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. She turned around, eyebrows furrowed and panic creeping its way onto her face. She looks around before beginning to walk down the dark hallway, lights flickering as she does. As she reaches the door to the morgue, it opens, as if to tell her to enter. She stares at it for a minute before shaking her head and going inside. She looks around the room, the tables in the middle were empty and freezers littered the wall. Her gaze landed on one, in particular, it was in the middle of the wall, door half-opened. She began to hesitantly approach it, the name on the door becoming clearer. It was her father's. She swallowed hard before moving the door open all the way, looking inside to find a long tunnel, almost like a ventilation shaft. At the end a figure lay, seemingly getting closer. It started to move faster, screeching as it approached, it was her father, but it wasn't the same version from her dreams. This version of her father was dead already, zombie-like. She gasped loudly before slamming the door shut and running out of the morgue.
As she opened the doors, however, she was inside the halls of the school. Her eyes were wide and she was breathless, staring around frantically. Lydia and Allison approached her cautiously.
"Olive? Are you okay?" Lydia said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. Olive nodded, blinking a couple of times before shaking her head and clearing her throat.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good, um, where's Isaac I swear I just left him," She sighed, looking around but not seeing any sign of her boyfriend.
"I think I saw him outside, he was looking for you," Allison furrows her eyebrows, looking behind her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Olive nods, looking down at the ground, thinking for a second. "Actually, if you see him tell him I'll catch him after class, I need to find Stiles."
"Stiles?" Lydia narrows her eyes and Olive nods.
"I'll- I'll be back," She nodded, clearly far away in her thoughts. She turned around, heading back outside and focusing on the sounds around her. She hears Scott's bike pull into the parking lot and Stiles on the other end of the grounds. She turns around, headed toward Stiles, and seeing Scott run past her, headed in the same direction. She widens her eyes, following after him just as he literally runs into Stiles. She approaches the group and Stiles looks at her, concern on his face.
"You don't look so hot either, when was the last time you slept?" He narrows his eyes at Olive who shakes her head. "It's happening to you guys too, isn't it? You're seeing things aren't you?"
"How'd you know?" Scott looks between them and Olive sighs.
"Because it's happening to all three of us," She looks between the two boys in front of her, and Stiles nods, dropping his head slightly.
"I knew it," Lydia says, coming up to the group. "You're all hallucinating aren't you?"
"How did you-"
"I told her about your nightmares," Allison says, turning to Olive with an apologetic look on her face. Stiles turned to Olive who stared straight at the ground.
"You're having nightmares too?" He says, still staring at her. She meets his gaze and nods.
"They're not just nightmares anymore," She sighs, shaking her head. Allison furrows an eyebrow and Olive sighs. "It's during the day too, even when I'm not sleeping."
"And you can't tell if you're sleeping or awake," Stiles says, completing her thought and she nods, wringing her hands together nervously.
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"Well well well, guess who's not the crazy one anymore," Lydia says as they all follow her into the doors of the school.
"We're not crazy," Scott shakes his head and Lydia turns back to them with narrow eyes.
"Hallucinations, sleep paralysis, yeah you guys are fine," She nods, folding her arms.
"We did die and come back to life," Scott starts and Olive interrupts him.
"Some of us more than others," She shrugs and Stiles stifles a laugh.
"That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Scott looked nervously between the group as the bell rang. Stiles stops them from walking, standing between Scott and Olive.
"We keep an eye on each other, okay? Remember our deal, if it gets too bad we have to tell each other," Stiles claps his hands together and Scott and Olive nod, all of them heaving a collective sigh. "And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."
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They all make their way to History class, Isaac meeting the group at the door. Olive smiles when she sees him, taking his hand in hers as they make their way to their seats. Isaac plops down in the seat next to Olive, pulling out a notebook and turning to her. She looked over at him, smiling slightly as she rests her head on her fist.
"Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Yukimura, and I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure by now you all know my daughter Kira. Or you might not because she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought home a friend for that matter," He smiles awkwardly and a thud can be heard from the back of the classroom. "Either way, there she is," He gestures to the same seat the thud came from, a small-framed girl sat there, head on her desk. Everyone turned to look at her and Olive gave her a sympathetic smile before turning back to the front of the classroom. Isaac snickered, causing Olive to elbow him in the side and she turned back to Kira, giving her a more friendly smile this time. She noticed Kira's gaze, following it and landing on Scott. She narrows her eyes, smiling slightly to herself and turning back to her notebook.
"Now let's begin with American history at the turn of the 20th century," Mr. Yukimura started from the front of the class and Olive turned to the empty pages of her notebook, scribbling little doodles into the corner of the page. Class moved by quickly and the next one she was off to was art. Isaac was right by her side as she entered the classroom and found a place next to Lydia. Isaac rolled his eyes, seeing the chair next to her was taken, and kissed her cheek before going across the room.
"You two disgust me," Lydia rolled her eyes and turned back to her easel as Olive laughed lightly. She picked up a brush doused in red paint, holding it up to the easel with an incredibly shaky hand. She sighed, trying to focus herself but her hand simply wouldn't stop shaking. Badly.
"Not the steadiest hand for a hunter-in-training," Lydia said from next to her and Olive shook her head, sighing.
"It's been happening for the past few weeks, usually when I'm away from-" She sighed, trailing off, her gaze landing on Isaac who was staring right at her. She shook her head, dropping her brush frustratedly down into the palet. The red paint splattered up onto the easel, looking a lot like blood. Olive widened her eyes, memories from the night her father died flashing back to her, right after Gerard had killed him. She shuddered, stepping back slightly, almost tripping over her stool and Lydia turned from the board to her. This caught Isaac's attention too, causing him to put his brush down and begin to stand before Lydia shot him a glance, shaking her head slightly.
"Olive," She said cautiously, placing a hand over hers. "Maybe you should start over?"
Olive turned to her, still wide-eyed, and nodded. She took a deep breath as Lydia tore the page, the sound bringing Olive back down to reality. She shook her head, dipping the brush into the water and into more paint, returning the brush to the canvas with a steadier hand. Isaac stared at her with narrow eyes, trying to focus on his own canvas but failing, too concerned with what had just happened to give a damn about painting a basket of fruit.
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The bell rang, thank god, and Olive grabbed her bag, hurrying out of class. She searched the halls for Scott and Stiles, not seeing them anywhere. She's stopped, however, by a hand on her wrist, pulling her back. It was Isaac.
"What the hell is going on?" He looked at her, worry littering his face as he sensed her panic.
"I need to find Scott and Stiles, I can't- I need to find them," She looked at Isaac, tears threatening to spill and Isaac nodded, taking his hand in hers.
"Okay, okay we'll find them. Let's go find them," He ran his other hand from her face to her arm, squeezing it before turning to look around the hallway. He listened, hearing the sound of Scott breathing frantically in a nearby classroom. He looked at her with wide eyes, leading her into the classroom just in time for them to find Scott wolfing out, claws digging into his hands, and blood streaming down his arms. Olive's eyes widened, feeling the same flashbacks from before beginning to emerge. She screwed her eyes shut, hiding in Isaac's chest. He narrows his eyes wrapping an arm around her as he feels her sink into him. Stiles looks between his friends, not knowing who to go to first and Isaac nods to Scott, who is now on the ground, back to normal.
"Pain makes you human," Stiles sighs as he levels with Scott, dropping to his knees and turning back to the two behind him. "Since when were you afraid of blood?"
"I um, I'm not afraid I just-" Olive shook her head, turning to them and then back to Isaac.
"What have you been seeing?" Stiles narrows his eyes and Olive's well up with tears and her breath quickens.
"Um," She blinks a few times, staring at the floor and shaking her head. "I don't wanna talk about it here."
"Here?" Isaac narrows his eyes and Olive looks up at him and then back to Stiles.
"It's getting worse for you two too isn't it?" Stiles asks cautiously, looking between them. Olive nods and Scott doesn't answer, but the look on his face says it all. "This isn't just in our heads, this is real."
"What do you mean?" Scott asks, still collecting himself from his outburst.
"I'm not just having nightmares, I'm having these dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake," Stiles sighs and Olive shoots her head up, staring at him with wide eyes.
"And you can't tell if they're real, like you can't tell if you're still dreaming," Olive breathes out and Stiles turns back to her with furrowed brows, nodding like she just took the words out of his mouth.
"I'm never sure if I'm actually waking up or not," Stiles shakes his head, turning between Scott and Olive. "You know how you can tell if you're dreaming? You can't read in dreams. Lately, I've been having trouble reading, it's like I can't form words, or place the letters correctly."
"Even now?" Isaac asks, arms folded as he leans against the wall. Stiles turns back to him and then looks at the board. He lets out a shaky breath, stepping back slightly and shaking his head.
"I can't read a thing."
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The group dissipates after Isaac manages to calm the three of them down. The rest of the school day is similar, Isaac not leaving Olive's side, pestering her to tell him what she's seeing, and her not wanting to admit that her visions are of her father killing him over and over again. Olive sighs at her locker, grabbing the things she'll need for the little bit of homework she has and shoving them into her bag. Allison comes up to her, leaning against the locker next to her.
"I have an idea," Allison says, looking at her and smiling slightly.
"What's that?" Olive furrows her eyebrows and closes the door revealing Lydia on the other side.
"We have an idea," Lydia narrows her eyes at Allison, who rolls her own and continues.
"Our parents have been teaching you the basics, but you haven't actually shot anything yet, have you?" Allison narrows her eyes at Olive, who shakes her head. "Well, how about some target practice? Lydia told me about your shaky hand problem and I may be able to help you with it."
"I don't know," Olive trails off, looking at the floor. "I'm not exactly stable right now."
"Yes, but archery has always been a very good outlet for that. Just imagine whoever's haunting you is the target, believe me, it's helpful," Allison placed a hand on Olive's shoulder and Olive laughed slightly, sighing before ultimately agreeing.
"I told you she'd do it," Allison looks at Lydia, a victorious smirk on her face and Lydia smiles, rolling her eyes and looping an arm in Olive's. Allison does the same and the three girls walk out of the school. Isaac narrows his eyes, having heard the conversation from the set of lockers behind them. He knows this is a terrible idea, especially with what he witnessed earlier. He sighs, grabbing his stuff and following them out of the school.
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"Are you sure this is going to work?" Olive crossed her arms as Allison pulled a bow out of its case while Lydia tacked a target to a tree a few feet away.
"I know that if you don't think it's gonna work it definitely won't," Lydia said, approaching them. Allison nodded, handing her the bow and an arrow.
"Okay, just stick the arrow in here and pull it back. Aim a little higher than your target, you have to gauge wind and height so I always go about 10 degrees higher than you'd think to aim," Allison nodded, mimicking the motion and Olive does as she does, raising the bow and pulling the arrow back, aiming a tad higher than the target.
"Get your head into it, shoot a few, and see what happens," Lydia nods, standing on the other side of her. Olive looks between them nervously before sighing and focusing on the target.
Her hands begin to shake as she holds the bow in them. It wobbles back and forth as she closes her eyes, trying to stop her hands from shaking so badly. She lets the arrow fly, watching as it soars through the air, and lands a few feet away from the tree in the ground. She scrunches her face up, turning to the two girls and Allison gives her a reassuring nod.
"Believe it or not that's actually not bad for your first time," She nods, handing her another arrow. "Here, try again. Really visualize it going into the target."
Olive takes it from her, loading it into the bow again and resuming her position, eyes trained on the target, hands still shaking. She lets it go, and the arrow flies past the tree, landing in the ground behind it. She furrows her brows, turning to Allison.
"I'm very bad at this," She deadpans and Lydia chuckles, handing her another arrow.
"You got this. Third times a charm."
"Trying holding it like this," Allison says, tilting the bow in Olive's hands.
"Nice, the Mongolian Draw," Lydia nods from Olive's left. Allison narrows her eyes, turning to Lydia and tilting her head slightly.
"What? I read."
Olive exhales lightly, focusing on the target once more and letting the arrow fly, and boy does it. The arrow zooms past the tree and clear out of view, clattering to the ground god knows where. Isaac turned to the ground, arrow landing at his feet, and chuckles slightly, looking back toward the girls. Olive lets out a frustrated groan, dropping the bow to her side and turning to Allison and Lydia.
"Maybe the bow isn't my thing, I have claws for a reason," She sighed and Allison shook her head. Lydia placed a calming hand on her shoulder, patting her back slightly with the other hand.
"Take a second to close your eyes, really imagine the arrow going through the target." Olive nods, loading another arrow into the bow and closing her eyes, letting the world around her fade away. She opened them, noticing a figure run through the woods. She freezes before shuddering slightly, watching it fade into the distance.
"Did you see that?" Olive stares in the direction of the figure, a far-off look in her eyes.
"See what?" Lydia asks, dropping her hands from Olive's shoulders.
"Wait here," She says, stepping away from the girls and in the direction, the figure ran off in.
"Are you serious?" Allison asks, a concerned look on her face.
"I'll be right back," Olive says back to them and Lydia turns to Allison with wide eyes.
"She did not just say that."
Olive crept through the woods, looking around for the man she saw running away.
"Over here," A whisper came from behind her. Olive spun around, looking for its origin but finding nothing.
"Hello?" She called out, but the voice got louder.
"Olly, over here," It taunted her, seemingly coming from every direction. "Over here, Olly."
"Hey!" She shouted, seeing a man running around, hiding behind various trees. She unleashed her claws, trying to run toward it but it just seemed to be getting further and further away. She looked down at the bow she'd tossed away, picking it up and loading the only arrow she had in it, turning around to see her father running right at her, blood dripping from his neck and a tense look on his face like he was about to attack. She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Isaac standing there, looking terrified, pointing at her father. Olive gasped, aiming the arrow right at him and letting it fly. She looked up to see Isaac catch it, right as it was about to hit Lydia square between the eyes.
"Oh my god," She yelled out, dropping the bow to the ground and backing away, her hands held up.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I thought you were-" She turned to Isaac, shaking her head and stopping herself. "I didn't see you."
"It's okay, I'm okay," Lydia nodded, wrapping an arm around Olive's neck. She sighed, closing her eyes and sighing into Lydia's shoulder.
"You know, near-death experience aside, that was kind of impressive," Allison glanced between the three before her, and Lydia turned back to her with a furrowed brow. "Her aim was literally perfect."
"Yeah well when you're seeing the ghost of your dead father about to attack you and your boyfriend, you kind of have to be perfect," Olive said, widening her eyes as if she didn't mean to say it out loud.
"What?" Isaac stared straight at her and Olive kept a strict gaze on the ground beneath her, slightly hoping this was a part of the hallucination. "Is that what you've been seeing? Your dad trying to-"
"Yeah," Olive said quickly before he can finish his sentence. Allison and Lydia glance between them and each other before Lydia clears her throat, backing away.
"We're gonna give you two some space," She trails off, nodding as Allison collects the arrows and bow from the ground, not bothering to put them back in the case, joining Lydia as the two hurriedly walk away.
"Olly," Isaac starts but Olive holds her hand up, shaking her head.
"It starts with us in bed. I wake up, you're asleep, I go to the bathroom and I come back and he's holding you about to kill you. He talks about how if you die I'll never recover, it's part of the twin flame thing. Then he slits your throat and I scream. I wake up again and the cycle continues. It's like that until I have to literally scream myself awake, like Stiles said," She sighs, a weight being lifted off her shoulders despite the heaviness of the topic.
"That's why you called me," He says, staring right at her and she nods slowly. He closes his eyes, sighing as he approaches her. "I promise you I'm not going anywhere, ever."
"I know but-"
"Nope. No buts. I am not going anywhere and you do not have to worry about it. Your dad can fuck off for all I care, god rest his soul," He nodded, staring into her eyes. Olive lets out a small laugh and Isaac reaches out to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I love you."
She smiled up at him, reaching up on her tip-toes and pulling him in for a kiss. He smiled, happily returning it and holding her close, making her feel safe. She pulled away, resting her forehead on his, and sighed. "I love you too."
"Let's get you home, maybe we should sit down and tell your parents about this," He intertwined their fingers and tugged on her hand lightly. She sighed, nodding hesitantly, and he turned around, grabbing her other hand as well. "I'll be with you. You'll be okay."
"Okay," She said, nodding her head more sure of herself this time. He places a quick kiss on her forehead before leading her back to her car.
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The two got in and drove back to the Argent/Brown apartment, as it's now been deemed, and went inside to find Chris and Susan sitting at the table with Allison. Olive's face softened, knowing Allison had told them what happened and she sat down, Isaac next to her, ready to tell them everything.
As she explained what happened, she held Isaac's hand, squeezing it when she felt like she was about to break. He would squeeze back every single time, reassuring her that he was there and that it was going to be okay. When she finished, the room fell silent, everyone digesting what they'd just heard. Susan was the first to speak.
"Honey, why didn't you tell us you were dreaming about your father?" She furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head slightly. Olive shook her head.
"It's not just dreams anymore, they're hallucinations."
"Is that why you've been waking up screaming every night? Cause you see your father-" Chris starts, then glances to Isaac before cutting himself off. Olive nods, chewing the inside of her cheek.
"And out in the woods today, you saw him about to attack you so that's why you almost shot Lydia," Allison looked over to her sympathetically and Olive nodded again, squeezing Isaac's hand.
"I think that's enough, guys," He looked toward them, giving them all harsh glances.
"No, it's okay. I did this myself, I wanted to," Olive nodded, turning to her mother, who smiled at her slightly. "I just need to figure out how to deal with it."
"All of you do," Chris speaks up, looking from his clasped hands to the rest of the group. "Scott and Stiles too, if this is happening to all of you, we need to stop it."
"I'll talk to Scott, maybe he knows something. Maybe the three of you can talk to Deaton?" Allison says, pulling out her phone. Olive smiles slightly, looking between everyone at the table.
"Thank you," She says and Isaac looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Thank you for not thinking I'm crazy."
"Honey, you reignited a supernatural bat signal to save me from your deranged English teacher. That was crazy, this is a side effect," Susan nods and Olive lets out a small laugh, leaning her head on Isaac's shoulder, a yawn escaping her mouth.
"You tired?" He asks, looking down at her, and Olive nods.
"Long day."
"Don't even think about it," Chris raises an eyebrow at Isaac, who widens his eyes and shrugs Olive off his shoulder. She laughs, shaking her head and dragging him with her to her room.
"You're going to get me murdered," Isaac says, wide-eyed.
"You'll live," She smiles, kicking off her shoes and climbing into bed. "I'll protect you."
"Not even gonna change?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah," Olive gets up, slugging to her closet. Isaac smiles as she returns in his sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. She climbs into bed, him right next to her and the two of them drift off to sleep.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
[slight/implied smut]
Olive awoke to Isaac watching her with a fond smile. She grinned, tilting her head slightly as he leaned down, kissing her lovingly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let one of her hands tangle in his hair. Isaac sighed, sliding his tongue across her bottom lip. She opened her mouth slightly, letting his tongue dance with hers as he moved to hover on top of her. He moved to trail kisses from her jaw to her neck and up to her ear. She sighed, tossing her head back slightly as she reached down, pulling the hem of her sweatshirt over her head. Isaac sat up as she did, watching down at her with darkened eyes, completely in awe of her. She giggled, reaching up to pull him back down, connecting their lips again. Isaac repeated his actions, trailing kisses down her neck, this time taking a step further and continuing down her chest. She reached down, tugging at the hem of his shirt and he paused, looking back up to her.
"Are you sure?" He asked, breathing heavily. Olive nodded and Isaac shook his head. "No, like are you positively sure."
Olive smiled, pulling him back up so he was hovering right over her face. "Absolutely. Positively. Sure," She smiled, punctuating every word with kisses. Isaac smiled, sitting up to remove his shirt and tossing it aside haphazardly. Olive stared at his chest, running her hand down it and then looking back up to his face, smiling.
[resume here]
Her smile faded, however, when she noticed something around his neck. She furrowed her eyebrows, reaching up to touch it, sitting up as she did.
"What is that?" She asked, tilting her head slightly and Isaac furrowed his own brows, touching the wire around his neck. Suddenly, he was pulled back, off the bed completely, wire cutting into his throat and slashing it. Olive screamed, scrambling out of bed and running over to him, looking around to find no one around. Isaac's lifeless body lay on the floor and just as Olive was about to reach out and touch him-
-She shot out of bed, breathing heavily and tears immediately streaming down her face. She turned to see Isaac laying next to her, beginning to stir awake and she shook her head, pulling her knees to her chest and scooting back slightly. Isaac opened his eyes, immediately sitting up when he saw her. He went to wrap his arms around her but she shook her head, wiggling away from him.
"No, no please I just wanna wake up, I don't wanna see it again," She shook her head, tears streaming down her face and letting out a sob. Isaac's face softened as he reached out to hug her again.
"It's not a dream, Olly, it's real I'm here, I promise I'm here," He successfully pulled her into him, holding her tightly and kissing her head repeatedly. "I'm here, I'm okay."
"This one was worse," She shook her head against his chest, clinging onto him. "It was so much worse."
"It's okay, it's over," He cooed, gently stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. She sobbed into his chest, holding onto him for dear life.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The sound of a whistle blowing pulls the attention of the entire econ class. Olive is sitting next to Stiles, staring at him with a concerned look on her face.
"Stilinski! I asked you a question," Coach yelled at his usual volume, loud, and Stiles shook out of his trance, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Coach, what was it?"
"Oh, right, it was something along the lines of 'Hey Stilinski are you paying attention back there?'" Coach folded his arms, raising a brow at Stiles who sighs, nodding.
"I am now," He rests his head on his hand and Coach sighs heavily, turning back to the board before turning to Stiles again.
"Stop reminding me why I drink. Every. Single. Night," Coach rolls his eyes, going back to whatever he was talking about before, but Olive keeps her eyes trained on Stiles.
"Hey, I'm fine, I just dozed off for a minute," He nodded, speaking reassuringly and Olive furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head.
"Stiles, you weren't asleep," She said cautiously, nodding to his notebook, littered with the words 'WAKE UP' in all different fonts and sizes. He gasps, slamming his notebook shut, and turned to Olive, taking a deep breath before looking up at Coach, acting like he was paying attention.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The bell couldn't have rung soon enough. Stiles and Olive made their way to the courtyard where the pack usually met for lunch. Both of them approached the table, clearly not looking okay because everyone turned to them like they had clown outfits on.
"What happened?" Isaac looked between Stiles and Olive and they both shook their head, Olive moving to sit in between Isaac and Lydia. Stiles took a seat next to Scott, across from Olive.
"We need to figure out how to stop this," Stiles says, wringing his hands together. Olive nods, looking right at him.
"Well, it obviously has something to do with your near-death experience, right?" Allison asks, looking between Scott, Stiles, and Olive.
"Right, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asks, shaking his head.
"And is unable to tell what's real or not," Stiles adds on and Olive nods to him.
"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives."
"They're all locked up because they're insane," Isaac looks between them and sighs, folding his hands together over the table.
"Ha. Can you at least try to be a little helpful please?" Stiles glares at him from across the table and Isaac narrows his eyes.
"For half of my childhood I was locked in a freezer, so being helpful is kind of a new thing for me," Isaac retorts and Stiles scoffs.
"Oh, you're still milking that?" Stiles rolls his eyes and Olive widens hers.
"Yeah, we are still milking that-"
"That was uncalled for-" Olive starts, glaring at him from her spot and Stiles opens his mouth to say something before he's interrupted by someone approaching them.
"Hi- Hi. I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about and I think I actually might know what you're talking about," Kira stood at the head of the table in between Stiles and Olive, all of them looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. No one said anything, so she took that as her cue to continue. "There's a Tibetan word for it. Bardo. It literally means in-between state, the state between life and death."
"And what do they call you?" Lydia looks up at her, a condescending smile on her face.
"Kira," Scott speaks up, smiling at her. "Her name is Kira."
"She's in our history class," Olive says, turning to the rest of the group, who was looking at Scott with furrowed eyebrows.
"So are you talking about Bardo as in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Lydia turns to her, folding her arms on the table and tilting her head.
"Either I guess," She says, sitting on the corner of the bench next to Olive. "But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations, some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful or wrathful deities."
"Wrathful deities, what are those?" Isaac asks, leaning forward so he can see her. Olive furrows her eyebrows, watching Kira as she spoke trying to absorb every word.
"Like demons."
"Demons!" Stiles raises his eyebrows, blinking at her a few times. "Why not?"
"Hold on, if there are different progressive states then what's the last one?" Olive turns to her, a weary look on her face, already knowing the answer.
"Death. You die," Kira states, not really knowing the levity of the situation. Olive nods, breath somewhat shaky and Isaac puts a hand on top of hers, stroking her thumb with his.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The rest of the school day went by agonizingly slow, seeing as all Olive could think about was her impending death. She sighed as she walked through the doors of the animal clinic, meeting Scott and Stiles there to talk to Deaton about what was going on.
"It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you," Deaton says, leading the group into the exam room.
"Well can you tell my subconscious to use a language I actually know?" Stiles shrugs, sarcastically shaking his head.
"Do you remember any of the motions? The placement and movement of the hands?" Deaton asked as they gathered around an exam table.
"You know sign language?" Scott asks, clearly impressed.
"I know a little," Deaton shrugged, turning back to Stiles who thought for a moment. He did the movements as Deaton translated roughly.
"That's it?" He asks, looking up at Stiles who nodded, dropping his hands to his sides. "When is a door not a door?"
"When is a door not a door?" Olive asks, looking between Stiles and Deaton. "What the hell does that mean?"
"When it's ajar," Scott answers, turning to the group. Olive looks at him, biting back a grin. "What?"
"Leave it to Scotty to know the dad joke," Olive laughs lightly, and Stiles snickers from beside her.
"My subconscious wants to tell me a dad joke?"
"Your subconscious comedic timing is just as poorly timed as your conscious one," Olive rose an eyebrow and Stiles glared at her.
"You're on a roll tonight, huh?"
"Yes."
"I would call it more of a riddle," Deaton furrows his eyebrows, leaning slightly on the table. "When you guys went into the ice bath, you crossed from consciousness to a sort of superconsciousness. That essentially opened a door in your minds."
"Okay, so what does that mean? The door is still open?" Scott furrows his eyebrows, crossing his arms.
"Ajar."
"A door into our minds?" Stiles swallows, turning to Deaton.
"I did tell you it was risky."
"Okay, so how do we un-ajar it," Olive looks at him, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Well, that's difficult to answer," Deaton scrunches his face up, turning to her.
"No, no I know that look. That's the 'we know exactly what's wrong with you, but we have no idea how to fix it' look," Stiles points at him and Deaton sighs.
"One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind is not good," Deaton nodded and Olive sighed.
"Yeah, clearly."
"You each need to close that door, and you need to do it as soon as possible."
The three of them shared a glance, before ultimately deciding to leave as it was getting late. The sheriff pulled into the parking lot, greeting the three of them and mentioning him needing help with something. Scott and Stiles said they'd handle it, so Olive made her way home, staring at her bed before shaking her head, and walking out into the kitchen to make some coffee.
"Coffee? Isn't it like 11?" Chris stared at her with narrow eyes, leaning against the wall. Olive looked at him with a guilty smile, shrugging as she took a sip.
"Can't sleep or I end up waking everyone up, might as well not feel totally miserable," She shrugged as Chris exhaled softly, thinking for a minute before sighing.
"Okay, pour me one then," He nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen island. Olive shook her head, setting her cup on the counter.
"No, you don't have to stay up with me, I'll be fine," She gave him a reassuring nod but Chris stood firm in his decision.
"I can't sleep anyway, pour me a cup and we can play some cards or something," He nodded to the coffee pot and Olive smiled slightly, poring a cup for him and handing it to him.
"Did you guys talk to the vet?" He asked, taking a sip of coffee and Olive nodded, sitting next to him.
"Yeah, he said when we activated the nemeton we opened a door in our minds, we close the door we stop the hallucinations," Olive nodded, sighing as she fiddled with her cup.
"But you don't know how to close the door," Chris looked at her and she sighed shaking her head.
"Deaton doesn't know either. He said we need to close it ASAP, though," She took a sip of her drink and Chris sighed.
"What about this Bardo thing Allison was telling us about?"
"Oh yeah, the in-between state," Olive chuckled dryly. "Basically condemning me to death."
"What?"
"Kira, this girl from my history class, she told us about some Tibetan word called Bardo, meaning in-between, it basically means me, Scott, and Stiles are in-between life and death, that's what's causing the hallucinations. If we close the door, we exit Bardo and we're fine. If we don't, if we wait through the different progressive stages of the hallucinations, we die," Olive nodded, turning to Chris who raises his eyebrows. "So we should probably close it sooner rather than later."
"Only problem is we don't know how," Chris looked down at his cup and Olive nodded.
"It is a bit of a pickle, isn't it?" She spun the ring on her finger and chewed the inside of her cheek.
"You know what?" Chris looked at her and she rose her eyebrows, turning to him. "Tomorrow's problem, get the cards we're playing war."
Olive nodded, grabbing the cards and handing them to Chris. He dealt them, and the two played cards and drank copious amounts of coffee until the early hours of the morning, talking about anything but supernatural or Isaac, by Chris' request. It was one normal night out of many not-normal ones that had been had, and that most likely will be had, and it was all she needed.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───