x x x
Elora, leaned on her breakfast counter with a flat expression, stared out the unopened kitchen window. She absently wound a finger in the air, her coffee creamer mixing into the Colombian roast in a Star Trek mug.
She'd been up for hours, ever since she'd jolted out of Stiles' dream.
Stiles' nightmare.
Elora, without take a sip, rose from her reclined spot and left the kitchen. She ran a hand through her hair, still in joggers and a loose top as she made her way upstairs.
Elora's phone dinged as she went to her bedroom, focused on Isaac's message as she went through the door.
A chill brushed her arms, causing Elora to look up.
El's lips parted, her phone clattering to the floor of the Beacon Memorial Morgue. She backed up, hitting the heavy double doors with iced over windows.
The morgue was is disarray, the lights flickering and whirring, the lab tables clustered and catching the dripping water from the ceiling.
Elora's breath blew out cold, hesitantly reaching down to pick up her phone. She stopped only inches above it, a metallic creak echoing. Slowly standing up, she was met with a newly opened mortuary cooler.
She cautiously approached the metal refrigerator for bodies, seeing an identification tag clipped to the partially open door.
Kate Argent
Flashes of memories that didn't belong to her hit Elora.
Kate's arrival in Beacon Hills the past winter, Allison's love for her aunt. Kate holding a gun to a younger Scott's head, the tearing of Allison's allegiance. Peter ripping out Kate's throat, Allison's secret relief.
Elora reached out, slowly pulling the door open enough to lean in for a look.
The small metal space carried on until you couldn't see it anymore: lengths and lengths longer than its natural capacity.
Elora narrowed her eyes, traces of white lingering in the space as the flickering lights casted strange shadows.
Strangled screams came from within, a vibrant figure of Kate Argent crawling her way out of Hell.
Elora slammed the door as Kate reached out for her, running out of the room and slamming through the iced over double doors. She swung around, nearly falling down a flight of stairs as she bursted from her bedroom.
Panting with uneven breaths, Elora still felt the fear coursing through her veins as she processed what had just happened.
Elora swore, turning back to her room. She hesitantly reached out before yanking open the door.
However, it was only her room.
El walked into her room, crouching to pick up the phone that started to ring the moment she touched it.
Allison calling....
x x x
Elora stood within the woods, holding up a target to a large oak tree and sealing it down by simply tapping the corners with her pointer finger.
Lydia had called Elora about Allison's shaking hands during art, knowing they had never wavered before.
Turning over her shoulder, Allison waited with her bow and arrows, less enthusiastic than the strawberry blonde next to her.
"Do you really think this is going to help?" Allison questioned with a sigh as Elora walked back towards her.
"If you think it's not going to help, Al, then it definitely won't."
Lydia rubbed her hands together, "So get your head into it. Shoot a few and see what happens."
Allison knocked an arrow, leaving the quiver by her feet. She drew back, the entire bow shaking just enough to ruin the shot. She released, power behind the arch, but the quake in her hands only put the arrow into the ground.
Lydia and Elora exchanged a look, on either side of Allison. They knew she hadn't missed since she was 12.
Allison quickly picked up another arrow, letting out a breath as she drew back sharply.
Ground shot, again.
"Maybe...hold the string a different way," Lydia offered. "Try to Mongolian Draw."
Both Elora and Allison narrowed their eyes, looking over to the banshee.
Lydia caught their looks, "What? I read." She motioned to the target, "Try it."
Allison quickly picked up an arrow, knocking it before tilting the bow sideways.
Another launch, another upturned patch of dirt.
"Okay," Elora ran a hand along her jaw, "uh...alright close your eyes," she placed her hands on Allison's shoulders and let a pulse of blue run through her forearms into Allison, "and imagine the arrow going into the target."
Lydia watched, both of the brunettes closed their eyes camly. She almost jumped, both girls opening their eyes at the same time.
Elora backed away, despite doing the exact same head movement as Allison.
A woman, running through the trees.
Although Allison reacted, Elora didn't.
"Did you see that?" Allison asked with concern in her eyes.
Lydia furrowed an eyebrow, "See what?"
Allison picked up her quiver, putting it over her shoulder. "Wait here."
"Are you serious?"
"I'll be right back," Allison told her as she already started to move.
Lydia sharply inhaled, "You did not just say that." She watched Allison leave, groaning before looking over to Elora. "Can you believe her?"
Elora, however, wasn't focused on Lydia. She stood with a rigid stillness, an odd expression on her face.
Over here. Eloraaa. Over heeere.
"It's happening again," El whispered as Kate Argent's voice crept though her head.
"What?" Lydia had moved to look for Allison, turning to Elora. "El?"
Elora's eyes were fogged, nearly white all over.
Lydia's eyebrows shot up, Elora's appearance startling her. "El, what's going on?"
A metallic ping sounded through the air, Elora's arm lurching out in front of Lydia's face.
Elora gasped, only then turning her head with clear eyes to find herself holding a fired arrow an inch away from the banshee's face.
Barely able to catch her breath, Lydia stared at the silver arrow nearly touching her nose.
Allison lowered her bow, only then adhearing where she was. "Oh my god. Oh my god, Lydia." She dropped her bow, holding up her hands.
Elora held the arrow with wide eyes, looking from Lydia to Allison. "We seriously need to do something about this."
x x x
Stiles went into Finstock's room hastily, having nearly missed the bell. He went up to a redhead at the front of the room, guessing she was new. "Hi, sorry, I usually sit there."
The girl moved her hands, not saying a word.
Stiles hesitated, "Okay, no problem. That's all yours." He moved a couple seats back, setting his backpack at his feet. He flipped through his textbook for econ, clearing his throat as the room was oddly quiet. His eyes flickered around, everyone staring straight ahead. When he moved his head to the front, he was caught off guard.
Elora stood stiffly in front of the class, the chalkboard empty behind her. She was dressed like the teacher she impersonated and not herself.
"Oh...hey," Stiles' eyebrows furrowed, curious if she had picked her alter ego back up, "Ms. Winchester?"
The brunette lifted her hands, circling a finger over the other hand before tapping them together.
"Um...okay." Stiles watched as she continued, moving a thumb under her chin before repeating her past motion. "I don't actually know sign language."
However, Elora did it again.
"Actually, I didn't even know that you knew sign language," commented Stiles. "Or that that was even an elective here." He started to get nervous, beginning to pick up his things. "Well, this has been good, I'm probably gonna, uh, head out."
Elora stared at him blankly, continuing her silent moves as he walked past her.
Stiles looked back to the rest of the class, every single one of them doing exactly what Elora was.
Elora's hand sped up, her mouth unmoving while her voice whispered, "Wake up Stiles. You have to wake up to solve the riddle."
Stiles tumbled back in what felt like slow motion, a high pitch noise screeching through his ears.
He lurched up hastily, sitting in his desk with panic in his eyes as Coach Finstock was blowing his whistle in his face.
"Stilinski!" Finstock yelled as he lowered the whistle from his mouth.
"Uh huh?" the boy in plaid hastily responded with a rapid heartbeat.
"I asked you a question," Coach snapped
"Uh...sorry Coach," Stiles apologized. "What was it?"
"Oh, it was 'Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?'"
The class held back laughs despite being used to the Stilinski kid embarrassing himself.
Stiles hesitated, "Oh well, I am now."
"Stilinski," Finstock warningly said, "stop reminding me why I drink. Every night." He turned over his shoulder, going back to teaching. "Does anybody want to try the question on the board?"
Stiles glanced over to Scott, the wolf looking at him worriedly. "I'm fine. I just fell asleep for a sec."
"Dude..." Scott lightly shook his head, "you weren't asleep." His eyes flickered to Stiles' desk, telling him to look.
Stiles' eye found his notebook, Elora's words written all over it.
Wake up
wAke uP
W A K E U P
Stiles pulled out his phone, texting to witch immediately.
You need to get to the school ASAP
x x x
Elora ducked past the administration office, blending in with other students as she made her way to the courtyard. She pocketed her phone, having seen Deucalion's most recent update on Derek's location. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked as she sat down with the group next to Isaac.
"You don't know sign language, do you?" Stiles hastily questioned before Elora could completely sit down.
"Not much...no." Elora's eyes flickered around the table, on the opposite side of Scott, Allison and Stiles while being between Lydia and Isaac. "Why did something happen?"
"Nevermind," Stilinski casually said as he brushed it off.
Scott cleared his throat, "Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near death experience and comes out of it seeing things?"
"And is unable to tell what's real or not," Stiles added in.
Allison absently kept her hand by her lips as she spoke, "And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?"
Elora let go of a sigh, running a hand through her hair, "And whose haunted by association because they caused it all."
"They're all locked up because they're insane."
Everyone looked over to Isaac, flat expressions on their faces.
"Yes, thank you for that," Elora said sarcastically.
"Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" asked Stiles while leaning his forearms on the table.
Isaac immediately had a response, always up for picking a fight with Stiles. "For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing to me."
"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles retorted.
Scott groaned, putting his head down on the table.
"Yeah," Isaac countered, "we are still milking that."
"Hi."
The group quieted, all looking over to the new arrival.
Elora lifted an eyebrow, able to see a vague aura around the girl. Not a human one.
"Hi, sorry. I couldn't help over hearing what you guys were talking about," the girl said rather awkwardly.
"Consider me surprised this is the first time this has happened," El mumbled as she absently held hands with Isaac under the table while using her other elbow to prop her up.
Unaware of Elora's comment, Mr. Yukimura's constantly embarrassed daughter continued. "And I actually might know what you're talking about." She went on when no one said anything. "There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called Bardo. It literally means 'in-between state.' The state between life and death."
Lydia held her hands in front of her, "And what do they call you?"
"Kira," Scott said before the girl herself could. He glanced around, not seeing Kira smile. "She's in our history class."
"So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Lydia questioned almost judgingly. Although she'd changed, she showed hints of her sophomore self in the moment.
"Either, I guess." Kira sat down at the table on the side of the three sacrifices. "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 and wrathful deities."
"This sounds way too pagan for my comfort," Elora softly said as she thought of Jennifer.
"Wrathful deities?" asked Isaac once he'd heard El's half comment. "And...and what are those?"
Kira hesitated, thinking of how to phrase it. "Like demons."
"Demons," Stiles repeated with slight surprise. "Why not?"
"Hold on," said Allison, "if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"
"Death. You die."
- What is this?? Melissa with an update??? Yes kids it's real life. I lost some inspiration for a while but I think I'm getting back in the swing of things! xxx - Mel