After the intense events we had faced, life had settled down. Jennifer had disappeared, and we had no idea what had become of her. The twins still attended school occasionally, but we had all moved on, as if the days of battling alpha werewolves were just a distant memory. During that turbulent time, Scott had emerged as a true alpha, and we had become his pack.
I finally got my own car, which meant I didn't have to wake up on Allison's schedule anymore. I could sleep in a little longer now.
"Stella, I'm leaving," Allison yelled from the doorway.
I groaned, dragging myself out of bed. I glanced in the mirror and found my hair in disarray, with smudged mascara under my eyes from the previous night. After a quick brush of my teeth and a face wash, I decided to forgo makeup for the day and settled for putting my hair up in a messy bun.
Driving to school, it only took me 10 to 15 minutes to get there. I parked next to Allison's car and joined the group of friends walking into the school.
"Because it's happening to all three of you. Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one," Lydia remarked with a smirk.
"Wait, what?" I asked Scott, but he seemed more engrossed in their conversation.
"We're not crazy," Allison defended.
"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine," Lydia responded sarcastically.
"We did die and come back to life. That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Scott shrugged.
The bell rang for the first period, interrupting our discussion. Stiles concluded, "We keep an eye on each other. Okay?"
They all nodded, and Stiles added, "And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much," shaking his head as he walked away.
"What just happened?" I muttered in bewilderment.
"Oh, hey, Stella," Scott greeted me, waving. I rolled my eyes and followed him to our first class, where Stiles was also present.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr. Yukimura. 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 since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought a friend home for that matter," Mr. Yukimura explained.
Suddenly, someone sighed loudly and banged their head on their desk. We all turned to see a girl reacting this way.
"Either way, there she is. Now, let's begin with American History at the turn of the 20th century," he continued. Kira shyly waved at us.
After Mr. Yukimura's class, we headed to our second period.
"Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal," Scott suggested, following Stiles to his locker.
"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures. There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal," Stiles chimed in.
I zoned out of their conversation and started scanning the halls of the new people. Then I turned back to Scott
"Um, Scott, your eyes are cool and all, but I don't think everyone needs to know," I whispered to him. He looked at me quizzically.
"What?" he questioned.
"Dude, your eyes. They're starting to glow," Stiles observed.
"Like right now?" Scott asked, covering his eyes.
"Yes, right now. Scott, stop. Stop it," Stiles urged.
"I can't. I can't control it," Scott admitted.
"All right, just keep your head down. Look down, come on. Keep your head down," Stiles directed.
We followed Stilinski into an empty classroom.
"Get away from me," Scott warned us.
"Scott, it's okay," I reassured him, taking a small step forward.
"I don't know what's going to happen. Get back," he growled.
Stiles grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. Scott started panting and grunting, pushing his claws into his hand and growling even more, causing blood to drip down his arm. I dropped my bag and quickly moved to sit next to him.
"Pain makes you human," he panted.
"This isn't just in our heads. This is real," Stiles added, clearly distressed. "And it's starting to get bad for me too. I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally screamed myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually ever waking up."
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" he inquired, and I shook my head. "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order," he sighed.
"Like even now?" Scott asked.
Stiles got up and went to the board, squinting and shaking his head.
"I can't read a thing," he admitted.
______
I walked into the school, but something was terribly off. Instead of the familiar school building, I found myself inside an old house, a haunting place that appeared to have suffered a devastating fire. The structure stood, though charred and damaged, as if it defied the flames. My surroundings were eerie and unsettling.
As I ventured further into this strange place, I suddenly heard my name being called. I turned to see my mother, and my heart sank as I noticed someone's clawed hand wrapped around her throat. The hand slashed open her neck, and she crumpled to the floor, blood pooling around her lifeless body. Tears welled up in my eyes as I witnessed this horrifying scene.
In a panic, I turned and ran, desperately trying to escape this nightmare. But my path abruptly ended as I collided with an invisible barrier. Gasping for breath, I opened my eyes, and to my immense relief, I found myself back at school.
"Hey, Stella, you okay?" Isaac's concerned voice reached me as he held my shoulders. I couldn't bring myself to speak; I simply nodded and walked away, shaken to the core by the disturbing vision.
"Wait, Stella, we're meeting up outside after class," Isaac called after me.
"Okay," I managed to reply with a forced smile, trying to push the haunting images from my mind as I continued on my way.
______
"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked, his brows furrowing in worry.
"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles added, frustration evident in his voice.
"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison chimed in, her concern deepening the conversation.
"They're all locked up because they're insane," Isaac deadpanned, though his words didn't exactly help.
"Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles retorted, clearly annoyed.
"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me," Isaac replied, offering a sarcastic grin.
"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that," Isaac replied nonchalantly.
"Hi. Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo.' It literally means 'in-between state.' The state between life and death," Kira spoke up sweetly, introducing herself into the conversation.
"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked, looking up at Kira.
"Kira. She's in our History class," Scott introduced her with a warm smile.
"So are you talking about Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Lydia inquired, her skepticism still present.
"Either, I guess," Kira replied as she took a seat next to me. "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," she informed us.
"Wrathful deities? And what are those?" Isaac asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Like demons," Kira answered matter-of-factly.
"Demons. Why not?" I sighed, raising my hands in frustration.
"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked, her voice trembling.
"Death," Kira replied solemnly, leaving us all in a heavy silence as we grappled with the unsettling implications of her words.