▸ House of the Rising Sun - Animals
"It's a relic." Lydia said, showing us the student ID card that Liam, Mason, and Corey found the other day. Malia, Scott, Lydia, and I were in the school hallways.
"What's a relic?" Malia asked.
"An object with a fixed association to the past." Lydia informed. "Jake's ID was left behind after he was taken. And Gwen found her sister's bracelet on her bedroom floor."
"How can someone be erased, and still leave something behind?" Malia questioned.
"A conservation of mass." Lydia simply stated. Scott and Malia stared confusedly at the strawberry blonde.
"I'm sorry, what? English please." I squinted my eyes at Lydia.
"The total mass of any isolated system remains constant." Lydia explained.
"So, even the Ghost Riders have a weakness." Scott summed up.
"Then, that should mean that Stiles left something behind, right?" I clutched the straps of my backpack.
"Yeah," Malia grabbed Jake's ID card and stared at it, "a relic would be proof that Stiles existed."
"And maybe we can bring him back." Scott looked at me. I nodded, biting my lip.
"We can totally do this." I hoped. "But where can we start looking for something Stiles may have left behind?"
"It would help if his parents would allow us to look for his things or room." Malia shrugged.
"Well, maybe we should start looking into that." Scott started to walk away. "I got to go meet up with Liam and Mason in the library. Text me if you guys find anything."
"I go to go to class. What are you two going to do?" Malia looked between Lydia and I.
"We're going to talk to Sherriff Stilinski." Lydia said.
"We are?" Lydia gave me a look. I licked my lips and looked at Malia. "We're going to go talk with the Sherriff."
"Okay, keep us informed." Malia walked to the classroom across the hall.
"So, why are we gonna talk with the Sherriff?" I asked as the both of us started to head out of the school.
"When we were at his house, I had a Banshee moment. There's something in that house I need to see." Lydia pushed the doors open.
"What is it?"
"A wall in the hallway."
"A wall?" I furrowed my eyebrows as we walked into the parking lot towards Lydia's car.
"A wall." Lydia confirmed. "I saw an elderly woman walk through it."
"Did you inspect the wall after that happened? She was dead right? Like a ghost?" I asked. Lydia fished out her keys and unlocked her car.
"She was dead and no. Mrs. Stilinski called me when I was trying to." Lydia opened the driver's door and got in. Following her lead, I entered the car and buckled up.
"Okay, is it just me or are you getting a bad vibe about her?" I threw my backpack into the back seat.
"What do you mean?" Lydia turned the ignition on and started to drive out of the parking lot.
"I don't really know. I got a bad vibe from her the other day. She was acting weird. And," I glanced at Lydia. "She kept eyeing you."
"Eying me how?"
"Like she knew you were having a Banshee moment or something. You were only gone for a minute and she was already calling you and stuff." I explained.
"Mmmh." Lydia gripped the steering wheel. "Well, I did noticed that she was acting weird. But, I saw it directed towards you."
"Me?" I breathed out, pointing to myself.
"Yeah, and I have no clue as to why." Lydia pursed her lips together. "That's also why I want to go check out the Sherriff's house again."
"Well, let's hope that he lets us." I muttered, looking out the window. A few minutes passed by and we pulled into the Police Department's parking lot. Once the car was turned off, we walked out and went inside.
"Lydia? Nevah? What are you two doing here?" Parrish asked, walking our way.
"We need to talk to the Sherriff." Lydia told him. Jordan Parrish looked between the both of us, taking in our body language.
"Of course you guys do." Parrish sighed. He nodded and waved us over. "C'mon, I'll walk you two over to his office."
We eagerly followed the Deputy towards the Sherriff's office. Parrish sighed and knocked on the door. I faint reply was heard and Parrish opened the door. Sherriff Stilinski sat behind his desk, setting a pen down.
"Lydia and Nevah want to talk to you sir." Parrish said. Sherriff Stilinski eyed Lydia and I.
"Alright, you can come on in girls. Thank you Parrish." Sherriff Stilinski waved us over. Lydia and I walked in. Parrish gave a brief nod before closing the door behind us. "What is it that you want to tell me?"
"We found something. Something that can help us find Stiles" Lydia handed Jake's ID to the Sherriff. "It's relics. Relics can help us find Stiles and maybe the other people who have been erased. It's like a trigger to someone's memory."
"Okay, I somewhat understand what you are telling me." The Sherriff looked at the ID in his hand and started to twirl it in between his fingers. "But, where would you start to look for a relic that was left behind by Stiles?"
"We want to search your house." I bluntly said, crossing my arms against my chest.
"You want to search my house?" Sherriff Stilinski asked, stopped twirling the ID.
"People are leaving things behind." Lydia placed her hands on the desk. "So if Stiles left anything-"
"Why, why would it be there?" Sherriff Stilinski cut her off.
"You can't just erase people. They leave things behind." Lydia explained. The Sherriff stared blankly at her. Sighing, Lydia adverted her gaze away.
"It's the only way we can think of that can help us find Stiles." I frowned. Sherriff Stilinski sighed and flicked the ID onto his table.
"I couldn't sleep last night. So, um, I got up, figured I'd do some paperwork." He paused as Lydia and I looked at each other. "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 breathed out. A small smile spread across my lips. Hope swelled in my chest. "So can we search your house?"
"You may search my house."
▷
Mrs. Stilinski let us into her home and gave us space to look around. We thanked her, reluctantly in my case, and started to roam the house. Lydia and I decided it would be best to start in the living room before we walked towards the hallway she had the Banshee moment in to get Claudia off of our backs. Lydia went straight towards the mantle and looked at the picture frames. I walked closer to the couch, still thinking about the picture I have on my nightstand.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mrs. Stilinski asked. Lydia and I both turned to face her.
"No." I held back the urge to roll my eyes. Mrs. Stilinski nervously fiddles with her hands.
"But thank you, Mrs. Stilinski." Lydia gave me a look.
"Well, good luck. I'll leave you two to it." Mrs. Stilinski breathed out before she walked away. I narrowed my eyes at her. Unexpectedly, I felt a smack on my arm. Frowning, I turned to see Lydia giving me a pointed look with her hands on her hips.
"What?" I puzzled.
"That was very rude!" Lydia scolded.
"It was?" Lydia squinted her eyes at me. I sighed. "Sorry, I tend to not have control over my actions when I'm suspicious of someone."
"Yeah, I've noticed. You did that a lot with Theo." Lydia breathed out a chuckle. I sent her a cheeky smile.
"What can I say? I never trusted him so..." I shrugged. "C'mon. Let's start searching."
Lydia nodded and lead the way towards the hallway. We walked down the dimly light hallway. I kept glancing over my shoulder to make sure Claudia wasn't spying on us. Suddenly, Lydia stopped in front of me. She eyed the wall before she slowly reach out for a loose part of the wallpaper. Lydia gasped and jumped back.
"Lydia?" I whispered. She faced the other end of the hallway. I followed her gaze to see nothing. Is she having another Banshee moment?
"See what?" Lydia asked. I furrowed my eyebrows. Oh yeah, definitely a Banshee moment. Lydia looked back at the wall and ran her finger along the loose wallpaper. She looked back towards the end of the hallway breathing heavily.
"You okay?" I placed a hand on her shoulder. Lydia closed her eyes and nodded. She looked back at the wallpaper and pulled it back, tearing it away from the wall. I blinked from surprise. "I-okay."
A hand reach out and pulled Lydia's wrist away from the wall. We both jumped back and looked at Mrs. Stilinski with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" Claudia shakenly scolded, gripping Lydia's wrist.
"You're hurting me." Lydia muttered. Mrs. Stilinski let go, staring at the ripped wallpaper. She placed her hand over the peeled back paper and tried to set it back into place. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"I think that's something we can agree on." Claudia glared at Lydia. Biting back a rude remark, I gently grabbed Lydia's wrist and walked away.
"C'mon, we've got to go anyways." I gritted out, opening the front door. The both of us walked down the drive way towards Lydia's car. "Got another plan?"
"Of course I do. Who do you think I am?"
▷
"Anything?" I asked, pacing the floor of Ms. Martin's office at the school.
"Nothing." Lydia sighed, typing away on her mother's computer.
"Were you tearing Claudia Stilinski's wallpaper off her wall?" Ms. Martin closed the door. I winced at looked at Lydia.
"No." Lydia's voice cracked. Ms. Martin gave her daughter a stern look. "Maybe. Yes."
"She's worried about your mental health." Ms. Martin walked forward, standing next to me.
"But it was a Banshee moment." I tried to help. Lydia shook her head at me.
"I saw someone in the hallway. Someone Mrs. Stilinski didn't see." Lydia explained.
"Well, if Claudia is not seeing ghost, maybe it's because she's not a Banshee." Ms. Martin whispered out the last few words.
"I think he was trying to help find something Stiles left behind. A relic." Lydia stated.
"Did you?" Ms. Martin asked.
"No. Mrs. Stilinski asked me to leave before I could find anything." Lydia responded.
"Probably because you were tearing her wallpaper." Ms. Martin chuckled. She walked around her desk and peeked at the screen Lydia was currently on. The last page that Lydia was on was Claudia's driver's license. "Oh, honey. I've known Claudia since high school. I trust her."
"Yeah? Well I don't." I grumbled, crossing my arms. Lydia sighed and leaned her head back on the chair.
"Do you know what a confirmation bias is?" Ms. Martin questioned, walking in front of the desk and sat down on a chair.
"Nope." I grumbled out, leaning against the wall.
"The tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms an existing preconception." Lydia answered.
"Yes." Ms. Martin nodded.
"Still a no." I furrowed my eyebrows, looking in between the two.
"It's a biased perspective." Ms. Martin further explained.
"That makes more sense." I muttered to myself.
"You're looking for proof to support what you already believe is true. Because you want it to be true." Ms. Martin said.
"Stiles is real." I sternly defended. "I know it."
"I agree with Nevah." Lydia nodded.
"But do you believe there's a possibility he's not?" Ms. Martin sighed.
"He's real." I repeated.
"Okay." Ms. Martin leaned back and took off her glasses. "Tell me everything you know. I'll be your unbiased perspective."
"Hold on. It's Scott." Lydia reached for her phone. She read the text and looked up at me. "Looks like they need your help at the lacrosse fields."
AND I AM BACK! There will be another chapter a few minutes after this one is up so keep an eye out!
btw, go check out Meghana_B 's new story!