I laid on my stomach on Stiles' bed with my shoes off and feet crossed in the air. I watched him as he pinned strings to connect different pictures on his wall. It kind of terrifies me, seeing his bedroom look like something out of a murder mystery movie. He's a teenager, he shouldn't have a murder board on his own bedroom wall.
In front of me on the bed sat three different colors of string, red, yellow, green, and blue. I picked up a loose piece of the red and twirled it around my finger. "What do the different colored strings mean?" I asked Stiles.
"Uh, they're just different stages of the investigation," he said, turning around to look at me after he connected a red string from a picture of Barrow to one of the school. "So like, green is solved, yellow is to be determined, blue is just...pretty,"
"What does red mean?" I asked, noticing the plethora of that color on the wall.
"Uh, unsolved," he said.
"You only have red on the board,"
"Yes, I'm aware. Thank you,"
I let out a heavy sigh, resting my chin in the palm of my hands with my elbows propped up on the bed. Everything is just such a mess right now. So much is happening and we have no idea what we're supposed to do about it. I just wish we could go back to when our biggest trouble was Peter. Even though I despise the man with every fiber of my being, I can handle him.
"Did you get detention for pulling the fire alarm?" I asked him.
"Yep, everyday this week," he said. "It's okay though, we were onto something,"
"I just...I really thought that Lydia was right," I said.
Stiles strode over to me, squatting down by the bed to be eye level. I stared at the string coiled around my finger. Maybe I'm red too. Maybe I'm a little bit unsolved. There's just so much inside of me I don't know what to do with yet. I don't know how to balance the light and the darkness.
"We all did, Emma," he said. "She's never been wrong before. She felt something, and we trusted her. Barrow was there, and I would go back to that school and search all night to prove it to you,"
I gave a weak smile as he looked at me with his brown and green speckled eyes. They looked tired, like they haven't slept in days. They probably haven't. That's okay though, I'm still afraid to sleep too. I'm afraid of what I'll wake up to.
"I'm supposed to be the one who knows everything," I said, hanging my head. "I feel like I'm letting everyone down,"
"Hey," he said, grabbing my hands. "Emma,"
I finally lifted my eyes back up to look at him. His fingers wrapped around the string on my finger, slowly working it off. His touch felt light as air.
"I don't know where we'd be without you, any of us," he said. "You have been there every step of the way. It's not just me who needs you, we all do."
"I just wish I knew more,"
"But you don't," he said, squeezing my hands. "And neither do any of us. That doesn't make you any less needed,"
He brought his hand up to cup the side of my face, skimming my cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. I instinctively wrapped my hand around his wrist, caressing it down his forearm. I closed my eyes as he leaned in and kissed my forehead.
He then stood up with a sigh and walked over to his dresser. I watched him with curious eyes as he pulled open the top drawer and began digging through it. Once he seemed to have found what he was looking for, he came back over and sat down on the bed.
"I was going to wait to give you this," he began. I sat up as he held a small gift box in his hand. "But now just seems like the right time,"
My heart pounded in my chest as he handed me the box and instructed for me to open it. We've been together for a while now, but we've never really been the couple to shower each other in presents. We don't need to.
I lifted the lid and pulled out the most beautiful silver bracelet. It was simple, with a silver heart and slim chain. When I looked closer, I noticed the letters E&S engraved on the inside of the heart. My jaw dropped and I looked up at Stiles with awe in my eyes.
"Stiles," I breathed out. I didn't quite know what to say. "It - it's so beautiful I - thank you,"
He smiled wide, his eyes glowing. "Here," he said, holding out his hand. I gave him the bracelet and held out my right hand, the one he always holds. He clasped the bracelet on and I marveled at how much it looked like it belonged on my wrist.
"You didn't have to," I said.
"But I wanted to," he said, cutting me off. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always love you, that I'll always be with you."
My throat tightened up as tears of joy and happiness filled my eyes. "I love you so much,"
"I love you too,"
In that moment, I knew that that is the way you're supposed to feel at seventeen. You're supposed to feel like you're on cloud nine with nothing but joy and freedom in your heart. You're not supposed to be so terrified of everything around you that you can't even fall asleep. It's not right.
What was right, is the way Stiles' lips felt against mine as he laid me down onto my back. He wasn't as frisky as he has been in our recent make out sessions. He was soft and gentle, the way he was when we first became romantic with one another. It took me back to the start, before things got this out of hand.
Suddenly, Stiles pulled away from me and looked towards his bedside table with furrowed eyebrows. I glanced over at it, but all I saw was a permanent marker. "Stiles?" I questioned, rubbing my hands along his strong arms.
He rolled off of me and picked up the marker, pulling off the cap and taking a whiff. I sat up and looked at him in confusion. Then, he shot his head back around to look at me. "Call Lydia, we need to go to the school. Now,"
✞
"Why did you call me out here and what exactly are we looking for?" Lydia asked as we followed Stiles into the Chemistry room.
We walked through to the supply closet, the same one where my dream took place. I still haven't told anyone about it yet, not even Stiles. I was surprised, however, when the door to the closet opened with ease. "Wasn't that supposed to be locked?" I asked.
"Yeah," said Stiles. "Notice anything else?"
"It smells like chemicals?" Lydia said as Stiles squatted down to investigate some of the bottles with the flashlight on his phone.
"They wouldn't have been able to catch a scent," I said.
"Yep," he said.
He shined the light around, narrowing his eyes at the names of the chemicals on the shelf. He then shifted over, illuminating the light onto the ground. Next to his feet, the linoleum floor was stained red with what looked like blood. Lydia and I glanced at each other.
"He was here," murmured Stiles, "performing very minor surgery on himself. You were right, Lydia,"
"And why don't I feel good about this?" Lydia asked.
"Probably because he was here to kill somebody," I said, stating the obvious.
The guy is a mass murderer who's already blown up a school bus full of kids. Not to mention his claims of the children with glowing eyes. With all of the people we have in this school that fit that description, it's not too hard to figure out he was here for a very definable reason.
"But who?" Lydia questioned.
"That's what we gotta figure out," said Stiles. He stood up, tucking his phone away in his pocket. Lydia and I followed him back into the classroom. "Spread out, start looking for anything,"
I nodded, searching around the lab tables on the left as Stiles took the ones on the right. Maybe Barrow left some kind of chemical or note that can give us a clue as to who his target was. If he did, I'm not finding it at any of these tables.
"Lydia, what are those?" Stiles asked.
I looked up at the sound of his voice to see Lydia walking slowly towards the chalkboard. Three numbers were written in chalk in a vertical line. "Atomic numbers," she said.
Stiles and I both moved to stand on either side of her. I squinted my eyes at the numbers, trying to figure out for myself what this could possibly mean. "Is it some kind of formula?" I asked her.
"Not really," she said, shaking her head. Chemistry never really was my strong suit. Science has become too practical for me. "19 is Potassium, 53 is Iodine, 88 is Radium. The first two make Potassium Iodide,"
She then grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote a 'K' next to the 19. "Potassium is K?" Stiles questioned. Even I knew that one.
"From Kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name," said Lydia, writing an "I" next to the 53. Sometimes I really do forget how smart she truly is.
"What's Radium?" Stiles asked.
I held my breath as she wrote "Ra" next to the 88. We stepped back, looking at the letters written on the board and trying to figure out if this was really happening or not, if it really spelled out her name.
"Kira,"
✞
"Scott! Scott!" Stiles shouted as we hovered over him laying in the middle of the street. Once we realized it was Kira Barrow was after, we rushed over to her house only to find Scott unconscious with a bleeding head.
He sat up, taking in large breaths. He looked around for a moment, before it seemed to hit him. "Barrow, he took Kira,"
"We know," said Stiles. "He was after her the whole time,"
"What do we do?" Scott asked.
"I'll call Eric," I said. "Maybe he and Allison found something about the flies,"
Everyone nodded in agreement and I could hear Scott's heart racing. I know he's nervous and probably freaking out, I get that, but we need him in his best state of mind if we're going to find her. He's our leader now.
Eric answered on the first ring. "Hello?"
"Did you guys find anything?" I asked quickly.
"No, nothing, just stuff about flies and the dead and nothing else," he said.
I groaned. "Alright thanks,"
"Emma - "
I hung up the phone and turned towards my friends before Eric could get another word out. I can talk to him later, but right now we need to find Kira and we need to do it fast. We could be running out of time.
"What do we do?" Scott asked. "He's gonna kill her,"
"I knew he was there," said Lydia. "How did I know that?"
"Because you heard the flies, right?" Stiles said.
"What do you hear now?" Scott asked.
Lydia looked down, her hands shaking. She pursed her lips and took in a deep breath. "Nothing," she said. She looked back up at this. "I feel like I can do this, but I don't know what to do. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue and I don't know how to trigger it."
She ran her hands through her hair, walking a few steps away. "I swear to god, it literally makes me want to scream,"
Scream. She's a banshee, and that's what banshees do. I at least know that much. Taking a step towards her I said, "Then scream. Lydia, scream,"
Stiles and I covered our ears and Scott turned away as Lydia let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed all the way around the neighborhood. It was so loud it made my knees go weak. My ears were still ringing even after her lungs went silent.
Scott, Stiles, and I all watched her carefully as she seemed to be piecing something together. She turned her head to the left, then looked up at the street light above our heads. It was working, it had to be working.
"It's not flies," she said. We all jumped back when she snapped around to face us. "It's electricity,"
Scott and I glanced at each other as Stiles spoke. "Wait a sec, Barrow used to be an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation,"
"What substation?" Scott asked.
✞
Scott pulled up first on his motorbike, Stiles, Lydia, and I all arriving right behind him in the jeep. Scott didn't hesitate before jumping off and running inside. We unbuckled our seat belts, Stiles the first one to get his door open.
"Okay, you two wait here alright?" Stiles said. "Just wait for the cops to come,"
"What? Stiles, no I'm coming with you," I said, swinging my door open.
"I only have one bat," he said, holding up the same aluminum baseball bat he used to keep the root cellar from collapsing on all of use a few weeks ago. That whole night still doesn't seem real to me.
"You're psychotic if you think I'm letting you go in there alone," I said, jumping out of the jeep.
"Emma - "
"I'm coming with you." I stated.
There was no question in my voice. What I said was final. I was going in there with him, because if I didn't and something happened to him, I don't think I could live with myself. It's my responsibility to keep him safe, to protect him.
"Fine," he said. "Come on,"
We both sprinted inside, leaving Lydia to wait in the jeep. We could hear the commotion coming from the main electrical room and glanced at each other before running even harder in that direction.
I was out of breath by the time I got in there, and nearly passed out when I saw what was happening. Light illuminated from the bolts of electricity coming from all of the power boxes and wires, sending the entire building into a glow. However, it was where the energy was going that knocked the wind out of me.
Kira stood in the center of the room with her palms out, absorbing the electricity into her hands. Trickles of light came off of her, something I've never seen or heard of in my entire life. What the hell is happening? And how in the hell is Kira the one doing it?
The last of the light was soaked up into her hands, sending the building into a darkness. She looked at her own self in shock, almost as if even she didn't know what just happened. It's possible that she might not.
I looked around me, feeling the empty space where someone was supposed to be. "Stiles?" I whipped my head around, but there was no sign of him. "Stiles?"
I ran back outside to the jeep, looking around as I did so to make sure I wasn't missing him. A sense of relief washed over me as I saw him standing by the passenger door talking to Lydia. I really need to stop always assuming the worst.
"Stiles," I said, slightly out of breath. "What happened to you? Why'd you come back out here?"
"I - I don't know," he said.
"Did you see what happened in there, with Kira?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Yeah, yeah I saw that,"
"What did happen?" Lydia asked. "The entire town looks like it just lost power,"
I glanced around to see that she was right. All of the street lamps and lights from other buildings had gone out. Beacon Hills was overcast in a complete darkness. Kira did that. She sent the town into a blackout.
Just as I was about to speak, my phone went off in my pocket. I saw Allison's name pop up on my screen before answering. "Hello?"
"Emma, you need to get here now," she said, a sense of urgency in her voice.
"What? Why? What's going on?" I asked. Stiles and Lydia gave me concerning looks as my face went white.
"It's Eric," she said. "Something happened to him and Isaac. They're in our apartment. Just get here as fast as you can,"
"You can take my bike," said Scott. I whipped around to see him and Kira walking over to us. "We'll stay and deal with the police."
"Okay," I said, nodding my head. "I'll be right there,"
I hung up the phone and thanked Scott as I put on his helmet and hopped onto his motorbike. I've never driven it before, but Scott has let me ride around with him enough times I should be able to figure out how to work it. I just hope my mind doesn't wander too far into this before I have the chance to even get there.
"Be safe," said Scott. "Let us know what's going on when you can,"
"You too," I said, my eyes glancing to Kira for only a sliver of a second. He nodded.
Stiles' eyes met with mine before I revved the engine of the bike and took off in the direction of my apartment complex. The police drove past me towards the substation, ignoring how fast I was driving as they hurried to the scene of the crime. The flashing lights in my rear view mirror made my heart pound.
The drive was shorter than I anticipated it to be, but that also may have something to do with how fast I was going. I parked the bike outside and hurried up the floor where both Eric and I and the Argent's apartments are. The elevator wasn't working due to the power outage, so I took the stairs two at a time.
Finally I made it to the door, knocking furiously. Mr. Argent opened it, a somber look on his face. "Where is he?" I demanded, striding into the apartment right past him. "Where's my brother? Eric?"
I followed his familiar scent into Allison's bedroom. He was propped up against the bed, his face white as a sheet and sweat trickling from his hairline. Isaac looked the same way, Allison tending to him.
"What happened?" I asked, kneeling down next to my brother and grabbing his hands.
"They - they came out of the dark," he said. His voice was frail and shaken, a tone I've never heard before.
"What did?" I asked. His bottom lip quivered and tears welled in his eyes. His hands were freezing in mine. I was thankful he didn't notice the purple running up through the veins of my forearms. "Eric, what came out of the dark?"
"Something evil,"
----------------------------------------
Thanks so much for reading!
Sorry that it took so long and it's a little bit shorter, but hey, at least it's up! I've just had the busiest week...
So I played three games this weekend with my broken hand oops. It really doesn't even hurt so I don't think it's that big of a deal. I just can't wait until I'm officially cleared and I can go full throttle again :)
Thanks again and don't forget to comment, vote, and follow!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
-Alyssa