5. The number 5 was all I could see. It was written in red, surrounding me and covering the walls. I couldn't put a pin on where I was. It almost looked like... A basement? A very creepy one I might add.
For some reason I wasn't scared. Sure I was panting, but that was only because I felt like the oxygen was sucked out of that claustrophobic place. Usually I would be terrified in a place like this; almost pitch black, damp, freezing cold basement that could possibly store dead bodies, but I knew it wasn't real. They say that if you have an extra finger it's a dream. So, I counted my fingers to myself. I had 11 fingers so I was guessing it was a dream. I was learning to just let my weird visions and dream take control.
I explored the place, drawn to this particular number 5 written in white chalk near these pipes in the corner of the basement. I examined it slowly, placing my hand on it. The moment I touched it, a series of whispers and screams filled the room. I flinched, moving my hand away from it immediately. I gazed around frantically, trying to figure out how to stop the screaming. Then, a moment after as if right next to my ear, someone screamed bloody murder, "HELP ME!"
There was no doubt in my mind that it was Stiles.
-----
I woke up, immediately shooting up into a sitting position. It was my usual frantic panting, kind of like the one from my vision.
The whole Oni thing was still plastered in my mind. I don't think I would ever get rid of the image of those demonic ninjas.
My phone started ringing, pulling me from my freaking out stage. I checked the caller ID and didn't recognize the number. Quickly putting the phone on my ear I answered it, confused to why someone would call me this late.
"Hello..." I hesitated. Static and shaky breathing was all I got in response. I swear if this is Kale...
"Hello?" I asked a bit louder, starting to get aggravated with all this creepiness.
"Sam?" His voice was shaky just like his breathing and on the verge of tears. I know who this is.
"Stiles? Is that you? Are you okay?" I breathed out, ripping the covers off of me and hopping out of bed.
"Sam, I don't know where I am, I- I don't know how I got here. I think I was sleep walking. Scott's not answering his phone."
"Okay, um... Can you see anything- tell me what you see." I hurried out, swiping the hair out of my face.
"I don't know it's dark. It's hard to see. Oh no...there's something wrong with my-"
"Hello? Stiles?!" I hissed, covering my other ear thinking that would somewhat help. I removed the phone from my ear to see if the call disconnected.
The call disconnected. I tried to call him back. "Hey," Stiles began as if he just came back from a trip in Disney Land.
"Stiles?!" I hissed, trying not to wake my family up. Especially not my father, knowing that he doesn't particularly like Stiles.
"This is Stiles and you've missed me." Really? I mean who starts with "hey" as their voice mail? But I also had another question running thorough my mind for a split second;
How did Stiles get my number?
The next ten minutes I spent frantically running back and forth in my room, repeatedly calling Stiles which was a bust. Before I dialed to warn Scott, my radio was going staticky, even though it was off.
I furrowed my eyebrows, staring at it I'm confusion. A series of what sounded like Japanese or some other language started blasting through the speaker. I gulped, holding my fingers in front of my face just to make sure this wasn't one of my realistic dreams.
Nope. 10 fingers: check.
I walked over slowly to examine it, mentally coaching myself to not be afraid. The closer I came, I heard a faint plead, "Please find me..."
-----------
"Scott? Yeah hi, did Stiles call you?" I started, holding the phone between my shoulder and ear while changing into something other than pajamas. Something tells me that I won't be sleeping tonight.
"Yeah. How did you know that?"
"Because he called me too. We need to help him. We need to call his dad. Here I'll tell my dad-"
"No, don't do that. I promised him." Scott blurted, stopping me before I trudged out the room and into my parents room.
"Scott, he could be hurt and maybe even freezing to death." I reminded him sternly.
"Sam, I promised," he begged. I paused, contemplating waking my dad up. Stiles needs our help. And what if it's somewhat involved with the supernatural? I couldn't risk anyone else to get hurt. I sighed, "Okay. Just remember that I don't agree with this."
-----------
All I could hear is the stupid Japenese jibber. I just wanted to cover my ears throughout my way to Scott's, but I heard that you should have at least one hand on the wheel. And I definitely didn't need anymore dings on my Buggy.
I drove up to Scott's house and trudged through the front door. Scott and Isaac shot me a panicky look.
"Sam, you didn't tell anyone else, right? Not your dad-
"Yes. I promise." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
Scott's phone vibrated, breaking the intensity in the room.
"Stiles," he panted out.
"Did you call him? Did you call my dad?" Stiles whispered.
"No. Just Isaac and Sam. We're coming to find you. Can you figure out where you are try to find something that can tell us where to look?"
"Basement..." I mumbled. How did I know that? I don't know. To be honest, I'm just letting this whole Banshee thing loose. I had a feeling that my vision was somehow part of this.
Scott and Isaac slowly looked over to me and the only response I could give was a shrug.
"Yeah... Some kind of basement." Stiles agreed.
"In a house?" Scott asked both me and Stiles with furrowed eyebrows.
"No much bigger, like industrial. I think I'm frost bit; it's cold, it's freezing down here," he whispered, then we heard rustling in the background." I've got to turn- I've got to turn the phone off guys it's going to die,"
"Wait, wait- what else is there, what do you see?" Scott asked in panic, not wanting to get off the phone with him.
"The phones going to die I can't talk, I have to go."
"Stiles, why are you whispering?" I interrupted.
"Because there might be someone in here with me," he choked out.
Scott flipped his phone off, all of us just gaping in awe and fear.
-----------------
I drove Scott and Isaac to Stiles house to search for a stronger scent. We snuck through Stilinksi's house, pushing the door open to his room to find Lydia and Aiden had beat us to it.
"How did you know? Did he call you too?" Scott immediately asked Lydia as he opened the door.
"I heard it." She shortly explained.
"Don't ask." Aiden interupted.
"It gets more confusing the more you ask."
Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I wanted to know. Maybe she heard the jibberish and panic from Stiles, but I just let it go. I probably shouldn't add to this.
"Not as confusing as this," Lydia said while signaling over to the red string connecting to the many cases on Stiles little 'investigation board.'
"He used the red for unsolved cases," I pointed out, approaching the board.
"Maybe he's part of an unsolved case." Aiden clued in.
"Or is an unsolved case," Isaac added, crossing his arms and staring at the red strings.
"Hold on, is he still out there? You don't know where he is?" Lydia scolded.
"He said he's at an industrial basement somewhere," Scott explained, trying to calm down Lydia, which was a fail.
"We came here to get a better scent," Isaac interupted.
"What else did he say?" Lydia whispered.
"Something's wrong with his leg, it's bleeding," Scott described.
"And he's freezing," I breathed out, letting go of the breath I was holding in. What we are explaining is probably worse than it sounds.
"Tonight's the coldest night of the year. It's gonna drop near the 20s," Aiden added, making it sound worse.
"What did his dad say," Lydia said annoyed.
"We- we didn't tell him yet," Scott stammered.
"Stiles is bleeding and freezing and you didn't call his dad?!"
I gave Scott an 'I told you so' glare.
"He made me promise not to. We can find him by scent." She closed her eyes in aggravation. "If he was sleep walking he couldn't have gotten far, right?"
"You guys didn't notice his jeeps gone did you?" Aiden added.
"You promised you wouldn't call his dad," she mumbled while dialing in numbers on her phone," I didn't."
She pulled out her phone, but before she could dial anything Scott interrupted.
"Lydia hold on."
"I can get more help, I can get Derek, Allison-"
"Everyone except for the cops. Great idea," I blurted out sarcastically nodding my head.
"You guys do realize she gets these feelings only when someone's about to die right?" Aiden warned. I gulped, looking down at the ground. The ground seemed nicer to face than facing this conversation.
"You don't have to call his dad," Scott announced.
"It's five minutes to the station."
"We'll catch up," Lydia said signaling Aiden to stay.
"What, why?" I asked.
"There is something here," Lydia warned.
"I know... I felt it too..." I confessed, keeping my head down while they all looked at me.
"Yeah, total insanity," Isaac said, looking between Lydia and I like we are nut jobs. Which is half true. I rolled my eyes at him.
"We can figure out what's wrong with him after keeping him from freezing to death." I said, forcing Scott and Isaac out of the room.
"Go," Lydia called out while Scott looked at her for reassurance. "We'll be right behind you."
----------------
Sherif Stilinski was terrified. I was starting to feel the same way at the moment. Not only was Stiles missing, but my dad was also working the night shift which meant I had a lot of explaining to do in his office.
He stood over the desk, mumbling to himself.
"If his jeep is gone, that's where we start," sherif began.
"Parish, let's get an ABP out a blue 1980 CJ-5.I want a list of any industrial or sub level of any building he could've got into while sleep walking."
The poor man was talking so fast Parish and my dad were having a hard time getting the information.
"It's the coldest night if the year so far so if he's out there barefoot and just a T shirt he could already be hyperthermic. Let's move fast. Let's think fast."
"The three of you come with me," Sherif ordered while walking out of the office. He then shut the door so that no one could hear us. I was currently thankful to get out of that office because that means I would escape from the death stares my dad was giving me.
"Is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell anybody out there?" he asked pointing to his office.
"Lydia and I knew he was missing," I informed. He looked at with furrowed eyebrows, waiting for me to add on more to that information.
"I'm working on it." I sighed.
"Anything else?" He asked looking at Scott.
"I called Derek and Allison for help."
"Can you find him by scent?"
Before we could answer, Parish knocked on the door then opened it. "We got it sir, found the jeep."
-------
"It's dead, he must've left the lights on," sherif said after all of us had met up in front of the hospital, discovering that Stiles blue jeep was parked right in front of it.
"Why would he come here?" I asked as we inspected the jeep.
"Let's find out," Scott told me and Isaac, running towards the hospital.
-----------
Sherif gathered up police and went to go search the hospital.
"Up here," I announced, pointing up the stairs that led to the roof. His scent was so heavy up there. They nodded following me up to the roof of the hospital.
"He's not here. Not anymore," Derek told us as we rushed up to him.
"Did you search the whole building?" Scott reassured.
"Gone."
Gone. Perfect. Stiles is no where to be found. Some depressed boy that I barely know who I have slight feelings for is gone.
"Go see if you can find Allison, she's not answering her phone," Scott mumbled to Isaac.
Isaac nodded and then ran off to go talk to Allison.
"Notice how strong the scent is up here. You ever heard of kemo signals?" Derek asked both of us.
"Chemical signals that comminucate emotion..." I mumbled. Scott and Derek seemed surprised.
"What? Why are you so surprised that I'm smart?"
Derek ignored me, continuing on.
"Which is in our sweat. Gives of danger, fear, disgust." He listed. Scott and I glanced at each other and took a step closer to where the scent was strongest. "Take a deep breath. Tell me what you feel." Scott and I closed our eyes and took a deep breath.
"Stress."
"Anxiety."
Scott and I stated at the same time. He was the same exact smell at the hospital, but this was slightly different.
"What was he doing up here?" Scott asked Derek.
"I don't know. There was definitely some kind of struggle." Derek informed, continuing to look around.
"With who?" I asked.
"Himself."
----
"You, missy, are coming with me," my dad scolded, pulling at my wrist to take me out of the hospital.
"Now what do you think youre doing?"
"Helping..." That's all I could muster up. My dad would lock me in the Eichen House if he heard the real reason.
"They don't need your help. Now what did I say about being around... them?" He continued to scold, whispering the last part.
"Dad, there's a perfect reason for this. I can totally explain." I stated with confidence.
He crossed his arms, ready for an explanation. Which... I did not have. I sighed, puffing my cheeks with air.
"Ok, so no, I can't, but you've gotta trust me." I begged, trying to pull the whole puppy dog eye face. He just shook his head back and forth and looked at the ground. Not the response I was looking for.
"I'm sorry Sam, but I'm bringing you home. You have nothing to do with Stiles," He scolded more, pulling me to his car. That made me think; why would Stiles call me? Is there a real reason? I mean, why didn't he call Lydia or Allison? That really confused me.
I jumped into the passenger seat of the police car, huffing and leaning my head back the moment I sat down. When my dad started the car he heard his radio beep.
"Agent McCall thinks he knows where Stiles might be," he told me after listening to his radio.
"So you're taking orders from Agent?" I sighed in disbelief, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"Yes. He's reasonable, Sam."
I huffed, rolling my eyes and looking out the window as my dad drove away, listening to Agent McCalls orders.
"Your mother has been very worried about you," he said, breaking the silence.
I ignored him, continuing to stare out the window. I am not going to have this conversation of how bad of a kid I am. To be honest, I don't think I can handle it right now.
"I've been worried about you. You're never home."
"Yes I am!" I whined. He took his eyes off the road, giving me an "okay... Yeah sure" look.
"Okay... So I'm never at home..." I confessed. Yeah, dad, that's because I'm dealing with banshees, werewolves, and demons. Oh, and just in case you wanted to know, I'm a werewolf and visions pop up now and then.
Yeah... no. I was not going to tell the truth. I had to think of something. Lie.
"I- I uh..."
"I tried out for um..." I continued to stutter. He looked at the road then back at me, ready for the great and wonderful explanation.
"For cheerleading." I blurted.
"Cheerleading?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I have practice after school and, yeah. That's my reason." I lied, letting go of the air I was holding in.
"Hm... you don't seem like the cheerleading type."
"Dad. I did gymnastics for 6 years." I deadpanned.
"Well... I'm proud of you. That you, are... involved in school."
I have a feeling this will backfire in the future, but for now, it's going to have to do.
----------------
"Over here!" I shouted. Dad had told me to stay in the car, but I just couldn't. I had to find Stiles, and I could probably find him a lot better with my smelling ability.
I found Stiles laying there, convulsing and in shock. His eyes were pretty much in the back of his head, so I sprinted over to him to try to maybe shake him awake. The moment I touched him, I felt a jolt of electricity and then I found myself instantly closing my eyes.
I was in a basement. The same basement that I was in in my dreams. Except this time, I was standing directly behind Stiles, who was sitting on the floor, shaking in fear.
"What gets bigger the more you take away?" A raspy voice echoed. A riddle? Where am I? Can Stiles see me?
"A hole." Stiles warily answered.
"What gets wetter the more it dries?"
Stiles paused, looking at the ground in fear.
"A towel." He whispered, looking up as the source of the voice finally showed itself. It didn't even look human. Sure, it had a human body, but the thing was wrapped in some kind of white. Almost like a mummy. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans.
It looked at me and chuckled, then looked back at Stiles. I gulped in fear, staring at the thing.
"When is a door not a door?" He continued quizzing.
"When it's a jar." Stiles quickly answers, almost in tears.
"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." The thing approached Stiles, getting closer and closer to him.
Stiles stayed silent, the only thing heard was his heavy breathing while he looked at the floor.
"What is it stiles?!" The thing continued to order in anger.
"I don't- I don't know!" He choked out.
"Everyone has it, but no one can loose it." He repeated inches from Stile's face. Stiles started whimpering and skating uncontrollably. I didn't know how much more I could take.
The creature started hissing at Stiles in Japenese, tormenting him. I was not shaking from fear now, but shaking in anger. I growled, earning a grin from the thing. Except, instead of teeth, they were metal sharp edges sticking out of his mouth.
Stiles groaned,"I don't know!"
The creature eyes me while moving to where Stiles feet were. I never noticed before, but his left foot was bleeding from the animal trap that snapped on his leg.
"Leave him alone!" I shouted, making my sharp claws known.
Stiles must've heard me because he looked straight in my eyes with the most confused look I have ever seen.
"Sam!" He screamed in agony as the thing grabs the trap and starts dragging him the other direction.
"Stiles!" I screamed back, tears threatening to spill. I should be running now... Right? But no. I was laralyzed, standing there useless and can't move.
"No! No! No! No!" He continued screaming, getting dragged into the shadows of the basement.
"No wait!" I yelled. The moment I yelled that, I found that the cement of the basemen has shifted into dirt. I was sitting on the ground of the woods, panting as Melissa and Agent hauled him out of a den.
"Wait!" Stiles screamed bloody murder.
"Stiles! She yelled back, struggling to hold him down.
"Wait!" He repeated much louder, tears running down his face.
"Stiles!"
That seemed to have worked because he quickly realized that it was Melissa and Agent, not that thing that was dragging him through the basement. He looked around and once he had spotted me, he blinked his eyes and continued to pant in fear as Melissa cradled him.
"Stiles, Stiles you're alright," she continued to sooth.
"Okay, Stiles youre alright, you're okay."
I gulped, letting my tear fall down my cheek. My dad finally found all of us and rushed over to me, picking me up.
This was more than a nightmare.
This felt real.
-------------
Author's Note:
One word: INTENSE.
I would also apologize for the lack of Stam. They're going through a lot right now, okay?
But don't worry, once I get this book done I will be moving on to the second book, She Wolf- Instinct! I am seriously so excited EEP. There will be LOADS of Stam.
If you haven't yet, please go check it out. I haven't posted the first chapter yet, but all the important jumbo is in there.
Comment and vote!
~Ricki