SIERRA WOKE UP WITH A PAIN IN HER NECK.
A groan escaped her as she forced her eyes open, the bright lights making her squint. Her back felt stiff and her legs were numb from falling asleep on tile floor, and when she looked up she recognized Stiles's bathroom.
The boy was still passed out beside her, his head resting on her thigh. His face looked flush and there were tear-stains on his cheeks. His hand was holding hers tightly, his eyebrows furrowed together.
After Scott's phone call, Stiles had another panic attack. Sierra, luckily, was able to calm him down once more and cleaned the bite on his shoulder so it wouldn't get infected. However, Stiles remained pretty shaken and Sierra had just offered to talk about random things to keep him from trembling, leading him to eventually fall asleep on the bathroom floor.
"Stupid florescent lights," Sierra grumbled, dragging her hand down her face tiredly to get herself to wake up more. Her eyes landed on Stiles, her expression immediately softening. "Hey, honey," she ran her fingers through his thick, brown hair and shook his shoulder. "Time to wake up, bub."
Stiles reluctantly opened his eyes, a yawn falling from his lips. But as soon as memories of the night before came flooding back, he freaked out. He sat up abruptly from not recognizing his surroundings, and his breaths became shallow.
"Hey, you're okay, Stiles," she assured him, gently squeezing his hand. "We're just in your bathroom."
Stiles sighed with relief, his body relaxing at her touch. "What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Unfortunately, time to get ready for school," she informed him and watched his face crumble. Sierra added, "You don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I just...I can't face them--not today," he whispered, keeping his head in his hands. "I can't face Scott."
"Scott is not going anywhere," Sierra promised. "Stiles, you didn't do anything wrong."
"I killed Donovan," he muttered, casting his eyes to the ground. "I crossed the line we all swore we never would cross."
Sierra took two fingers and lifted his chin towards her. "You didn't cross anything," she stated sternly. "Okay? You acted in self-defense and everyone, including Scott, will understand. Stiles, he would've killed you...and if he had..."
Sierra paused to press a kiss right between his eyes and kept her forehead against his.
"I don't know what I would do," she concluded. "I know you're scared, honestly I'd be more concerned if you weren't, but you have to have faith that everything will be alright in the end. Your head is telling you that you're actions were justified, which they were...but your heart thinks it was murder. You just need your head to catch up with your heart."
"How do I do that?" he asked her, his voice cracking.
"It starts with telling Scott," Sierra suggested quietly. "He's our best friend, Stiles. He deserves to know the truth."
"I know," Stiles let out a breath. "I will tell him, I promise, but just--not right now. Please."
Sierra agreed and offered him a small smile. "How about you just stay home and rest today, yeah? I'll bring you some hot tea before I go to school."
Stiles nodded, accepting her hand that she held out. The two stood up together, keeping their fingers intertwined. "What're you going to tell everyone else?"
"Just that you're sick," Sierra shrugged her shoulders. She faced him when they reached the foot of his bed and frowned from seeing his pale skin. "Which, I think you may be actually," she said, feeling his forehead. "You're a little warm."
"I think I'm just tired," he reasoned before lightly kissing her cheek. "Now go, I don't want you to be late because of me."
"Are you sure?" Sierra asked in concern. "I can skip if you want me to."
Stiles honestly loved the sound of the idea. The last thing he wanted right now was to be alone with his thoughts. Sierra always kept him at peace and he craved her comforting hugs. However, if she missed school then Scott would stop by and check in on them. And Stiles couldn't face him today. Not yet.
"No, you need to go to class," he replied.
Sierra looked hesitant, but slowly nodded her head. "Okay, but you better message me if you need anything," she pointed at him, heading towards his bedroom door. "Whether it's medicine or one of my funny gifs."
Stiles forced a small smile. "I'll be fine, string bean."
"I'll be back in twenty with your tea," she promised, about to leave the room. But she paused and turned back to him. "Stiles?"
"Yea?"
"Never forget that I love you, okay?"
Stiles looked surprised at her words, and knew she was being serious from how she looked at him. Stiles swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears from gathering in his eyes.
He had thought she wouldn't love him after what he did, but there she was...standing there and confessing her feelings hadn't changed.
"I, uh," Stiles cleared his throat from how his voice cracked and spoke the truth. "I love you too, Sierra."
Sierra gave him one last comforting smile and turned on her heel, disappearing from the doorway.
Stiles stood still for a moment before he briskly wiped a stray tear from his cheek. His gaze got caught onto a picture on his nightstand and out of habit, his fingers grasped onto the ring around his neck. The frame held a moment from the past summer, when they were on the Ferris Wheel and grinning cheesily at the lens.
A sigh escaped his mouth then, leading him to whisper, "What would I ever do without you?"
*^*^*^*^*
"The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCannon."
Lydia pushed through the high school's double doors, Malia quickly following her down the hallway. The banshee held up the book Malia had given her, raising an eyebrow at the green cover. Three men, clothed in leather coats and masks, just as Malia witnessed in the basement of the sheriff's department.
Malia had discovered the novel in Tracy's bedroom after she left Stiles and Sierra at the library. she might've told the pair her dad needed her, but in all honesty, she wanted proof as to who she saw. She needed to prove to them and the others that she didn't kill Tracy.
Lydia hesitated as she stared at the book, leading Malia to ask, "What?"
"i don't know," Lydia replied, confused. She started to walk again. "There's something about it...has anyone actually read it yet?"
"Just me," Malia huffed in frustration. "And I didn't understand any of it."
"We should probably all read it," Lydia deducted.
"Sierra is with Scott and Kira working on that right now."
The two reached Malia's locker, and the werecoyote opened it while Lydia leaned against the other metal doors. "Sierra told me that even though Stiles is home sick, he was trying to find more about the author," Malia told her, "but it was a dead end. We think it might be a pen name instead."
Lydia pursed her lips and flipped the book to read the description on the back. "In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive." She looked in disbelief at Malia, who nodded for her to go on. "Days later, they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors."
Lydia sighed. "Sounds vaguely familiar...how does it end?"
Malia closed her locker and rested a hand on her hip as she looked at her friend. "It doesn't." She motioned to the book. "This is supposed to be volume one."
"Oh, let me guess, there is no volume two?" Lydia suggested.
"I think we're living volume two."
"Well, then maybe the real question is, is this a novel or someone's prediction?"
*^*^*^*^*
"Something tells me the librarian is not going to be happy with you," Sierra stated, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm pretty sure our print limit is twenty pages. You just printed seven copies of a novel."
"I'm sure she has more paper in the office," Kira stated optimistically, clipping the last copy together.
Scott joined the conversation, approaching Sierra's left side. "All done?"
The girls held up the stacks of paper in their hands. "All done," Kira confirmed, handing him his own copy of the book.
Just as Sierra predicted, the librarian came over with a disappointed look on her face and a sign that read, "Out of Ink."
"Told you," Sierra whispered to Kira, who apologized to the librarian profusely and quickly pulled Sierra away from the scene. As Sierra started to walk through the library with her two friends, she couldn't help but glance around at the lower level.
Based on what Stiles told her, there should've been a collapsed shelf and books everywhere. Not to mention the blood. Yet everything looked pristine as ever.
She eyed the platform, recalling how Stiles said this is where he tried to escape by using the pin.
As the trio walked by, she simply grazed it with her fingers. But that was all it took.
Her body froze as Sierra felt herself get thrown back in time. One minute Scott and Kira stood beside her, yet now the library was dark and filled with an energy Sierra could only describe as vengeful. The dispersed clumps of students had vanished and the air was thick.
"Don't worry, Stiles..."
A voice hissed from behind Sierra, and she whirled around. Her eyes widened from seeing Stiles climbing the platform she swore she had been standing beside, her boyfriend crying out as Donovan tried to yank him down. "I'm not going to kill you."
"No," Sierra whispered, and moved to run towards him with her arm outstretched. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach him.
Donovan growled, his eyes burning with a yellow fury. "I'm just gonna eat your legs."
"Sierra?"
Stiles screamed, sending chills down Sierra's spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the next events or feel Stiles's fear anymore.
"Sierra!"
Her eyes popped open. They darted around, Sierra's heart beating rapidly.
Scott and Kira were standing in front of her, looking worriedly. From seeing their faces, Sierra held her chest and took deep breaths so she would calm down.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked her, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Yeah," Sierra replied, unsure, glancing around the library. "What happened?"
"You spaced out," Kira explained, exchanging glances with Scott. "Did you not hear what we were saying?"
"No, I didn't hear anything," Sierra confessed and fiddled with her earlobe. "I guess I'm just tired. I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"Sierra, if you're not feeling well, you might've caught something from Stiles," Kira stated, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.
Scott agreed, "Yeah, maybe you should go home. You know, and get some rest."
Sierra shook her head, "Guys, I promise I'm fine. Now catch me up, please."
Scott didn't look convinced but knew she wouldn't give up. He sighed. "I was saying that I didn't think the Dread Doctors were taking the bodies."
"Please, tell me we're not calling them that," Sierra groaned.
"That's what I said," Kira agreed and Scott simply rolled his eyes.
"It doesn't matter what we call them," he put an end to the sidebar. "Think about it. They killed Tracy and walked away. They killed Lucas and walked away. Why would they leave and come back to take the body?"
"Okay, you do have a point," Sierra sighed in agreement. "Someone else has to be taking them then...right?"
"That still doesn't make any sense. Why would someone want to take dead bodies?" Kira questioned.
Scott replied, "They're not just bodies. Remember what one of the Dread Doctors said last night? He called Lucas a failure. Everyone who has died was a failure to them."
"So if the chimeras are all failures," Kira started, "then what's the success gonna be?"
"Bad," Scott answered, opening the door to the library so they could walk through.
Sierra corrected him, "You mean really bad."
They all exchanged exhausted looks before Kira left the library. to get to her next class Sierra and Scott went to follow, but the werewolf suddenly paused. He turned his head as a certain scent entered his nose, one unfortunately he become accustomed to.
"What's wrong?" Sierra inquired, seeing his eyes narrow.
"I thought I smelt blood," he answered her, his body stiffening. He slowly looked around the library, not noticing the slight tensing of Sierra's shoulders. He glanced back at her. "Does anyone seem off to you?"
"Scott, we're in high school," Sierra chuckled. "Everyone is off."
"I guess you're right," he shook his head and changed the subject as they finally exited through the doors. Scott went to head down another hallway but Sierra stopped him.
"Uh, where are you going?" she inquired. "AP Bio is this way."
"I'll meet you in there," Scott answered, continuing to back away. "I was gonna try and find Theo."
"Scott, stop."
The senior paused, looking at Sierra in confusion. "What?"
Sierra sighed, taking a few steps forward so she didn't have to yell across the hall. "You wanna tell me why you're going to talk with Theo or just leave me hanging?"
"I was just gonna see if he knew anything about the Dread Doctors," Scott responded, puzzled as he held up a copy of the novel.
"So you're trusting him with this," Sierra read between the lines. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Scott lowered his arm and tilted his head. "You know, you're starting to sound like Stiles," he lightly teased her but Sierra didn't even crack a smile. She simply folded her arms over her chest and looked at the ground. Scott's grin faded. "He hasn't given us a reason not to trust him, Sierra," he reminded her seriously. "I mean, he practically saved Lydia's life the other night--"
"I know he did," Sierra interrupted with a heavy breath, closing her eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened them, she stared at her best friend in concern. "I just want to make sure we're being careful. How many people have we trusted that ended up stabbing us in the back?"
"Sisi, we've known Theo since we were in elementary school," Scott stated.
"No, we knew him in elementary school," Sierra corrected him. "There's a huge time gap, Scott, that we don't know anything about. People change."
"Well, you're welcome to talk to him with me if it makes you feel better," Scott suggested.
Sierra shook her head. "No, you need to go to class. I can talk to him on my own."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Sierra replied, though to be completely honest the idea made her uneasy. She took the copy of the book from Scott. "I'll meet you after. It should only take me ten minutes tops."
"I guess," Scott didn't look comfortable either, but he couldn't pinpoint why. "I'll see you in AP Bio."
*^*^*^*^*
Sierra walked down the hallway, her bag hoisted over her shoulder and a copy of the novel in her hands. Her eyes scanned every student she passed, trying to find the mysterious Theo Raeken somewhere in their midst.
Once she spotted the familiar, fluffed-up brown hair, Sierra picked up her pace. "Theo!" she called out to him, hoping to catch his attention.
The boy turned from hearing his name, his face automatically brightening into a grin from seeing her. "Hey, Sierra," he greeted cheerfully, stopping so she could join him. "What's up?"
"I need to talk to you for a second," she said bluntly.
"Okay," he nodded. "Go right ahead."
"Um, not here though," she added, shifting her weight between her feet.
Theo raised an eyebrow, tilting his head in confusion. "Okay," he dragged it out, looking around the hallway. His eyes landed on a familiar sign. "How about the locker room?"
"Sure, I guess." Sierra wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was better then talking about supernatural drama where anyone could listen in.
The two checked the locker room for any lacrosse players and once they found it empty, Sierra got straight to the point. Theo stood beside a row of lockers, Sierra taking a position in front of him. "Here." She held the papers in her hand out to him.
"What's this?" Theo asked, accepting the stack from her. He started to flip through the pages as Sierra crossed her arms defensively.
"Malia discovered this book in Tracy's room," she explained. "It matches the description of the people who killed Tracy and who we saw at Sinema last night after they killed Lucas. Scott wanted to know if you have ever heard of the Dread Doctors or have seen this book before."
"I can't say I have," Theo informed her. "Though to be honest, I didn't even know what a kanima was until a few days ago. Do I need to read this?"
"Eventually, yes," Sierra sighed at his answer. "Malia has read the entire thing, but Scott's only on chapter one."
"You keep talking about everyone except yourself," Theo noticed, raising his gaze from the book. "Why is that?"
"Trust is very important to me," Sierra replied vaguely, shrugging her shoulders. "And I'm protective of my friends."
"I know you are," Theo nodded, a smile growing from the corner of his mouth. "It's one of the reasons I liked you so much in elementary school."
Sierra's lips parted in surprise, while Theo's eyes widened from his mistake.
"Er, I mean, uh," Theo stuttered helplessly before giving up. "That, um, is not how I wanted you to find out though. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you, it's just--I thought you knew already."
"How would I have known that?" Sierra asked him curiously, but kept her guard up by keeping her arms crossed.
"I thought in third grade it was painfully obvious," Theo cast his gaze to the floor and shuffled his feet, a slight blush arising in his cheeks. "You were always so nice to me, even when I didn't deserve it. And coming back, hearing you were a mind reader and seeing you as even more beautiful than before, I thought you knew about my crush."
"I can read minds, but that doesn't mean I always do," Sierra explained, ignoring the last half of his response.
"So does that mean you trust me?" he asked, daring to take a step closer to her.
But she took a step back. "Scott trusts you," she corrected him clearly, "I don't. He and I both appreciate what you did to save Lydia, but to earn my trust, that's only the first step. If you manage to earn it, you need to listen carefully: don't break it. Once you do, you don't get it back. Understood?"
Theo raised his arms up in defense and nodded his head. "Understood."
"Good." Sierra got their conversation back on track, "So do you know anything else about the book or not?"
"I'm not sure," Theo replied, looking down at the pages once more. "You guys do this a lot though, huh?"
"Do what?"
"Get involved," Theo clarified.
Sierra pursed her lips as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "I guess we do, yeah."
"Well, have you tried the author?" Theo asked. "If we need more information on these Dread Doctors, shouldn't we be talking to him?"
"Tried that," Sierra answered. "It's pretty much a dead end."
Theo nodded, yet furrowed his eyebrows when he arrived at the last page. "What about this guy?"
Sierra followed his gaze and read the description aloud. "For providing scientific perspective and valuable insight, this book is dedicated to...Dr. Gabriel Vallack."
"Do you know him?"
"Yeah, I do," Sierra confirmed. "And I know where we can find him." Backing away from him, she rushed out, "Thanks for your help, but I gotta go. See you later!"
Theo watched her leave with an amused look on his face and he simply shook his head before he gathered his things and headed to class.
*^*^*^*^*
"Sierra, if you think I'm letting you go to Eichen without me, then you're insane. I'm going with you."
The girl stood right inside Stiles's bedroom door, watching exasperatedly as Stiles rushed to get dressed.
Lydia mimicked her stance, recalling what she had been told this morning as Stiles grabbed a hoodie from his closet. "I thought you were sick."
"Um," Stiles exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Sierra before he answered Lydia. "Slightly under the weather."
"Stiles, she's right though," Sierra attempted to reason. "You don't have to come. Malia isn't going either."
"Malia's not going because she knows that that place is a nightmare asylum of insanity and death," Stiles sassed back, shrugging on a red and grey sweatshirt jacket over his T-shirt. "Okay? Let's go." However, he paused from the ache in his shoulder and for a mere second, he flinched.
"What was that?" Lydia caught him and Sierra looked concerned as well, though she already knew how much the bite from Donovan stung him.
Stiles feigned innocence as he zipped up his jacket. "What was what?"
"You winced."
"I have a bad elbow," he waved her worry off, but forgot Lydia was just as stubborn as he normally acted.
"It was your shoulder," she retorted.
Stiles replied wittily, "Pain radiates. It does that." He went to move forward but the two girls blocked his bedroom door, Lydia crossing her arms.
"Stiles, we'll be okay," Sierra told him seriously, reaching out to gently hold onto his hand. "If anything happens, I'll text you."
"No. You are not going without me." Stiles disagreed, "You remember what happened to Deaton when he talked with Valack?"
Sierra informed him calmly, "Scott and Kira are going to be there and I think I have proved I can take care of myself."
Stiles remarked without missing a beat, "You've also almost died a few more times than I'd like."
Stiles then motioned to the banshee standing beside her. "And why are you so interested in going? The last time we were at Eichen, one of the orderlies almost killed you."
"He almost killed you too," Lydia argued.
"Yeah, and we're both still alive," Stiles shot back, causing Sierra to groan. "See? Teamwork."
He brushed past the girls, leaving his bedroom and ending the conversation.
"What am I going to do with him?" Sierra sighed.
Lydia awkwardly pat her shoulder for comfort. The two girls left his room together, Lydia jokingly suggesting, "Throw him in a police cell and handcuff him so he can't follow us."
"Can't. His dad tried but now Stiles knows how to pick locks."
"Well then, I got nothing."
"Thanks for trying, I guess."
*^*^*^*^*
Sierra didn't know it was possible for Eichen House to look even more haunting since she last visited, but adding in a moon against a dark sky and a chill breeze gave her the answer. The post lamps were dimly lit, the tall iron gate keeping them from heading inside the mental hospital.
Kira and Lydia stood near it, attempting to talk through the speaker in order to get buzzed in. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Scott watched a few feet behind them, Stiles remaining next to Sierra as she leaned back against the jeep. She shivered as another gust of wind sprung goosebumps on her arms and she buried herself further into her leather jacket.
"Hey," Stiles caught her attention quietly. "Do you want my jacket? You look like you're freezing."
"I'll be okay," she assured him with a small smile. "We'll be inside soon."
Stiles nodded and cast his gaze back to the concrete. Sierra nudged him with her elbow and he looked over in confusion while she stepped closer to him. She looped her arm through his and gently grasped his fingers that wouldn't stop shaking. Resting her head on his shoulder, she spoke softly, "I know I told you to stay home, and I know this is the last place you want to be after everything that's happened...but thank you for coming with me."
Stiles turned his head so his lips grazed her forehead and he squeezed her hand, appreciating the comfort. "Anything for you," he mumbled, kissing her hair briefly.
Scott turned to face them, his eyebrows drawn together and concern etched into his expression. He glanced between his best friends, but more or so focused on Stiles. "Are you going to be okay in there?"
Stiles raised his head off of Sierra's and looked at Scott, confused. "Yeah, why?"
"You seem a little off," Scott replied truthfully.
To be fair, both Stiles and Sierra were acting strange. At school, Sierra continually throughout the day continued to get lost in her thoughts--especially after she talked with Theo. Her eyes were full of worry and she kept pulling on her earlobe, which Scott knew he only did when she was nervous or stressed out.
Then there was Stiles, who didn't even go to school. Sierra claimed he was just sick but Scott felt it went deeper than that. He seemed more jumpy, more cautious in his words and never held eye-contact for long with anyone other than Sierra.
"I think we're all a little off," Stiles commented, brushing the concern away.
"Yeah," Scott started, eyeing the two with worry before he turned to glance at Kira, who was still attempting to get the gate open with Lydia. "Maybe some of us more than others."
Sierra raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat to bring his attention back over to them. "Care to explain, Scotty?"
"Yeah, what happened last night?" Stiles asked Scott. "Sierra didn't get a chance to tell me about anything."
"Well, when the other chimera--Lucas-- when he came after us, I heard Kira say something in Japanese," Scott explained, Sierra nodding in agreement.
"That doesn't sound too bad," Stiles wittily said.
Scott replied in a rushed whisper, "But she doesn't know any Japanese."
"Still not terrible," Stiles told him.
"Well, I think Sierra stopped her from killing Lucas," Scott stated seriously.
"He's right," Sierra sighed. "Her eyes started glowing and you could see the fox spirit completely surround her."
Stiles let out a low whistle, casting a quick glance to the kitsune before focusing on Scott. "Wasn't Lucas trying to kill you though?" Unconsciously, Stiles's arm reached up and he covered his wounded shoulder with his hand.
"I mean, it sounds like self-defense."
Sierra automatically knew her boyfriend's mindset. He wanted to hear Scott's opinion before he told him about Donovan.
She went to interrupt but Scott replied too quickly. "It was more than that," Scott said, remaining oblivious and shaking his head. "I mean, she nearly took off his head."
"Maybe she had no choice," Stiles responded sharply, Sierra holding her breath as she glanced between them. "There's gotta be a point when self-defense is justified. Tracy killed her own father, and Lucas would have killed you."
"They're not the bad guys," Scott disagreed, speaking what he truly believed. "They're the victims. We shouldn't be killing the people we're trying to save."
Scott turned his head as the front gate to Eichen suddenly opened, ending the conversation. Stiles didn't move at first, Sierra worriedly stepping towards him. "Stiles," she started quietly, but he cut her off.
"Not right now," he shook his head and muttered under his breath as he followed the others inside. "Let's just get this over with."
Sierra watched him leave sadly, his head hung low and his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. Her stomach twisted uneasily as she raised her head to look at the front gate, where her friends were already walking through it.
She knew in her heart that the conversation between Scott and Stiles wasn't finished, and she couldn't help but fear the next time it would end in a much more terrible way.