"Do you see them?" A voice rings in my head, so abrupt and loud I gasp awake. As soon as I jolt upright into a seated position on my bed, I have just enough time to take in the darkness of my room before everything starts to rattle and shake like an earthquake.
The thing that follows next though isn't an earthquake, instead a golden light floods into my room from the windows as a horn from a train blares loudly from outside my shaking walls.
My hands slam onto either side of my head, covering my ears from the volume of the horn as I squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth.
The violent shaking of the room around me calms and the bright golden light fades, just as Scott comes barreling into my room– alarm written all over his face as he rushes inside and sets his hands on my forearms.
He pulls my hands away from my head, moving his concerned eyes around my face before looking around the room "What happened? What's wrong?"
I swallow hard, trying to slow my breathing as I take deep, calming breaths and shake my head quickly "I don't– did you hear that?"
Scott let's go of my arms and kneels on the floor next to the bed "Addy– I heard you screaming"
I furrow my brows, looking from his face and over towards the windows as I shake my head again and stammer through the previous occurrence "No, no, no– I wasn't screaming, I– there was a train– it sounded like a train was passing straight through my fucking room."
Scott softens his face, offering a little shrug "You must have been having a nightmare, because you definitely were screaming like you've done before when you were asleep, Adds."
I make a noise, jerking my head back slightly "No, I wasn't– it wasn't a– wait–" I trail off, my frown deepening as I flick my eyes over to Scotty "Why did you call me that?"
Scott returns with his own confused frown "What? That's what I've always called you..."
Eyebrows still bunched together, I blink a few times trying to figure out why that doesn't sit well with me.
However I come up with absolutely no plausible reason why that sounded odd just then– so instead I sigh and try to figure out why I heard a train a few moments ago "It couldn't have been a nightmare Scotty, I wasn't asleep– I mean I was asleep until I heard a voice and then I definitely woke up before I heard and felt the whole room shake from a train passing by–"
Scott goes to say something and I lift my hand to point towards him as I quickly continue "And I'm talking living as close to the tracks where they're in our backyard close to passing by."
Raising his hands up in surrender, Scott quirks a brow "Well we definitely don't live that close to the train tracks and we didn't have an earthquake, so– maybe you were still sleeping even though you thought you woke up."
"Like an inception nightmare..." I grumble and watch as Scott furrows his brows in complete confusion.
I scoff lightly, shaking my head as I mutter "Never mind, you didn't see that movie with me when it released a few summers ago."
"What movie would you have gone to see by yourself, you hate going to the theater alone" Scott quips, a smirk falling on his face as he stands up.
I go to answer him, again coming up short with knowing he's right but also knowing that something is wrong with what he said
Scrunching my nose up, I shrug "Or I watched it at home– point is you still haven't seen it"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah– add it to the list under you wanting me to watch Star Wars" he grumbles and starts to turn towards the door.
Confusion crosses my features as I jerk my head back slightly with that statement and counter quickly "I've never given you shit for not watching the greatest movies of all time–"
Scott hisses in pain, setting his hand on the wall as he lifts his foot up off the ground– pulling a thumb tack out of his foot and turning around to face me.
Scott moves his glare filled eyes between me and said pain inducing tack as he gritty out "Why are you leaving torture devices all over your floor?!– Fuck, just be glad I stepped on this and not you"
I roll my eyes dramatically to go with his over dramatics, pulling the covers off my legs to walk up and grab the thumb tack out of his outstretched fingers "Oh you'll heal– plus one tack doesn't mean they're all over my floor, something must have fallen off my bulletin board"
Turning in a circle around the floor, I stop my steps seeing a turned over picture at the same time Scott does as he leans down to pick it up.
He smiles as he takes in the candid photo I had Sydney print me the other day after she took it.
I have my left arm around Scott's neck, pulling him towards the side of my face with my other arm resting on the table.
There's a weird gap between me and Lydia that I don't remember being there, as she leans in a little towards me with Malia sitting on the table leaning close to Lydia's other side.
I move my eyes around the gap why I wouldn't have my arm around her instead of resting on the table
Scott grabs the thumb tack from my hand, placing the photo back onto the board. He sets his hand on my shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze as he offers "Try to get some sleep, all right?"
I offer a small smile, nodding my head once "Yeah– sorry I woke you."
Scott shakes his head like it was not a big deal and makes his way over to the door, turning off the light before he closes my door after he steps into the hallway.
The moonlight shining through my blinds lights up the photo again, and I cross my arms over my front as I stare at that gap a little longer was someone else sitting there?
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I was almost late for school, not for any other reason than I didn't have a way to get to school.
Both mom and Scott asked and I gave them both the same answer "Yeah, I'm covered– I have a ride"
I did not have a ride.
Why did I think I would have a ride?
Not just thought I did, but was so convinced it was already figured out– like it's always been figured out and it was second nature to not even worry about it.
Lydia was gracious as ever to pick me up on her way past my house, chuckling at my forgetfulness– however my gut is telling me there's more to whatever this feeling is I just need to figure out what the fuck it all means
We get to school and walk through the main doors, smiling at everyone who passes by. We reach my locker and Lyds mutters she'll see me in class before she saunters off to her locker.
After grabbing my books and notebooks needed for the first few classes before break, I shut my locker door and turn to lean my shoulder on it.
My eyes move around the space beside me, a deep frown overcoming my features as I look at the locker next to me.
Every nerve in my body was prepared to see someone standing here, not just standing here to get their things– but to meet me.
It's a feeling like I've done this routine for years, yet when I actually think about who I was expecting to see I come up completely blank
Scott's locker is on the other side of mine, Lyds' and Malia's are down the other hall– hell even Ally's old locker wasn't over here.
The bell rings and I sigh, confusion wracking my entire body as I lean my back against my locker and watch the halls around me clear of students who the fuck was I meeting here?
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I quicken my steps and just cross the threshold of the math classroom as the second bell rings. I touch Lydia's shoulder as I walk past her, taking the seat behind her.
Malia is sitting next to Lydia and I notice that the seat behind her and next to me is empty, leaving the pit in my stomach to grow deeper.
I shake my head, trying to clear my mind of the confusion that's been in place since last night with the train and the photo as I take my book and notebook out of my bag and place them on my desk.
Ms. Flemming stands up from behind her desk and begins class by handing back our tests "I'm impressed with most of you. It really speaks to your study habits and your commitment to your own education. Everyone else? See me for extra help."
She throws Malia a knowing look before placing Malia's test on her desk and turning to hand Lydia and I ours on her way back up the aisle.
Malia lets out a helpless whimper, looking my way as I chuckle and nod "Get the extra credit from her and I'll study with you"
Malia bounces in her seat, a bright smile on her face as she goes back to highlighting in her book.
My eyes flick to the desk behind her, the smile dying on my face as I notice an older woman wearing scrubs and a white lab coat sitting in the seat beside me that was empty moments ago.
I look around, seeing no one else paying attention to this lady who is obviously not a student. I lean a little closer towards the woman and whisper lowly "Excuse me– are you looking for someone?"
Doctor lady turns to me, wide eyes directed at me however she says nothing.
I tilt my head to the side as I try again "Why are you in this class?"
The woman's eyes widen further and her mouth gapes open in shock as a bright golden light shines over her face.
I can feel my breathing increases as I recognize the light from last night and just like last night, the classroom starts to rattle around us.
The definite noise of a train passes right next to the school, causing a high pitched squeal that is so loud, I'm once again forced to cover my ears with my hands as I flinch in pain.
After a moment, the train passes, and I frantically look around– gasping and jerking back in my seat to find that the doctor is gone and that no one else in the class seems to have witnessed what just occurred.
Lydia turns around, her brows pinched together in worry as she looks my terrified face over "You okay?"
I swallow hard, trying to slow my quick, panting breaths as I look between her and the now empty chair "You didn't see anyone sitting over there or hear anything very, very loud a second ago?"
"Just you gasping awake like you were asleep or something–" She whispers back, setting her hand on my arm resting across the desk.
She offers a reassuring smile and soft squeeze of my arm before she turns back around and we get back to our silent work with the rest of the students.
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After class, I quickly walk out the door and into the hall. I see the back of the white coat doctor and quicken my steps to catch up with her.
I ignore the questioning looks of people I rush by and don't even think twice to push open the doors at the end of the entrance hall.
As soon as the doors open and I run outside, night time covers the space around me. I look down and I'm no longer wearing my burgundy chunky sweater, instead I'm wearing my long sleeved grey henley and skinny jeans I was wearing on school picture day and in the candid photo that fell in my room last night
There's a strong gust of wind, blowing leaves around my converse covered feet. I reach up to tuck my hair behind my ear and out of my face as I focus on the obvious premonition I've been immersed into.
I move my eyes around the darkness around me as I hear a voice shout as though the person is right next to me
"You know me? Oh thank fuck you know me"
I turn towards the voice, however I don't see anyone– just the wind as it hits me harder and tousles my hair again
"Hey do you see him?"
My hands lift as though someone is holding them, keeping them in place as I squint my eyes and look around to see whatever the voice is asking me to look at
"All right, come on– come on!"
I feel a tug on my arm, almost like an invisible force is gripping onto my hand as I'm pulled forward into a run away from the school.
My legs move with the force, stopping and turning my body with what seems like a mix of muscle memory and instinct as I again hear the voice
"This way– this way come on!"
I'm brought to an abrupt halt from the invisible premonition leading force and I softly gasp as I hear
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay this way– come on babe, keep going!"
I'm tugged in a completely different direction before my feet are stopped again and I'm moving in an almost circle, flitting my eyes around me as I can feel myself start to panic.
With that deja vu experience, I get the overwhelming and anxious feeling to call out "Where are they?"
My deja vu instinct was correct as the voice I've been hearing lowly digress
"They're everywhere"
My whole body is flooded with terrified, panicked agony as I frantically look around the abandoned darkness around me. I whip my head to the side, trying to move my hair out of the way as I feel my heart breaking with the next words slamming around me
"You're gonna forget me"
I shake my head and again answer back knowing this was what was said "I won't! No, I won't– I won't because I still remember you now when everyone–"
"Addy, look out!"
The premonition's dark night scene falls away as daylight slams into my vision at the same time as the parking lot and a car swerving away from me does.
Malia tightens her hold around my waist and lifts me out of the street, setting me back onto the safety of the sidewalk
The car I apparently walked out in front of honks at us as they pass by, Malia glaring at them before she turns back towards me "Are you okay?"
I move my eyes between hers and Lydia's, moving my head towards the street again as I sigh and shake my head softly "Yeah I'm okay– thanks to you"
Malia doesn't loose the confused, brows drawn in look as she attempts to smile and Lydia sets her hands on my shoulders to gain my attention "All right, what the hell was that and who were you talking to?"
I make a noise, opening my mouth to answer– however ultimately closing it and shaking my head because I have absolutely no idea who I was hearing
Malia shrugs and leans closer "What were you doing?"
I lift my eyes up, moving them between my confused friend's faces as I mutter softly "Trying to remember."
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Walking back into school, I open my locker and reach inside to grab my next class' book.
I stop my movements, my eyes flicking up to the top of my locker before my gaze moves just past the edge of the door to my locker.
I tap my fingers on the door, scrunching my mouth to the side as I chew on my lip while my eyes focus on the locker from this morning.
I hear the second bell ring and since I'm already late for class, I huff and close my locker.
I cross my arms over my chest as I walk a few steps over and come to stand in front of the locker.
I tilt my head to the side, examining the blue lock and wondering why I'm so drawn to this locker locker 1075
Uncrossing one of my arms, I reach out and rest my hand on the locker– closing my eyes and keeping my breathing in a steady even rhythm as I try to feel any connection to the locker.
My fingertips dig into the metal door as I work through the onslaught of emotions that overcome me– joy, laughter, immense sadness, worry... heartbreak.
The last one is so strong, I pull my hand away on a gasp. Opening my eyes and jumping forwards when I bump into someone.
I turn around and Scott holds up his hands "Hey– just me, what did you see?"
Shaking my head as I try to work through it all, I stammer "I uh– I didn't see anything, I felt–" I trail off before I swallow hard and continue "I don't know what that was... anyways, what are you doing?"
Scott shrugs and points to the locker "I felt like I was drawn to this locker earlier– couldn't really shake that feeling so I came back to investigate it"
I nod, resting my hands into the back pockets of my shorts "Well then have at it"
Scott turns on the flashlight on his phone and shines the light into the vents in the front of the locker.
I raise a brow as he sighs with not seeing anything and puts his phone into his pocket before he looks around us.
I do the same, wondering why he's looking for witnesses before him grabbing the lock and making noise as he pulls on it grabs my attention.
I flick my head back to look at the locker, watching as he pulls harder on the lock.
Just when I think the lock is going to break, I jump out of my skin when a voice chimes in behind us "Whatcha two doin'?"
We quickly share a look before we look behind us, seeing the new science teacher– Mr. Douglas– looking between us with amusement in his eyes.
Scott rushes out "Uh, nothing..." earning Mr. Douglas to throw him a knowing look and Scott rocks on his feet as he answers a little more truthfully "Just trying to open this locker..."
"Is it yours?" Mr. Douglas questions and I scratch the side of my head answering "It's mine" at the same time Scott answers "Not really"
I grimace softly, moving my eyes from Scott and over to Mr. Douglas who lifts his brows in his question towards me "It's your locker?"
"Yeah, I uh– I forgot my combination, so my brother here was just helping me try to open it."
Mr. Douglas smirks, crossing his arms over his chest as he clarifies "Helping you break the lock instead of helping you remember the combination?"
I scrunch my nose up, earning him to continue "Or go to the office to get the combination?"
I chuckle nervously, lifting my hand towards the locker in a there it is way "Office– not sure why we didn't think of that, Scotty"
Mr. Douglas smiles and shifts on his feet "Look guys– I'm relatively new here, but I'm pretty sure breaking into someone else's locker is against the rules."
Scott shakes his head as he argues "Oh, we're not breaking into someone else's locker..."
Mr. Douglas doesn't lose his smile as he counters "What does it look like to you?"
Scott sighs and shares a look with me as we both answer "It looks like we're breaking into someone else's locker."
He offers us a chuckle, that surprisingly sounds sincere– so we do the same, before I gesture down the hallway "Sooo, we should probably go to class now"
Mr. Douglas nods "Yeah– probably a good idea"
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Scott and I head to Deaton's after school, filling him in on what we know about the newest supernatural problem in Beacon Hills.
Mason and Corey were in the library last night and told Liam and Scott that they had seen the Ghost Riders up on the second floor.
They couldn't see them until Corey grabbed Mason's arm and made the both of them invisible. They couldn't remember much else, only that the Ghost Riders didn't pay them much attention and left soon after they came into the library.
Not taking someone isn't exactly the Ghost Riders forte, which makes me believe they did take someone and that's why Mason and Corey couldn't remember seeing anyone else in there with the Ghost Riders.
Scott grabs my attention from my inner thoughts as he continues to fill in Deaton "I keep having this feeling like there's pieces missing. Holes in my memory. Like this–"
Scott reaches into his jeans pocket and pulls out a shard of glass, which has a bluish-green color tint to it.
Deaton and I look at the piece of glass while Scott fills in "I took that from a windshield at the Sheriff's impound lot, but I can't remember why we were there."
I draw my brows in, looking at the glass and trying to work through the confusion his words brought on why were we there?
Deaton nods and looks completely intrigued as he processes what Scott said "The subconscious can be a conduit for our memories. Dreams and waking dreams can be powerful tools to help us remember."
I make a noise and lean my hands onto the exam table "Could it all be connected? The Ghost Riders, the Wild Hunt, the holes in our memories?"
Deaton frowns and shakes his head "The Wild Hunt are drawn to war and mayhem– I've never heard of it doing anything to anyone's memory."
Standing back up, I'm quick to counter "They take people though, they collect souls– so what if when they take people– if you knew that person, your memories of them are taken as well?"
Deaton pauses to ponder that, taking a moment before he continues "That's not a bad theory– a beyond terrifying theory though. Look, what you guys are talking about with the holes in your memories, it's almost like you have a form of phantom limb syndrome."
Scott frowns, moving his confused eyes over to me and I clear my throat as I elaborate for him "It's common in war– amputees can have the sensation of an itch they can't scratch, or a pain that couldn't possibly be there. The missing limb is so important, the brain acts like the limb is still there."
Scott nods and looks over to Deaton "So, our subconscious is trying to tell us what's missing?"
"Or who" I mumble and Deaton nods "It just may be"
Scott groans in frustration "Well how the hell do we figure out what it's saying?"
Deaton shrugs, moving his eyes between us as he answers "Well, the easiest way to do that would be to simply go to sleep..."
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Lydia, Malia and I pull up to the front entrance to the preserve. Scott walks up to us and hands us flashlights before he explains his reasoning for calling us out here so late at night.
Malia and I were staying at Lydia's while the two of us were helping Malia with her math homework and extra credit. We were just getting ready to call it a night when Scott called me and asked for us to meet him at the preserve.
Scott indicates for us to follow him, and with our flashlights pointed towards the ground we follow behind him as he fills in "Hey guys, so I went to bed at home, and I woke up out in the woods, about a mile out. I think there's a reason why this has happened..."
He continues to walk, looking over his shoulder at me as he sees the realization flash over my face "Yeah– we've been out here before, it was the beginning of sophomore year, the night before tryouts for first line– I remember because while we were walking out here that was all that I could think about."
We stop walking and Malia looks between us curiously "What were you guys doing?"
"Looking for a dead body" I mutter just above a whisper, earning Lydia to throw us an awkward look "That's morbid"
Scott nods "Why the hell would we be doing that?"
I pinch my brows together, complete confusion flooding through my brain as I try to work through the choppy memories of that night.
Lydia makes a noise and frowns "I wish I could help you guys, but I didn't know you then"
Malia shrugs softly as she offers "I was still a coyote, so I might have tried to eat it..."
I snort and Scott looks between the three of us "Deaton said that my subconscious is trying to tell me something... I just– I need you guys to help me figure out what it's saying."
Lydia sighs and offers "Maybe you were just curious teenagers? Addy is usually figuring things out– so you heard there was a body..."
Scott makes a noise and points towards her "But how? We have never watched the nightly news, and we don't have a police scanner"
I make a face, knowing that to be true as I nod "He's right, and I know I wasn't the one to suggest coming out here. Scott would never want to do that and I wouldn't have had a good enough reason to bribe him to come out here with me."
Malia makes a face and points towards us "Your mom works at the hospital. Maybe she got called in and you overheard her?"
I can see Scott shaking his head in the negative at the same time I am as I answer "She wasn't home that night–"
Turning to Scott more I mutter softly "We were home alone, you thought there was someone trying to break in–"
Scott nods, his face mirroring mine knowing we're right there with remembering something before he looks between us again "We live five miles away from here– how did we get here?"
"You drove?" Malia offers and I shake my head "We didn't have a car, we shared with mom unless she was working a night shift."
Malia lifts her hand up to her side with her next suggestion "You ran?"
I snort and makes a face "I hate running and Scott couldn't have kept up even if I did like running because he had asthma."
We continue to walk through the woods and my steps falter as I'm hit with another memory "Mr. S found me, and knew you were hiding somewhere."
Lydia makes a face and points between us "Why would you leave her alone to be caught by the Sheriff?"
"I wouldn't have." Scott murmurs thoughtfully and I gasp as the memory– just like the premonition from earlier– slams through my mind.
"Where's your guys' usual partner in crime?– "Scott! Scott, you out there? Scott?!
I open my eyes and look over to Scott "Why would Mr. S be looking specifically for you just because he saw me out here?"
Lydia shrugs "Maybe because, like most deaths in this town, it was related to the supernatural."
Scott smiles, still shaking his head through his confusion "But we weren't supernatural yet– I mean, this was the night that I was bitten."
We stop our steps through the woods and move to stand in a little circle, determined to figure this out.
"I wasn't a Werewolf yet... Addy wasn't a banshee... and we weren't out here by ourselves" Scott states before he mutters "I know it sounds crazy, but–"
Scott hesitates nervously for a moment, looking over to me as he elaborates "I think I had a best friend– and I think he was out here with us that night."
Those words are the first thing I have felt confident about all day. I smile softly, reassuring him instantly "It doesn't sound crazy Scotty– I have been looking for someone all day. I didn't have a way to school this morning even though I know I haven't worried about that before."
Lydia flicks her eyes over to me, knowing I'm right before I continue "When I finally got to school this morning I was so sure I was supposed to meet someone– but I couldn't remember who it was supposed to be. I have been missing them all day."
I close my eyes, resting my hand over my chest briefly before I open them and digress a little hesitantly, yet knowing this familiar feeling with every nerve in my body "Whoever it is– I know I love him."
"What if we're missing the same person?" Scott offers before he pulls out the photograph from my room and shows it to us, voicing my same thought from last night when I looked at the photo "I think that he was in this picture."
Lydia gasps and leans against my side as she points to the empty space between her and I in the candid yearbook photo "I wouldn't have left this big of a gal between us..."
Tears well in my eyes as I nod, knowing without a shadow of a doubt how true my next words are "He was sitting right there."
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Scott, Malia, Lydia and I arrive at the animal clinic, where we have joined Deaton in the darkened exam room.
We have put the piece of greenish-blue glass from the windshield of a car we can't remember why Scott grabbed on a string that hangs from a beaker stand and have illuminated it with an LED light, which sits in front of Lydia and I on the exam table.
Scott and Malia both look to Deaton for an explanation of what we're about to do, though Malia is clearly skeptical of its ability to help us "Now she just magically writes down all the answers?"
Deaton smiles patiently towards her as he shakes his head "It's not quite that simple."
"It never is." I grumble while adjusting my grip on the pen that I have hovering over a piece of paper on the table in front of me.
Deaton turns back to look at me and elaborates "In automatic writing, the hand moves outside of any conscious awareness. Now, hopefully, the silence, the darkness, and the light will allow you to find a more comfortable trance like state. Addy, I want you to stare into the light, and let go of all thought..."
Lydia grabs my pen free hand, squeezing softly to let me know she isn't leaving my side and I focus on doing exactly what Deaton said.
I stare blankly through the glass, feeling my entire body as it begins to relax and almost like an out of body experience– I feel my hand begin to write on the sheet of paper.
One word begins to flash in my mind and I begin to furiously scribble onto the paper. I don't know how much time passes or what I've written, however I snap back into being fully conscious with a deep gasp when I hear Malia behind me "What does 'Mischief' mean?"
I feel Lydia increase her hold on me as I turn to the side and see four sets of curious eyes land on me as I state quickly "That's not what I wrote"
Scott shakes his head and turns the paper around "It's not– look"
On the paper, the seemingly hundreds of little scribbles of the word 'Mischief' actually form larger letters that compose one single word
"Stiles" I murmur, drawing a line under the name with my finger.
Scott and Malia share a confused look as Lydia makes a noise, gaining my eyes to flick over to her as she shakes her head "Seriously, what the hell is a Stiles?"