Scott and I meet Lydia at the library, beginning our research hour to see if we can find anything online about the word I hypnotically wrote last night.
Typing 'Stiles' into the search bar gets us exactly one result and it isn't even the full word
I close my eyes on a huff as Scott reads our search finding out loud "'Stile: an arrangement of steps that allows people but not animals, to climb over a fence'." well holy shit, look no further we figured it out
Slowly I open my eyes, looking between both of them with my doubtful look as I mutter "Yeah, somehow I don't think this is the 'Stiles' we're looking for."
Scott shrugs and offers a hopeful look "Maybe Malia has found something."
Lydia shakes her head as she fills in "No– she's making up a test today with my mom."
I groan in frustration, setting my elbows on the table and rubbing my hands over my face.
Lydia sets her hand on my back, offering her comfort and moving her hand in small circles as she reassures "We're going to figure this out."
Taking a deep breath in, I drop my hands back onto the table and nod with her words. I smile softly as I look over to her "Yeah, I just don't even know where to start. We have nothing but a word, that could possibly be a name and–"
Hayden rushes up to the table, stopping my words as I take in the concern on her face "Hey guys–"
We all look at her offering our hellos before she continues "I don't know if this is something but I think I may have another possible Wild Hunt victim. You guys know Gwen from your grade?"
I offer her a nod with the recognition "Yeah, she's in our history class"
Lydia nods as well and Hayden goes on "She was just in the locker room talking about her apparent sister that no one remembers– myself included. Her sister Phoebe is missing and the school doesn't remember her and all of her stuff from her room is missing."
I make a noise and sit closer to the table as I agree "All right, well everything else is adding up except the fact that Gwen remembers her"
Hayden nods "I know– I don't know if it's related but I thought you guys should know. I'm going to go and see if she'll talk to me more about it"
Scott agrees instantly "Yeah, see if she can remember anything else that happened before her sister went missing"
Hayden starts to walk away, promising to keep us updated as she heads out the side doors of the library.
I draw my brows together, deep in thought as I mutter my thoughts aloud just barely above a whisper "Maybe someone reported him missing..."
Scott flicks his gaze my way "Who?"
I lift my eyes up from the table, connecting my gaze with his as I stand up from the chair. I reach over and shove my laptop into my bag, shouldering it as I elaborate for him "Stiles. I just– maybe someone remembered him like Gwen remembers her sister and has reported him missing already."
Lydia stands up with me, shouldering her bag as she nods her head, agreeing with me instantly "Reported him before they were made to forget him"
I look between them as I offer with a hopeful shrug "It's possible right? No one at the Sheriff's station knows everyone in town, so there wouldn't be anyone there telling them they were crazy from not remembering someone like they would here at school"
Scott stands up as well and sets his hand behind my shoulder, already guiding us out of the library "Let's go."
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We get to the Sheriff's station, immediately seeing Parrish when we walk inside "Jordan–"
He flicks his eyes up from his desk and waves us over "What's going on?"
Lydia makes a noise before she digresses "We were just wondering if anyone reported a teenager our age missing in the last few weeks?"
Jordan groans softly, tilting his head back in frustration "Not you guys too, seriously?"
Scott and I share a look before I look back to Jordan as I question "What the hell does that mean? Who else is asking?"
"Corey and Mason were in here yesterday asking the same exact thing– guys nothing crazy is going on and I'm in the middle of trying to solve a murder that for once isn't supernatural related." dude was bludgeoned to death and shoved into the vents at school but all right
He barely whispers the last bit of his statement and I scoff before filling him in on the very real problem he obviously isn't aware of yet "Something supernatural is going on– the Wild Hunt is taking people, innocent people and we specifically have lost someone. So if you want to just turn a blind eye to solve your murder that's fine but we need to get him back– now has anyone been reported missing recently who is around our age?"
Jordan clears his face from his previous annoyance and swallows hard, shaking his head softly as he digresses "No– no one has been reported missing"
Lydia sighs and turns to face us "I say we go back to research at the school. Guys, we don't even know what a 'Stiles' is–"
"It's a he" We hear from behind us, earning the three of us to quickly turn around to see the Sheriff standing just outside of his office.
"Who?" Scott and I question at the same time.
Sheriff moves his eyes between us, an unreadable expression on his face as he fills us in on the who "Stiles– it's a family nickname. I never used it, but... my father did."
Widening my eyes slightly, I share a look with Scott and Lydia before I look back towards our dear Sheriff "May we ask you a few questions about him?"
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Mr. S agreed, having Scott and I follow him back to his house while Lydia heads back to the school to pick up Malia.
Scott and I take a seat in the chairs in the living room, sitting in front of the couch Mr. S is seated on.
His wife, Claudia, walks into the room and hands him a box before she takes a seat beside him on the couch.
"Thanks honey" Mr. S murmurs before he opens the box and begins talking about his dad "He was an army engineer–"
Mr. S pulls out a photo from the box and hands it over to Scott.
Once Scott grabs the photo, he leans towards me as we examine the picture of the young soldier and Mr. S continues "He ended the war, one bridge at a time."
I notice the name 'Stiles' written into the bottom right hand corner of the picture in white ink.
Scott notices the same thing, releasing through a relieved sigh "And he went by Stiles."
Feeling a spark of hope, I smile softly when Scott flicks his eyes over to me.
Mr. S gains our attention though, as he implores with a little motion of his hand "So what's this got to do with the Wild Hunt?"
Scott and I share a look before I nod and look back to the Stilinski's sitting in front of us. I take a deep breath and digress softly "We– umm, we think that somebody was taken from us... by the Wild Hunt."
"Any idea who?" Mr. S asks, lifting his hand up from the side of the couch before Scott shakes his head and retorts hesitantly "The Ghost Riders would have erased our memories..."
Mr. S sighs and looks between us as he grumbles "Well, that's convenient."
I clear my throat and scoot closer to the edge of my seat, countering back with a little hopeful tone "We did find a clue though– the word 'Stiles'."
Claudia looks over, nodding as she sighs out her assumption "And that's why you wanna talk to Elias?"
I narrow my eyes slightly as I shrug and look between the pair "Yes– maybe he could help us figure it out. Maybe he knows who we're looking for, since they have the same interesting name"
"And this is someone your age?" Mr. S continues his line of questions, earning Scott and I to nod as we share a look "We think so, we think he was our friend–"
Scott looks down to the coffee table as he murmurs "Maybe he was my best friend"
A look of understanding crosses over Mr. S' face, however he stands up and shoots down our hope as he reaches his hand out for Scott to hand him back the photo "I can guarantee you my father can't help you."
He puts the photo back into the box as Scott tries to reason with him "Can we try?"
"Scott, he lives in a nursing home three towns over. He hasn't received a visitor in years" Mr. S answers Scott, however, an older woman walking into the living room gains all of my attention.
She walks behind the couch, staring at me the whole time. My eyes narrow in confusion, yet since I'm the only one who is noticing her I don't take my eyes off of her.
The elderly woman comes to a stop on the other side of the couch just inside the doorway.
She opens her mouth and darkly digresses "The following stops have been cancelled–"
I hear the sound of a train going past– not as loud as yesterday at school or in my room– but loud enough to know it's out of place as she again repeats "The following stop have been cancelled" what the actual fuck is that supposed to mean?
The woman turns back around and walks out of sight and down the hallway.
I suck in a sharp breath before turning towards Claudia who is looking at me with a curious expression on her face "May I use your bathroom?"
"Sure" Claudia nods while Noah and Scott look over to me as I get up and follow the older woman down the hall.
As soon as I walk through the doorway into the hall, I turn the corner and find the older woman staring ominously at a wall.
I walk a little closer to her as I question "Why are you here?"
Getting no response to my question, I walk closer to her and try again "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
The lady again says nothing and instead just continues to stare at the wall. Resisting the urge to throw my head backwards in exasperation from the creeper ghost woman who is being ominous and not answering my questions, I walk right up beside her "What is up with the train– and what stops have been cancelled?"
I reach my hand out, about to touch the lady's shoulder when Claudia's voice causes me to jump as I'm broken from the trance I was in "Addeline? Did you find it– the last door on the left"
I turn back towards the woman, finding her gone and the hallway empty as I huff and answer back "Found it."
Figuring I've been gone long enough to have used said bathroom, I turn on my heels and head back to the living room just as Noah is exclaiming "You're not hearing me. Trust me– you don't wanna talk to him"
I stop my steps just inside the entryway to the living room as Scott tries to reason "We just need a few minutes"
"Scott, my father can't help you" Noah stresses, earning Scott to quickly counter with his insistence "Just a few questions– five minutes!"
Noah's exasperation reaches its peak as he seems to snap back towards Scott "It's not possible for you to just talk to this guy! Okay?!"
Noticing the look that flashes across Scott's face, Noah softens his tone as he offers "Just find another way"
I walk further into the room as I add in my own two cents "What if this is the only way? All we know is his name and it can't be a coincidence that your father's name is the same name. I know it's a lot to ask but we are missing someone and basically grasping at straws here–"
"Guys– you have your answer" Claudia chims in, my eyes snapping to her as Scott ignores her completely "Sheriff please!"
"Scott!" Claudia exclaims, hoping to stop the conversation as she stands up from the couch to stand next to her husband yeah I officially don't like you
I set my hand on Scott's arm, moving my disappointed eyes between the married pair in front of us.
Sheriff notices, sighing as he again states where his decision is set to "The answer is no."
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Scott and I head back to school, meeting Lydia and Malia there to explain about our shitty time at the Stilinski house.
Malia makes a noise as she grabs things out of her locker "Stilinski said no, didn't he?"
"Yeah" Scott and I grumble before she continues "But we're going anyway?"
I throw her a smirk as she closes her locker and Scott answers "Yeah"
She returns with her own smirk, turning towards him before Liam chimes in "Or you guys could stay here and help me convince Gwen she's in danger."
Hayden talked to Gwen, who saw a Ghost Rider in her lawn the night her sister went missing. Which according to legend as we know– you see them, you're next to be taken.
Gwen didn't take Hayden's warning to heart though– instead she accused Hayden of making fun of her and stormed off all bad news now that we know she's in danger and we need to make sure she's safe
Scott looks over to Liam and shakes his head with his rebuttal "It's not your job to convince her. It's your job to keep her safe."
We start walking towards the door, hearing Malia's suggestion behind us "Just kidnap her"
Scott grumbles through clenched teeth as he turns towards her and warns "Malia"
I snort with a chuckle at the pair before I look over to Liam who is contemplating the suggestion, and I shake my head to gain his attention as I whisper "Do not kidnap her"
Scott points towards me "Exactly– you listen to her, all right? We'll be back tonight after we've talked to Stilinski's dad."
Malia furrows her brows as she shares her doubt about our afternoon plans "Do we really need to do this?"
I make a noise and turn towards her as I shrug and offer "He's our only lead" and the first bit of information to give me hope since I looked at that photo the other night
Liam steps closer as he exclaims just above a whisper "Okay– but what if the Ghost Riders show up?"
Scott turns to face him completely as he reassures "Then you'll handle it, Liam. And look you're not alone– you've got Mason and Corey and Hayden. Just find a safe place for Gwen and keep her there."
Liam looks between the three of us, not hiding his worry in the slightest "Any suggestions?"
I shrug and reassure him "It doesn't matter as long as she's safe– you've got this bub, we'll see you soon."
Scott and I turn and walk out the doors, thinking Malia is behind us before I hear Scott groan in frustration beside me as he bellows back "Do not kidnap her!"
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The four of us climb out of Lydia's car and walk up towards the front doors of Goodwater Assisted Living Home.
Scott sighs and lifts his hand towards the doors as we slow our steps "I can't believe we're about to break into a nursing home."
We come to a stop a few feet from the doors, Malia scoffing as she quips "After the orderlies at Eichen House– pretty sure we can handle some nurses."
I share a look with Lydia, the two of us silently agreeing with her words before Malia walks deliberately towards the doors.
Opening them, with us quickly following behind her, we watch as she walks straight up to the front desk.
The nurse standing behind the counter looks up, hanging up the phone and is just beginning to ask Malia how he can help her when she wraps her hand behind his head– and in one fluid motion, Malia slams the guy's face into the desk earning him to grab his face and exclaim "Oh mother of fuck!"
I jerk back from the noise his face connecting with the desk makes, covering my mouth with my hand as I grimace and hear both Lydia and Scott hiss from the event unfolding in front of us I mean damn we could have just asked to see our grandfather we just found out was staying here
The guy falls back onto the ground after the impact and we watch as Malia drags him away from the front desk, down the side hall and into a closet.
She closes the door, locking the handle before turning to look at the three of us and our shocked faces. She flicks her eyes between us and shrugs "What? Let's go"
I let out a snort, shaking my head and clearing my face from any humor when Scott throws me a look– begging me not to condone the previous knocking out of the nurse.
I walk behind the counter, searching through the computer until I find the room information and figure out where Elias is staying.
We walk down the hallway, finding his door open with the musical sound of a classic trumpet playing filtering out through the room.
Walking inside Elias' room, he turns slowly towards us slightly confused as he looks the four of us over "Yes? Oh– is it time for my medicine?"
Malia clips out behind me "We don't have your medicine"
I move my lips between my teeth, turning to look over my shoulder at her.
Malia shrugs and nods towards Elias who mutters an "Oh" and turns back in his seat when I face forward again.
I share a look with Scott who nods towards me before I question softly "Are you Elias Stilinski?"
"I am" Elias nods and I smile in triumph towards Scott and Lydia. We walk further into the room towards Elias and when he looks up at me I continue "I'm Addy McCall– do you know who I am?"
Elias draws his brows inwards, complete confusion lacing his words as he mutters "Should I?"
Scott clears his throat and walks up beside me, "Hi– Mr. Stilinski, we're looking for somebody who might be named Stiles... you went by that name in the army right?"
Elias gets a longing look on his face as he nods in confirmation "Yes– those were the best years of my life."
"Do you know any of us?" Malia questions, obviously losing her patience with how slowly the questioning is going.
Elias looks over towards her and back to Scott as he answers "Of course I do– how could I forget my own son."
Scott frowns in confusion, looking up over towards me as he clarifies back "Your son?"
I close my eyes briefly, instantly figuring out why the Sheriff didn't think his dad could help us.
I open my eyes and look back to Elias, clearing my throat softly as I implore "Mr. Stilinski– what year is it?"
"1976– my son's birthday is next week" Elias answers, looking away from us thoughtfully as I whisper over towards Scott "He has dementia."
Elias looks between us, a cloud covering his gaze as he again asks "Is it time for my medicine?"
We take a few more minutes, trying to convey to Elias exactly who we are. He isn't connecting who Scott is though, which he proves by pointing towards him "Scott McCall?"
We offer him nods and he shakes his head instantly disagreeing "No, no, no, no, you're my son."
"Keep it down, old guy– you'll wake up the other old people." Malia snaps with a deep glare, reaching over to steal one of the peas from Elias' dinner tray.
Seeming to like the peas, Malia continues to keep eating them. Elias looks between us and leans his head backwards to digress to me "I don't like her"
I soften my face towards him, pulling out the chair beside him as I sit next to him and elaborate softly "Your son– he's the Sheriff of Beacon Hills."
Elias draws his brows inwards, shaking his head as he stammers out through his confusion "Sheriff? No, no, no, no... I was in the army–"
Malia flicks her head to her other side as she offers her next suggestion "Use your claws, Scott."
Scott and I snap our heads in her direction as Scott shakes his head with his rebuttal "It could kill him."
"I get that, but we're running out of time." Malia argues back quickly, stressing our current situation.
Scott shares a look with me, shaking my head at him which he agrees with as he counters back to her "I can't."
Malia, obviously impatient and frustrated that Scott won't perform the Alpha memory manipulation, flicks out her claws from her left hand and moves to lunge towards Elias.
Scott snaps his hand out towards her, wrapping his fingers around her wrist to stop her advancing steps "Hey– no we are not hurting him,"
Elias looks between the pair and down towards Malia's claws out fingers "Young lady, you need to clip those nails."
I set my elbow on the table, covering my mouth with my hand as I snort behind it. Malia throws him a look and actually looks more calm as she moves back a step.
Elias instantly points towards us, becoming more agitated with us still being in his space as he exclaims, "You shouldn't be here. If you don't leave, I'll have to report you!"
Elias' sudden change in behavior has Scott turning towards us "uh– what's wrong with him?"
I flick my eyes outside, noticing the darkness of the evening that has fallen outside and knowing what that means for Elias' condition "The sun went down."
"Sooo..." Scott draws out, earning Elias to become even more agitated as he groans out in anger, muttering incoherently under his breath.
I move my eyes from him and over to Scott as I fill in "He's sundowning– it's when patients with dementia lose their faculties after the sun goes down.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Elias shouts, pointing towards us as his breathing starts to increase and he shuffles the newspapers in front of him angrily.
Lydia moves closer to me as she questions "So what do we do to calm him down? Wait until the sun comes back up?"
I offer a small shrug thinking that's our only option at the moment, earning Malia to look at us like we're insane "We can't wait that long"
"There's gotta be something we can do to keep him quite" Scott ponders thoughtfully and Elias brokenly starts pleading with us "Leave, leave, leave–"
Malia sets her hands on her chest as she offers quickly "I can calm him down"
"No!" Scott, Lydia and I quickly exclaim back towards her, stopping her advancing steps towards the table.
Getting an idea, I widen my eyes and instantly start digging into my messenger back for my math notes and set them on the table in front of me "No– hey Elias look at the equations– look, it's binomial probability. What's P?"
Elias looks down to the paper, setting his hand on the notes and taking a second before answering "Probability of success?"
I nod and move my hand to the next one "Right– so that means N minus K is...?"
Elias drums his fingers on the table before he answers quickly "Number of trials minus the number of successes."
I nod, smiling that it's working before Malia questions "What's with the math?"
"It helps dementia patients concentrate" I quickly answer her before flicking to another paper for Elias "And this one?"
"That's... um... conditional probability" he answers, seeming more calm now.
I sift through the papers, finding more copies of my notes and homework from my bag and setting them on the table "Let's find the moment of inertia– Elias?"
Standing up from the seat, Elias looks from the paper and down to me as he answers "That's Mr. Stilinski– and just who the hell do you think you are?"
I share a look of excitement that the math distraction worked with Scott and Lydia smirks as she looks over to Elias "So you know Scott isn't your son?"
"Of course I know that– are the brains getting smaller with the skirts?" Elias quips rudely, a complete change in tone from what we were dealing with since we got here.
Malia starts growling under her breath, however, Scott is able to calm her down instantly "Hey, Malia– it's okay"
Elias turns back around, flicking his eyes between Scott and I "So you're those McCall twins"
Scott and I share a surprised look before I flick my eyes back to Elias "You know us?"
He nods, lifting a hand towards us as he counters "I knew your dad. He couldn't hold his liquor, and he certainly couldn't keep that wedding ring on his finger. A pretty young thing would walk by and poof– that ring just disappeared like magic."
As soon as his words register I drop my mouth open, shock, sadness, and anger overcoming my entire body in .134 seconds. I feel Lydia set her hand on my back while Scott looks over to me and I shake my head with that revelation.
Malia looks between Scott and I, instantly hearing her growl under her breath again. Scott silently reaches up and gently sets his hand on her arm while Lydia changes the subject "Do you know all of us?"
Elias smiles triumphantly and points over towards her as he chuckles "Oh– you're Natalie Martin's girl. Am I right? You look like her– she was pretty once too."
Malia shines her bright coyote blue eyes as she warns "Stop talking."
With his hold on her arm still, Scott stand up beside her, "Hey, hey– Malia"
"She also liked to talk like she was the smartest person in the room" Elias smugly grumbles and Malia moves towards Elias again, Scott holding her back "Malia!"
"Enough!" A new voice bellows behind us, the four of us turning quickly to see a very angry Sheriff standing with the even angrier nurse Malia knocked out earlier.
I widen my eyes, completely speechless with seeing him standing there as Scott stammers "Sheriff, we..."
Mr. S moves his disappointed eyes between the two of us as he snaps "I explicitlytold you not to come here– and who attacked a staff member?"
The nurse beside him doesn't give us a chance to answer as he points towards Malia "That's her."
"What the hell were you thinking?" Sheriff implores, moving his eyes between the four of us.
Again we are kept from actually getting to answer as Elias walks behind us towards his son, drawing out like this wasn't a big deal "Noah– we were just having a nice conversation–"
Mr. S ignores his father's words though, and moves his anger filled eyes between us "The four of you, out– now"
I quickly grab my bag and follow behind Lydia with Scott and Malia following right behind us as we leave the room and walk down the hallway towards the front lobby.
Once Mr. S walks out of the nursing home, we get piled into the back of the Sheriff's SUV and are taken to the station.
Since mom is working Ms. Martin is the only one called. She meets us at the station while we wait to see what charges will be brought against us in regards to what we did at the nursing home.
Ms. Martin continues to pace in front of us as we tell her our side of the story, letting out disappointed huffs with every word.
Scott grimaces, following her steps with his eyes as he offers "We know this looks bad–"
Ms. Martin stops her steps and snaps "It doesn't look bad, Scott– it is bad!"
We look down sheepishly, knowing she's right before she continues to drive her point home of the severity of our current situation "You've broken into a nursing home, you harassed a dementia patient and beat up a nurse. This could affect the rest of your lives! Especially you, Malia– they're talking felony assault!"
Malia scoffs, shrugging her shoulders with her arms crossed over her chest as she argues "I didn't beat him up– I could have, but I chose not to."
Scott makes an impressed face as he mutters "That's an improvement"
Ms. Martin looks exasperated with that statement, however, she's interrupted from responding when the Sheriff opens the door, sighing as he informs to our group "By some miracle, the nurse decided to drop the charges. They're free to go"
He closes the door, the four of us breathing a sigh of relief that is instantly overshadowed by Ms. Martin's next words directed towards Lyds "Just because you're not going to jail, doesn't mean you aren't grounded for eternity."
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Scott and I walk into the house, the breath instantly knocked from our lungs as we notice the destruction war zone that is our living room someone had a party and didn't invite us
Liam sheepishly steps into view, moving his eyes between us and the mess of the party covering every corner and surface of the room the railing on the stairs is even broken
Realizing my mouth is still hanging open, I snap it closed and slowly turn in a complete circle. Crossing my arms over my chest as I face forward in front of Liam again.
He licks his lips quickly and nods, dropping his gaze to the floor as he justifies the state of the living room "You said to find a safe place– so we brought the party here."
"What party?" I question and Liam scratches behind his head "Daniel's– Mason paid him off to not beat us up for stealing his party."
I snort, covering it with a cough when Scott snaps his eyes to me. I clear my throat and look over to Liam "And it needed to be moved here why?"
"Your house is lined with what we thought was the best defense against supernatural creatures. So we locked us all inside with the mountain ash barrier– but the Ghost Riders still got in. We fought them off though and then they left without taking anyone." how the hell did they get in?
"Who said to throw a party at all?" Scott grumbles, taking in the railing on the stairs and looking back at me with an exasperated expression.
I shake my head, trying my hardest not to laugh because I laugh at inappropriate times
Liam drops his gaze down to the floor, obviously knowing he should have run this option specifically by us beforehand.
He shrugs and offers the positive side to things though "At least we saved Gwen."
I make a noise, gaining both sets of eyes as I worriedly rush out "Wait– you saw one of the Ghost Riders?"
Liam nods, not seeing where I'm going with it as he elaborates "Yeah– Corey made him visible so we could fight him."
Scott catches up to my worried level as he clarifies "But doesn't the book say if you see the Wild Hunt, you'll be taken too?"
I nod grimly and flick my terrified eyes over to Liam as he mutters "Everybody at the party saw him– does that mean..."
"They're all gonna be taken" I croak out, looking between them.
Scott looks down as he steps on a piece of broken glass "I should've been here."
We let the silence and meaning behind what the evening's events means now for even more people that we know and care about.
Liam scratches behind his head and lifts his arm towards the living room "I'll uh– I'll get started on cleaning up."
Mason walks in from the kitchen, garbage bags in his hands as he agrees "Me too, you guys go to bed."
Flicking my eyes up the stairs and seeing the red solo cups littering the stairs, I chuckle and reach my hand out to Mason. I wave my fingers, indicating for him to hand one over "Yea– this was a party, upstairs looks the same as down here"
Scott and I each walk into our rooms, sharing an incredulous look through our open bathroom doors as we both take in the similarities of the after party state to our rooms.
I let out a huff and get to work, picking up thankfully just the discarded cups littering my room bed's still made and not crumpled so that's at least a good feeling
Hearing a knock on my open door, I turn around becoming a little shocked at seeing Mr. S standing in the doorway.
I smile softly, dropping my arm holding the trash bag down to my side "Hey, Mr. S"
He returns the smile, moving his eyes around the room as he offers "Hey kid, looks like a hell of a party"
Scott walks through the bathroom, leaning his shoulder on the doorframe as we chuckle nervously and I shrug my arms out to my side when I look back to Mr. S "Yeah– well hopefully we can get it all cleaned up before our mom comes home."
"I'll help" he offers and moves into the room with us, grabbing a few cups off my tall dresser he walks past and dropping them into the trash bag in my hand.
Scott clears his throat "Hey Sheriff– we're really sorry..."
I nod and continue "We really are, we never should have gone there to see your father–"
Mr. S holds up his hands to stop us "Nah– guys, it's okay. I uh– I should've been clearer about who he is. Maybe a part of me just didn't want to have to– um admit it."
He looks down, reaching his hand up to pull down the collar of his shirt to show us a scar just under his left shoulder, moving his eyes between us as he elaborates "This is my dad guys. He pushed me through a glass table when he was going after my mom."
Instantly feeling like I was punched in the gut with his words, I close my eyes briefly– opening them while he lets go of his collar and points towards his shoulder and continues "There are still tiny pieces of glass in here. The doctor told my mother that they would be there for the rest of my life working their way out. It was a small price to keep away from her– that time."
Mr. S moves his steps over, sitting down on the bench at the end of my bed as he lets out a sigh and turns towards us "You know– something you said earlier has just been bugging me all day– something about memories."
Scott and I share a look, furrowing our brows as he questions "What do you mean?"
Mr. S moves his hands around slightly in front of him as he asks "Have you ever had a dream... that's– that's so real, you thought it was a memory?"
I scrunch my nose up slightly, knowing what he's saying however not exactly having that exact experience yet.
Scott shrugs and Mr. S smiles, filling us in on where he's going with this "Right, okay– well in this dream, I'm laying in bed with Claudia, it's a couple of weeks before we graduate from college. And we're talkin' about the future and kids, and what we will call them. And I tell her, if we have a son– I wanna name him after her father."
He smiles thoughtfully with the memory as he continues "So then she laughs at me and she says: 'Why would you wanna saddle some poor kid with a name like that'?"
Chuckling softly with that means, it brings a little smile to my face when he looks up at us, murmuring "And I told her 'Because he's a great father'– the kind of father I wish I had. The kind I hoped to be." I feel like he would have been an excellent dad
He drops his gaze down to just past us, seemingly lost in thought and taking a few seconds before he finishes his story "And in that point of the dream, she smiles, kisses me and says: 'Okay– we'll name him that'– but it won't matter–"
Mr. S trails off and looks up, connecting his gaze with mine as he states thoughtfully, finishing what his wife said in the dream memory "–He'll just be called Stiles anyway."