𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Right at her head?" I question in disbelief as we enter my brother's room.

"Almost right through it" Isaac corrects "And she keeps saying the same thing, that she keeps seeing her aunt"

"Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse" I comment and Isaac nods.

"And if I hadn't been there, then Lydia would be dead" Isaac states.

"What were you doing there?" Scott asks suspiciously.

"Uh..." Isaac drawls off.

Before I can even register what's happening, Scott grabs Isaac and throws him into the hall. For the second time today, the Lahey boy hits the wall and falls to the floor with a thud.

"Oh, you guys, come on!" Our mom yells "This house does not have a supernatural ability to heal! So, stop it!"

I shake my head with a small smile and make my way to my room. After kicking off my shoes and slipping off my jacket, I turn on my lamp.

A black dot on my bed makes me freeze and as the dot starts to move, I let out a scream. I scramble onto my chair and grab the first thing on my desk which happens to be a pair of scissors. Isaac and Scott burst into the room, looking around wide eyed.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asks me.

"No, it's not okay! A fucking tarantula almost bit my fucking arm off" I shriek, waving my arms around like a crazy person "Guys, do something! I'm scared"

"Where is it?" Scott asks.

"Right there! Are you blind?!" I screech, pointing at my bed.

"Are you talking about that?" Isaac asks, pointing at the spider and I nod "The itsy bitsy spider?"

"Yeah" I sass him in annoyance.

"Wow, Natty" Scott scoffs "All right, fine. I'll squish it"

"No, don't hurt it!" I protest before he reaches my bed.

"Oh my God" Isaac groans, pushing past Scott.

The Lahey boy picks up the spider in his bare hands and turns to me, showing me it. I let out another ear piercing scream and fall off the chair, both boys laughing at me.

"Are you serious?" Isaac chuckles.

"You're fucking suicidal, dude" I retort, looking at his hands wearily.

"You're unbelievable" Scott says, shaking his head in amusement.

Isaac let's the spider out the window before closing it again and helping me off the ground, much to my dismay.

"I hate you, guys" I grumble, putting my scissors back on my desk.

"Hey, we just saved you from the big bad spider" Isaac makes fun of me and I glare at him.

"Get out!" I huff, throwing at pillow at them.

They both exit my room laughing at me while I groan, getting ready for bed. After I change into a pair of shorts and a large t-shirt, I flop onto my bed.

I close my eyes and just as I get comfortable, my phone starts ringing. I grab the phone, answering the call without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" I huff.

"Is this a bad time? I can go" Stiles' voice replies and my eyes widen.

"No! It's okay" I assure him "What's up, dork?"

"I- Uh, I had another nightmare and I can't sleep" He explains, causing me to frown.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask curiously.

"No, thanks. I'd rather take my mind off it if that's okay with you" He answers.

"Of course it's okay. I don't mind at all" I reply.

We talk for hours, laughing at each other's jokes and bickering about silly little things.

Stiles laughs at my joke and I let out a loud yawn, causing the boy's laughter to die down.

"Hey, it's getting really late. You should probably go to bed" He tells me.

"No, I can stay up" I protest.

"Go to sleep. I'll take a walk or something" The boy says.

"Stiles, it's 3 in the morning. Plus...I won't be able to sleep knowing that you're just sitting alone after a bad dream" I explain.

"I'm fine, Natalia, okay? Just sleep. I don't want to keep you up all night" He sighs.

"Come over" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

"W-What?" He stutters.

"Get your dorky self in your Jeep and come over" I repeat.

"But-" I cut him off.

"Stiles" I sigh.

"Okay" He gives in.

I hang up the call and put my phone on charge before heading downstairs. Within five to ten minutes later I hear the Jeep pull up outside and I open the door, coming face to face with a tired looking Stiles Stilinski. I take in his outfit which consists of plaid pyjama pants, a white t-shirt, a hoodie and a pair of vans.

"Well, don't you look nice?" I tease him and he rolls his eyes with a smile, entering the house.

"Come on, dork" I smile, tugging him up the stairs.

We enter my room and the boy awkwardly stands at the door, looking around sheepishly.

"Are you just gonna stand there? Or are you gonna lay down?" I ask curiously and he seems to relax a little.

"Sorry" He mumbles, kicking off his shoes and pulling off his hoodie.

I jump onto my bed and Stiles follows my actions, flopping down next to me. He pulls the covers up over us both and I switch off my lamp, getting comfortable on my side of the bed.

I lay on my side, staring at the wall in boredom, until I hear the soft snores of the boy behind me. A smile tugs at my lips and Stiles rolls over, his arm falling onto me. He grabs my waist and abruptly pulls me into his arms, butterflies erupting in my stomach as my back hits his chest.

I'm taken aback at first but I melt into his embrace as he buries his face in my neck, a giggle escaping my lips as he hums happily. I find myself reaching for Stiles' hand and intertwining our fingers as I close my eyes.

The last thing I remember before I fall into a deep sleep is Stiles mumbling my name and placing a light kiss on my neck.

❦ ❦ ❦

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asks as we sit around a table on campus.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles adds.

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison adds.

"They're all locked up because they're insane" Isaac declares and I snort, my brother elbowing me in the ribs.

"Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles retorts.

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me" Isaac states.

"Okay, do we- Are you still milking that?" Stiles scoffs.

"Yeah, we are still milking that" Isaac nods smugly.

"When he milks his childhood trauma. Heart eyes" I say sarcastically and Stiles chuckles while Isaac glares at me.

"Hi" I hear a small voice say and I turn my head to see Kira "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about and I think I actually might know what you're talking about bout. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo'. It literally means 'in between state'. The state between life and death"

"And what do they call you?" Lydia asks the girl.

"Kira" My brother says before I can.

Our friends all look at him in confusion and he shrugs nonchalantly.

"She's in our history class" He elaborates.

"Hey, Ki" I smile warmly.

"Hi, Nat" The girl grins happily.

"So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Lydia asks.

I drag Stiles closer to me so Kira can sit down and she sends me a grateful look before turning back to Lydia.

"Either, I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities" Kira explains.

"Wrathful deities? And...what are those?" Isaac asks.

"Like demons" Kira answers.

"Demons" Stiles repeats "Why not?"

"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison wonders.

"Death. You die" Kira chirps.

My heart drops and I turn to my brother who looks just as worried as I feel.

❦ ❦ ❦

"It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you" Deaton explains as we stand in the clinic.

"Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually know?" Stiles asks in annoyance.

"Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and the movement of the hands?" Deaton asks the Stilinski boy.

"You know sign language?" Scott asks the man in surprise.

"I know a little. Let me give it a shot" Deaton answers.

"Okay, the first move was like this" Stiles explains, lifting his pointer finger and circling it with his opposite pointer finger.

"That's 'when'" Deaton says.

"Then there was this, twice" Stiles says, holdings his palms out together before moving one back.

"That's 'door'" Deaton replies.

"And there's this in between that" Stiles adds, touching his thumb to his chin before moving it downwards.

"That's it?" Deaton asks.

"Yeah" Stiles nods.

"When is a door not a door?" Deaton states.

"'When is a door not a door?'" Stiles repeats in disbelief.

"When it's ajar" Scott answers.

"You're kidding me. A riddle? My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle?" Stiles scoffs.

"Not necessarily. When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from unconsciousness to a kind of super consciousness...you essentially opened a door in your minds" Deaton explains.

"Okay, so what does that mean?" Scott asks.

"The door's still open?" I ask in concern.

"Ajar" Deaton corrects.

"A door...into our minds?" Stiles says slowly.

"I did tell you it was risky" Deaton states.

"What do we do about it?" Scott asks curiously.

"Well, that's...difficult to answer" Deaton says vaguely.

"No, wait a sec, I know that look. That's the 'we know exactly what's wrong with you and we have no idea how to fix it' look" Stiles snaps.

"One thing I do know...is that having an opening like that into your mind, it's not good. You each need to close that door. And you need to do it as soon as possible" Deaton advises.

We thank the man for his help and exit the clinic just as the Sheriff's car pulls up next to Stiles' Jeep.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Stiles asks as his father approaches us.

"I'm here because I could use some help. Actually...your help" The Sheriff says to my brother.

"Why me?" Scott asks.

"Because eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that...That a werewolf could have caused the accident, and then dragged her body away. If you could somehow get a lock on her scent, if you could somehow help me find her body, it might provide the missing clue" The Sheriff explains.

"And what if it was a werewolf?" Stiles asks.

"Well, there's somebody out there who murdered an entire family. Someone who still needs to be caught" The Sheriff answers.