CHAPTER SEVEN » REVERENCE
"You'll get her back. I promise."

☽

"We have to go," I stated firmly, snatching the car keys from the side table. "Right now."

"Bec, wait," Brett began to protest until I turned to face him, our eyes meeting strongly as neither of us were willing to back down. "We need to think things through, come up with a plan–"

"There's no time, Brett!" I exclaimed, feeling slightly frantic, my mind already becoming tortured with the horrors of the visions. We both held our gazes for a few moments, until he seemed to give in, nodding slowly.

"Okay. Okay, lets–"

There was a sudden, loud crash, followed by the sound of glass smashing to pieces. I spun around, watching as Venus gripped on to the table, knuckles white, her head bent down. "Vee?"

"Go," she immediately dismissed, waving her hand. I stared at her in confusion, noticing her frail, weak movements, and smelling something else – blood.

"Vee, are you okay?"

She tilted her head up, blood pooling from her nose. The flames from the candles on the table roared with force, and the spell book shuddered. "It's just an effect of the spell," she informed with a cough. Her eyes squeezed shut, her face twisting with pain. "I'll be fine," she choked out. "Go."

I shared a look with Brett, who was showing reluctance as he glanced back at Venus again. "You go," he finally said. "I'll catch up."

I paused, hesitating for the briefest moment as I looked between my friends.

But I'd already made my choice.

~

My breaths became shallower as I spotted the isolated building. The lights flooded out from the windows, signalling that Mason, Liam and Hayden were inside.

And I had to get to them first.

Before reaching the door, I took a glance up at the overcast sky, nerves settling in the pit of my stomach. They were almost here.

"We need to leave," I called out as I burst through the doors, almost stumbling over my own feet in the rush. "Like, now!"

"Wait, what are you doing here?" Mason questioned, his eyebrows narrowing at me in confusion. I stepped inside the office, slamming the door shut behind me.

"Saving your stupid asses," I responded, looking between the three of them, who seemed to be in bewilderment. "Stop looking at me like that. The riders are coming, okay? We've gotta go."

The three shared a look before I began to usher them out through the rooms ahead of me, only pausing when an unsettling feeling overcame me.

They were here.

The door flung open, a storm rolling in amidst a shadowy figure of a ghost rider. Heavily, it cracked it's whip, the action startling me slightly. I grabbed Mason's hand, moving him away from the door as fast as I could until there was a swishing sound, and I felt Mason's hand slip from mine.

"No!" Liam screamed out, whilst I watched in horror as the whip latched itself around my friend's neck, tugging him backwards.

"Liam!" Mason choked out, gasping for air, his hands reaching for the whip. I stood frozen. "Run!"

And within the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the darkness

~

Liam was the first to dive at the Ghost Rider, throwing hits and punches that didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever. A shower of glass rained down as Liam's body was thrown through a window, the Ghost Rider setting it's sights on Hayden and I. 

I gathered my self together, stepping forwards with my claws outstretched, just as Liam swung his legs at the Rider, sending it tumbling down. In an instant, I dived over, slamming my foot down on it's chest.

With one swift movement, the Ghost Rider grabbed my legs, sending me toppling towards the floor as it pinned me down. I felt a cold, hard punch bruising harshly against my skin. My vision blurred for a moment or two, but I could hear noises from Liam and Hayden around me as they began to fight.

I rolled onto my stomach, coughing to find an unappealing taste in my mouth. I wiped my lips with the back of my hand, placing my palms back down on the floor to lift myself up. I took in the chaotic scene around me, watching as Hayden and Liam slid across the floor, landing right beside me. I held my hands out for both of them to take, helping to lift them up.

"We have to get Scott," Hayden panted, and I nodded in agreement, trying to search the room for any kind of weapon to use that would give us an advantage against the Ghost Rider.

There was the violent sound of a whip cracking again, and I spun around to see Hayden caught at the end of it. I rushed towards her, attempting to pull her out of it's grip, but with no use. Having a sudden idea, I grabbed the whip with both of my hands, instead trying to pull the Ghost Rider towards us. With Liam's help, we managed to make it struggle a fair amount until a window smashed open, causing glass to fly everywhere as another rider burst through.

Before there was anything we could do to stop it, Hayden's wrist was engulfed by that Rider's whip too, as Liam desperately grabbed hold of it. I gave him a nod, keeping my grip on the first whip as he took the second. I pulled as hard and desperately as I could, feeling my shoes squeaking along the floor as my own weight was pulled slightly. This was never going to work, it was evident. But letting go would mean letting go of Hayden.

"Liam," I heard her start to say as I gritted my teeth, pulling as hard as I could, my muscles already feeling heavy. "Rebecca. You have to find Scott."

"I'm not leaving you," Liam told her, letting out a groan of frustration.

"You have to!" She exclaimed, watching him with a burning gaze. "You can save me on the other side." From the corner of my eye I saw him turn to face her, but I continued to focus my attention on doing my best to save her. "I believe in you."

"I love you," he stated, causing my chest to suddenly feel tight, as if the air had become constricted. I battled with my emotions, taking deep breaths as I tried to forget, to block everything out.

"Then go."

I heard Liam groan painfully, before stepping aside, giving in, leaving just Hayden and I. "Rebecca," she started, as I began to feel myself let go, allowing me to be unwillingly tugged further forwards. "You have to go! Go now!"

I struggled with my thoughts. Not wanting to leave her, wanting to have hope we could find another way. But no matter what was on my conscience, I knew there was no way of all of us getting out of this. And Hayden was the one trapped.

I turned to face her, pitying the fearful glint in her eyes as tears rolled down her face. I gave her a solemn nod, which she returned, before releasing my grip and stepping to the side by Liam in the doorway, watching as she was engulfed by the cloud of green mist.

And suddenly, everything was over.

A deathly silence hung over us, both of us seeming to stare emptily at the spot in the room.

"I'm sorry," I eventually told Liam, realising my voice was wavering slightly. It felt like I'd been repeating those words endlessly, but I always felt so guilty, responsible. "You'll get her back. I promise."

Liam ignored my words, shifting awkwardly. I wanted to reach out, to say something, but it felt like I didn't have any words left. Liam and I, we had such a strong connection on an emotional level. But lately, it felt like it had been broken, the wires had been pulled apart. And for some reason, I was the only one still trying to fix it.

My phone buzzed in my hand, startling me slightly. I slid the answer button across, relieved to hear Brett's voice. "Bec, where are you?"

I ignored his question, glancing over at Liam, who was listening to our conversation apprehensively. "Where are you?"

"I asked you first," he stated firmly, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I asked you second."

"Okay, now isn't the time for this," I heard another voice in the background say, Venus. There seemed to be a slight struggle, until it was just her speaking. "We ran into Scott and we need your help. Can you get to the tunnels?"

I glanced over at Liam again, both of us sharing a nod. "On our way."

~

"You got a scent?" Liam questioned as we hurried down the tunnels. I breathed in heavily, picking up mostly chemicals before eventually distinguishing the scents of my friends.

"Got it," I responded. "Split up?"

"Yeah, I'll take the left," he said, glancing in that direction, seeming to contemplate something before adding, "Be careful."

I looked back at him, noticing him watching me carefully. I swallowed thickly, giving him a weak smile, not expecting his words. "Yeah. Yeah, you too."

We parted ways somewhat awkwardly and I hurried down the tunnel, stopping every few moments to catch a scent. I tried to keep thoughts from Liam out of my head the best I could. The most prominent scents seemed to be Brett and Venus, who'd likely arrived later than the others.

There was an unexpected flash of light, which I followed, leading me to an out of breath Venus. "Hey," she greeted nonchalantly, as I noticed the unmoving Ghost Rider by her feet.

"Hey," I said unsurely, about to question her until a loud growl rang out down the other end of the tunnel. We both turned out heads and I spotted Brett stood alone in the distance, his claws out, fangs bearing and eyes burning brightly. He roared at something, a Ghost Rider likely, which was blocked out by the wall. "Find Scott," I instructed Vee, who hesitated momentarily before agreeing and heading in the opposite direction.

I rushed down the tunnel, sliding to a stop beside Brett as a Ghost Riser flung it's whip towards us. The two of us jumped out of the way, ducking to the ground. "Fill me in real quick?!" I shouted out to Brett, barely catching my breath as I dived forwards, attempting to push the Ghost Rider into the wall and disarm it. Brett charged forwards, helping me along as we knocked it down, letting it slump to the floor.

"Evil teacher at your school," he replied quickly as I felt the Rider's hand curl around my ankle. "Nazi. Creating supernatural army–" Brett suddenly slipped to the floor, as did I after becoming distracted. The Ghost Rider began to regain itself again as Brett and I stumbled backwards, trying to pull ourselves off the ground.

I felt myself crash into someone and turned my head to see a flash of red hair. "Lydia," I breathed out, not expecting to see her. "Liam. Where's Scott?"

"I think we have bigger problems," Brett commented nervously as the four of us began to back up. Lydia held her arm out, slowing down and pushing the three of us further back. Upon this action, the Ghost Rider started to slow down, it's intimidating footsteps no longer echoing so heavily around us.

"He's afraid of you," Liam noted, as we watched apprehensively, still continuing to take slow steps backwards.

Lydia froze for a few moments, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm afraid of me."

~

"We're sorry. The number you have reached is not in service. Please check the number or try your call again. This is a recording."

Scott's phone beeped a couple of times before leaving us, again, in an empty silence. I watched as he clicked mom's contact for the umpteenth time, a chiming sound filling the quietness until the automated voice message began again.

"We're sorry the number you have reached is not in service. Please check the number or try your call again. This is a recording."

"Scott–" Malia started, her voice shaking me out of my empty thoughts. I swallowed thickly, glancing down to a blank spot on the floor. We'd lost a few people today, the worst being my mom. There was nothing I could do. They'd got her. And now she was gone.

The familiar beeps filled the air again as I realised enough was enough. I reached over and took my brother's hand in mine, an attempt to stop him from torturing us any more. Malia stepped over to the two of us, placing a hand on both Scott's shoulder and mine.

"Your mom is gone," she said softly, making my heart ache at her words. "But she's still alive." She reached over, her fingers gently sliding the phone away from my brother.

"What do we do now?" Liam spoke up, his eyes flickering between all of us, but nobody had an answer.

"We can't hide from them." Malia eventually replied.

"What about Lydia? The Ghost Rider was afraid of her," Liam informed, reminding me of the moment my friend had caused it to stop in it's tracks.

"It was afraid of Venus too," Brett added, as I glanced over at him, confused for a moment, wondering what had happened before Liam and I arrived.

"It wasn't fear," Lydia said. "It's almost like..." she trailed off, trying to think of the word.

"Reverence," Venus finished, the word sending a slightly chilling feeling over me.

"Doesn't matter," Scott dismissed negatively. "The rift is gone. We're the only ones left in Beacon Hills."

There was a sudden heavy knock at the door before Sheriff Stilinski slowly stepped inside, making us all look up, hoping for some good news.

"I have a son." I straightened up upon his words, realising he'd finally remembered. "His name is Mieczyslaw Stilinski. But we call him Stiles. I remember," he almost whispered. "When Stiles was a little kid, he couldn't say his first name. Not sure why. It pretty much rolls off the tongue. But, uh, the closest he could get was mischief. His mother called him that until," he glanced down, breathing heavily. "I remember when, uh, when Stiles first got his Jeep. It belonged to his mother. She wanted him to have it. The first time when he took a spin behind the wheel, he went straight into a ditch. I gave him his first roll of duct tape that day. He was always getting into trouble. But he always had a good heart. Always. We're here tonight because my goofball son decided to drag Scott, his greatest friend in the world, into the woods to see a dead body."

Scott seemed slightly taken aback for a moment, but a hint of a smile ghosted over his lips. "How did you remember?"

"It started with Stiles' jersey. Then I found the red string for his crime board," he explained, causing me to smile involuntarily. "Finally, his whole room came back and all the memories. And then the strangest thing happened."

"What?" Lydia asked, leaning forwards, intrigued.

"I thought I saw him. It's like something opened right there in the middle of the room," he informed, using hand gestures to explain further. My heart leapt. A rift? "Just for a moment. And then it was gone."

"A rift," I blurted, hope-filled, allowing everyone's eyes to fall on me.

Malia frowned, not seeming convinced. "I thought there was only one rift? We saw it disappear."

"You remembered Stiles," Scott started, causing me to take in a sharp intake of breath as I started to realise what he was getting at. "And then a new rift was created."

"If the Sheriff can do it..." Malia trailed off, an almost smile tugging at her lips.

"Maybe we can," Lydia finished, the two of them sharing a hopeful look.

"But that rift closed," Liam reminded, causing the hope dancing in everyone's eyes to falter slightly.

"Then we'll open it again," Venus countered strongly, a determination settling over her.

Brett's eyebrows drew together as he leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Again?"

"By remembering Stiles," finally I answered, glancing at my brother, who nodded at me, a determined hint of a smile on his face.

"We have to remember everything."

❥

A/N

Hi guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while.

The past month I've been revising hard for my gcse exams, and the last two weeks I've been sitting them, so I haven't had much time to write.

The good news is, I've only got about another month of exams now, and after that I'll be able to update frequently again.

I really wanted to update this story the most out of all of them as I left it hanging quite a bit. I hope this chapter should tide you over for the next month or so as it took me absolutely ages to write.

I'm excited to get back to writing again, especially to explore these weird vibes between Becca and Liam.

Hope you're all good. Thank you for being so patient x