"You don't believe me."

***

When everyone returned to school, they had a memorial assembly for Alex. Lydia still imagined his and Jackson's spirits still lingering on the school grounds, or perhaps their ghosts wouldn't leave until Jennifer was dealt with. She even saw the ghost of Ahmet a few times, but he didn't communicate with her as much.

Grief was strife in the hallways. The stench of it appeared to be everlasting, affecting everyone. Well, everyone except Jennifer.

Other than that, no one seemed to care anymore. People were dead, and it felt a regular occurrence by now. They all hoped it would be the last funeral, yet Lydia knew better than that. So, she started to do some research. Paranormal research.

The occult section in the library was surprisingly extensive. She was still shocked that there even was an occult section for some strange reason. Nevertheless, she conducted her investigation into what Jennifer was. She skimmed through pages of old, skinbound books that contained exactly what she needed.

When offering a virgin to Satan, the initiator signs their soul away for their desires to be recognised. If the sacrifice is impure, a demon remains in the intended victim and turns them into a succubus or incubus. 

To destroy the demon, the host must be stabbed through the heart if they are weak enough. A blade to the heart is the surest way to kill the beast.

She tried searching for other ways to kill the demon without murdering Jennifer in the process, but the information was futile. But she couldn't kill her, right?

***

Lydia hadn't spoken to Jennifer since their last encounter, but she kept a keen eye on her. As her old friend became more sociable and grew in popularity, Lydia was slowly becoming a recluse. No one spoke to her anymore, not that she minded. They weren't scared of "Big Bad Lydia Martin", but they should have been scared of the demonic Jennifer Check.

As she silently wandered through the crowded hallways of Beacon Hills High School, she came across a familiar face. Her eyes widened in relief. "Isaac!"

He froze, surprised that she took notice of him. "Hey, Lydia..."

"You're okay." She mentioned.

"Yeah..." Isaac narrowed his eyes. "Is that a problem?"

She put on a smile, assuring him. "No, it's great. I'm glad that you're okay."

Despite sharing the same classes, Lydia had never really spoken to Isaac, so it was strange of her to speak to him now. "Is something wrong?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing. I was just... checking up on you. That's all."

"Right..." his words trailed off.

"Anyway, um, did you meet Jennifer at lunch? Like a few weeks ago?" she wondered.

Isaac furrowed his brows. "How did you-?"

"I'm her best friend. She tells me everything, including... you know what." Lydia insinuated.

Instantly, Isaac's muscles tense. A sense of awkwardness was brewing in the air. "Oh, right..."

"So...?"

"So what?"

"Did you get to meet up with her?" questioned Lydia.

"Oh, no. I couldn't find her. She never showed up." He told her. "I think she might be avoiding me. I don't know why."

She nodded, her worries eased for the moment. "Good. That's good."

Isaac squinted, bewildered by her statement. "What?"

"Yeah, well, I came to warn you." She asserted.

He straightened up a little, intrigued. "Warn me?"

She couldn't tell him the truth; he'd never believe her. It was hard to believe herself, yet here we are. Lydia had to keep every boy away from her somehow, and so she told him. "Jennifer's been a bit... loose around the edges. She's still traumatised from the Melody Lane fire. That's why she's been acting so weird lately. You have to understand that she's not ready to pursue a relationship with anybody until she can get over this great loss."

Isaac understood somewhat, yet he still cited. "But you're in a relationship?"

"I was in one before the fire, idiot." She huffed, already frustrated by this conversation. "Look, I'm just saying that you should just stay away from her until she's overcome that pain."

"Oh, okay." He nodded, seemingly trusting her excuse. "Should I wait until the dance then?"

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "Dance?"

"Yeah, the formal. Can I ask her to go with me?" he wondered.

Her lips parted. Lydia's eyes drifted away from Isaac as she experienced some deep thought. "Holy shit."

Then, she began marching off in the opposite direction, leaving Isaac without a proper answer. "Is that a no?" Still, he gained no response from her.

As Isaac was left confounded by her strange warning, Lydia began making her way through the school. She scoured the grounds for her boyfriend whilst also checking for her carnivorous buddy. 

Eventually, she spotted a well-known pale boy in the crowd. He stood in the middle of a line with other students surrounding him. They all led to a stall that was selling tickets. His hands were dug deep into his pockets, clearly impatient. This was it. She needed to tell him everything, otherwise, he was going to be Jennifer's next meal.

She stormed over to him. "Stiles, I need to talk to you."

His eyes widened in curiosity. "What, right now?"

"Yes, it's urgent." Lydia pleaded.

"Well, I was..." he started, glancing back at the tickets stall. Stiles sighed and rubbed a hand across his forehead. "I was going to buy us formal tickets as a surprise, but now you know, I guess..."

There was a delighted glimmer in her eyes. "You were?" However, her joy subsided as she remembered what was at stake. "That's really sweet and all, but I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" he wondered.

Although, her attention was quickly drawn away when she spotted Jennifer in the crowd. She was socialising with some cheerleaders, pretending to enjoy their company. Then, almost as if she could sense her presence, Jennifer peered in Lydia's direction. She innocently smiled at her.

But, as a student crossed Lydia's vision and blocked Jennifer for a moment, she hallucinated a toothy grin instead. Blood dripped from her mouth as she callously laughed. An expression of pure terror glazed her face, her eyes glued upon the possessed teenager.

"Lydia?" Once again, Stiles broke his girlfriend out of her many trances.

She blinked, glimpsing back at Jennifer, who now appeared normal. "Not here." Lydia grabbed his hand and forcefully removed him from the line.

Stiles was helplessly dragged away from the gaggle of students. Nevertheless, she had to get him away from Jennifer's view. The couple made their way to a quiet corner of the school, somewhere they would not be disturbed.

Since it was lunchtime, it allowed her time to talk to Stiles alone. She reached into her bag, removing a large book from her bag. Though she was mostly nonchalant about the whole thing, her boyfriend began to feel uncomfortable. "Lydia, what is going on?" he asked. Yet, she chose to ignore him. "Look, all I wanted to do was buy us some tickets for the formal, and now I'm going to have to join that line again. And you know I can be a bit impatient sometimes-"

"Okay, first of all, I can't go to the formal with you." She finally spoke. "In fact, you shouldn't go to the formal at all."

"Wait, what?" he furrowed his brows in confusion. "Is this because I didn't ask you? Was I supposed to do that? Because I can. I could do something elaborate, you know with-"

Lydia shook her head, assuring him. "No, no. It's not that you didn't ask me. I was going to go with you anyway." She revealed.

"Okay..." It still wasn't the explanation he was looking for. "So, why can't you go with me?"

"Right, this is going to be hard to explain, and it might sound a little crazy." Lydia frowned as she clutched the old book in her hands. "Who am I kidding? It is crazy."

Upon seeing her distress, he acknowledged. "And now I'm concerned."

Lydia inhaled deeply, raising the book higher. "Okay, promise me that you're going to think about the implications."

"Alright..." he faltered, agreeing with her terms.

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, trying to describe the situation the best she could. "Jennifer's evil." There was a short pause before Stiles chuckled. "Don't laugh. This is serious."

Immediately, his laughter ceased. "Sorry." He apologised. "I mean, yeah, I know. I heard about her making out with Scott. That was low even for her."

"No, I mean she's actually evil." She insisted, her serious gaze remaining. "Not like "high school" evil. Like literally evil." 

His head dropped slightly, an expression of irritation forming. "Can we not talk about Jennifer? I swear, she's all you ever think about these days."

"Stiles, this is important. You have to listen to me." Lydia begged. 

"Lydia, I care about you a lot. I've cared about you for years. And, to be honest, I'm scared." He confessed to her. "I'm scared of what's happening to you. You've been acting strange ever since the night Alex Drake died."

"Please, just let me show you." She opened the book, attempting to locate the correct pages. Stiles scratched his head uncomfortably, leaning in to read. "I've been through the occult section of the library five times."

"Wait, the library has an occult section?" he quizzed.

"Yeah, it's really small." She resumed. Soon enough, she found the right page and displayed it to Stiles. "Alright, this talks about "Demonic Transference". It's something that happens when you try to sacrifice a virgin to the Devil... if you're not a virgin, that is. Those guys in the band tried to do it with Jennifer, but she literally lost her virginity earlier that day."

"To who?" wondered Stiles.

"Doesn't matter," Lydia stated. "What matters is that it went wrong. Even though they got everything they wanted, the demon didn't leave Jennifer's body." She pointed at the text. "This specifically states that, if the sacrifice is impure, the demon will forever reside in the soul of the victim. From then on, Jennifer has to feed on flesh to sustain it."

He glared at her for a moment, unsure what she was insinuating. "What...?"

"It's Jennifer. She's eating boys!" she exclaimed. "She's the one who killed Jackson, Alex, and even Ahmet. For some reason, they make her look really pretty and glowy. However, when she's hungry, she's weak and cranky. Do you get it?"

"Get what?"

"The formal!"

"What about it?"

"It will be an all-you-can-eat buffet." She surmised. Every boy would be there, meaning that Jennifer had her pick of the lot. "Someone is going to die that night, and it's all because of her."

Stiles looked at her with concern. His eyes were despairing as he took in the information. "Lydia, I think you need help."

Her hope failed her. "You don't believe me," Lydia said. Despite telling him everything, it still wasn't enough for him to accept that Jennifer was a monster. Sadness overwhelmed her, leaving tears in her eyes. "Of course, you don't believe me. Why would you? This is completely ridiculous-!"

She threw the book to the floor as Stiles aimed to comfort her. "Hey, it's not that I don't believe you. I just don't believe... this!"

"God, this is a nightmare!" she cried.

"I know, I know." He cradled her in his arms, lightly kissing the top of her head. "I just... The formal is coming up, and I ordered you a corsage. It's an orchid, and it was, like, twelve dollars. So, let's not waste it."

"I won't," she began. Lydia peered up at him. "But you're going to have to."

He squinted, breaking away slightly. "What?"

"I'll be at the dance. I need to keep an eye on Jennifer." She informed him. "I need you to promise me that you'll stay away."

"Lydia, I don't... I don't understand." Stiles choked.

She bowed her head. "Stiles, it's not safe for us to be together. As long as you're with me, you're a target."

Lydia sorrowfully watched as his heart shattered into a million pieces. "Are you... breaking up with me?" 

Tears fell down her cheeks as saliva clogged up her throat. She gulped, murmuring her response. "I'm sorry..."

His hands dropped, letting her go. A cruel emotion took hold of him, although, Lydia did not know whether it was sadness or anger. Stiles didn't say anything, only stared with a small pout. It was hard for her too, but she needed to keep him safe. This was the best way to protect him.

Then, as he held the remnants of his broken heart in his hands, Stiles slowly walked away. Lydia looked on, her lips quivering as she quietly sobbed. Her body collapsed, sliding down the painted brick wall. He was one of the only things in her life that kept her sane, and now she had to let him go.

She was going to end this for good, even if it meant killing Jennifer.

***

I hope that Stydia is going to be in the Teen Wolf movie. Lydia and Stiles are made for each other. Since it's going to be on Paramount Plus, I don't know how I'm going to watch it in the UK.

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. The next chapter shall be part one of the formal. It's all going to go down now.

- Alice ❤