(Did you miss me? 😏 You certainly can't miss this new intro gif 💜💙🖤)

...

Sirens blare in the background, red and blue lighting up the area as Noah examines the hood of a van which sported five claw marks, perfectly spaced to a human hand. He gives the hood a little pat as he sighs in slight exasperation, making his way over to where an EMT was putting a brace on his son's hand with his best friends right next to him. "What in the hell were you three thinking?" He asked, making the three teens turn to face him.

Y/n shook her head as she took a small step away from Scott and Stiles. "I didn't have time to think, these two dragged me along."

"We were just trying to help." Scott answered, an awkward chuckle ending his sentence.

"Why don't you try and help me understand what the hell happened here?" Noah's voice dropped to a frustrated whisper.

"Right, well, we were trying to gently persuade him to pull over." Stiles explained. Y/n gave him a look at his wording, images of Scott fully wolfed out and roaring on the hood of the van very clear in her mind.

"He was getting away." It almost sounded like a question as Scott cringed at his own weak reasoning.

"He got away." Noah said, very unimpressed.

"Right. Because obviously he's some sort of criminal mastermind, Dad."

"Uh-huh. You want to guess what the stolen merchandise is?" The Sheriff asked as he moved around the trio to the back of the van, opening the back door to reveal several large tanks. "Hmm?"

"Critical life-saving equipment?"

"No."

"Poison gas?"

"Nope."

"Filled with drugs?"

"Helium."

"Helium?"

After the big reveal Noah sent the three away, telling them to go back home as there was nothing there for them to do. Y/n drove the Jeep while Stiles sulked in the passenger seat. "This could be a good thing." Scott mused from his spot in the back.

"That we saved helium?"

Scott chuckled. "I mean, that... They don't need us anymore."

Stiles scoffed. "Okay, well, they need us. They just don't know it."

"We're all going off to college soon. So Beacon Hills is gonna have to survive without us."

"Hun, I think Scott's right." Y/n chimed in, making Stiles glance at her. "We're moving on with our lives, we can't always be here for every little thing. Sure, when something big happens, we do our part, but the everyday can be left in their hands."

"Beacon Hills will burn to the ground without us."

"Stiles... They don't need us." Scott repeated as gently as he could, knowing how important this was to his friend.

Stiles didn't answer them. Although there really wasn't any time to answer as his phone started ringing. Seeing the caller ID he sat up in alert, turning his phone to the pair to show his dad was calling. "They need us!"

Noah called them back to the station where a young boy was brought in, distraught and unable to recall anything from that night. The Sheriff thought the teens might be able to help recover some of his lost memory. Noah kneeled in front of the boy who was sat in his office. "Alex, you know we're having trouble locating your parents. And since you can't remember anything, we have a method, an unusual method that might help you remember. But I need you to be okay with it. I also need you to know that it might seem a little more than strange."

"I don't care. I just want to find my mom and dad." Alex said, and Noah turned to the three waiting nearby. He brought them in, closed his door and shut all of the blinds, making sure no one could disturb them or see something they shouldn't.

Y/n kneeled in front of the boy, giving him a comforting smile. "Alright, Alex, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes for me, try to relax, and try to focus on what you did tonight. Do you think you can do that?" Alex nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. She layed her hands on the sides of his face, pressing her first two fingers to his temples. Her eyes began to glow before she closed them, taking a deep breath of her own before she started to delve into his mind, searching for the missing memories of that night.

Alex sits in the backseat of the van, idly watching the trees pass by, eyes following the eleven big, black birds that fly by. His mother clicks her tongue with a sigh as she looks back at him. "I told you we shouldn't have taken him to an R-rated movie." She says to her husband in the driver's seat.

"I wasn't scared." Alex denies.

"Well, I was terrified." His father attempts some comfort, glancing in the rearview mirror back at him. "Maybe we shouldn't take me to R-rated movies." They all share a chuckle at that.

"You weren't scared? Not even just a bit?" His mother asked again.

"Maybe a little." Alex finally admitted after a moment of hesitation. Turning along the road, the parents suddenly gasp, having to step hard on the brakes to avoid running into the horse and rider standing in the middle of the street. Lightning flashes as thunder rumbles, the horse rears back with a neigh that echoes in the night. The rider jumps down from his steed, the spurs on his boots jingling with each small movement of his feet. Alex's eyes widen as the man moves aside his duster to grab at the pistol on his hip.

His mother gasps in fear as she urges her husband to move. "Will, drive!" Will tries to make the car move, but the gears grind in protest. "Drive!" The man steps closer to the car and she turns to Alex. "Get down!" Alex does as told, hiding in the floor of the car as his mother screams. The man fires his weapon, shattering the windshield completely as the parents cover themselves. The man jumps onto the hood of the car, pulling Will out and disappearing with him. She screams as another man then comes to her door, grabbing and then ripping the whole thing off of it's hinges. She continues to scream as she tries to turn and get away, but the man still manages to grab her, pulling her out and disappearing with her as well.

Y/n's eyes dim as she opens them, letting her hands fall from Alex's face as she stands and backs away. "What'd you see?" Stiles asked as he moved to stand next to her.

"There was a guy on a horse."

"Horse?"

"It was dark, and I couldn't see much, but he had a gun."

"Okay, a guy with a gun. That sounds like my department, not yours." Noah said.

"What about his parents? Did you see what happened to them?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. All I remember was they just seemed to vanish. But... There was this feeling."

"What kind of feeling?" Noah asked, eyes slightly squinted at her strange tone.

"They're coming back." Alex answered for her, making the four look at his wide eyes. "They're coming for me."

...

Lydia gently ran her hands over what was left of the broken windshield, trying to sense anything out of the ordinary. She then moved and climbed into the drivers seat, Y/n glancing at her from the passenger side. Lydia put her hands on the wheel, closing her eyes for a moment to try and focus. "Hmm." Lydia hummed when she opened them again and caught her reflection in the mirror.

"What?" Stiles asked as he jumped up from the back seat, eager to know if either of the girls had felt or sensed anything.

"This is a perfect shade for me. Forget the name."

"I think it was peach kiss something." Y/n offered, Lydia tilting her head in possible agreement.

"Can we please stay on topic, here?" Stiles asked of them.

"We're not getting anything." Lydia said as Scott looked at the hood. The howl of a coyote echoed through the Impound Lot prompting Y/n to grab her sister's clothes and get out of the car. Malia shifted back from her full coyote form, her eyes dimming as she stood. "I don't think they're dead." Lydia informed as she and Stiles also climbed out of the car while Y/n handed Malia her clothes.

"They're dead. Probably torn apart." Malia shrugged as she put on her shirt. "The only thing I don't get is why there's no blood."

"They're not dead. If they were dead, I'd sense it."

"If they were alive, I'd smell it."

"Yeah, I'm not getting anything either." Scott admitted.

Y/n frowned as she looked at the car again. "It's so weird. Everyone leaves traces of themselves no matter where they go, but there's hardly anything here. It's almost like this car hasn't been touched in years."

Stiles looked at Y/n in confusion. "Y/n, what are you talkin' about? You were in his head for four minutes. I timed it."

"It's not that easy."

"And he's a kid. Maybe he's too freaked out to remember." Scott offered.

"Why does it matter if they're dead? Dead is dead." Malia wondered as she put her shorts on.

"Okay, if it's just a robbery, we can't help them. And if it's something supernatural, my dad can't help them." Stiles explained.

"It sounds like you want it to be supernatural." Lydia pointed out.

"It's been, like, three months since anything's happened."

"Yeah, and once a week you drag her and I out of bed like we're some sort of supernatural metal detectors." Lydia gestured to the witch.

"Okay, it is way more often than that. And she technically is, just so you know. Y-y-you can't tell me that you think this is just some series of impossible coincidences?"

"What I'm saying is maybe that wouldn't be so bad." With that said Lydia turned around and headed home, her heals clicking against the pavement as Malia gave them a shrug and followed the banshee.

Stiles sighed in frustration, going over and climbing into the car, lightly chewing on his thumbnail as he continued to stare at the broken glass remnants. Scott looked to Y/n and she gave a helpless shrug before she moved to lean against the door, Scott moving to stand in front of her and look at Stiles. "You're staring again." Y/n said.

Stiles sighed again. "There's something wrong with it."

"It's broken." Scott stated the obvious. "And it wasn't a magic bullet. It was a regular bullet. That blew out a regular windshield." He looked over his shoulder at one of the many damaged vehicles. "Just like that one, and that one... And that one." As the three looked at the vehicles they noticed a pattern. All of the windshields that had been shot out were shattered, but still intact, only a small hole where the bullet actually broke through left behind to show what happened.

They all shared a look before Stiles looked closer at the dashboard, reaching up and grabbing a loose shard of glass. "Magic bullet."

...

Stiles leans against the head of his bed, arm propped on his leg while he continues to stare at the glass shard he had taken from the car earlier in the night. Y/n lays between his legs, back against his chest while she reads, but she's distracted every time his hand moves, eyes flitting over every time he twists and turns the shard in the light. After the umpteenth time she quietly huffs, letting the book fall to her lap as she contemplates giving up reading for the night. Movement draws her eyes yet again, but this time it wasn't Stiles' hand. Her eyes find his window and the flutter of feathers. She can just make out a small murder of crows sitting on telephone wires across the road. Eleven of them to be precise.

"Huh. Eleven crows. There's gonna be a storm." She quietly muses, speaking to herself really, but her sudden statement made Stiles finally look away from the glass.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's, uh, just one of those things." She lightly waves a hand in dismissal. When she felt him shift she looked up to see him already staring at her with an expectant curious look. She smiles fondly, not knowing why she expected anything less. "Sometimes you can get signs or premonitions from nature or other things. Like if your broom falls over by itself, you're going to have an unexpected visitor. Or if your palm itches, you're going to get something, like a gift or money, but if you scratch it with your nails it goes away. And sometimes seeing eleven crows means a storm is coming."

"Is it just a storm? Or does more or less crows mean something else?"

"Yes, actually. Different amounts have different meanings, but it also depends on circumstances and situations, various meanings and interpretations. Like eleven crows could also means there's uncertainty, there's something unknown or undefined. Or like three crows. Sometimes it could mean something good, a celebration of some kind, like a marriage or the birth of a girl. But sometimes it could mean..."

"Sometimes it could mean...?" He lightly prompted, not liking how she just trailed off.

"Well, it could mean death. We saw three crows the day my mom died." Her voice quietened a bit at that new bit of information, a sad smile appearing as her eyes seemed to drift to another time. "She got so excited, because there was this young couple at a little diner we had went to that afternoon. She swore up and down that they were going to be married soon, and that their first kid would be a girl."

Stiles smiled a little as well. It wasn't often that she spoke of her mother, and when she did it usually made her sad, but it was nice to see her smile with a memory this time. "I'm sorry if I brought up any bad memories."

She was quick to shake her head in denial. "You didn't. It's nice to talk about her, it doesn't hurt as bad as it used to. I should talk about her more. She would have loved you." She told him with a smile.

"You think so?"

"I know so." Her smile grew when she saw him try to hide his own.

"Have you seen any crows with me?" He suddenly asked, trying to draw attention away from how flustered that had made him.

"Once." She admitted with a knowing grin, making Stiles raise a brow in interest. "The night you first said you loved me. There were nine crows sitting on my roof when we got to my house."

"What does nine mean?" He wondered, watching in curiousity as she sat up, only to slowly move to sit in his lap.

"It could mean something or someone is forsworn." She was now straddling his hips, hands moving up his chest to rest her arms over his shoulders, his hands automatically settling on her hips. "But it could also tell of something passionate," one of her hands started to mess with the hair on her back of his head, the other tracing imaginary shapes on the stars dotting his skin, her face just centimeters from his, her lips painfully close, "or sensual." Her whisper ghosted across his skin, and he could hardly take anymore before he tilted his head up to meet her in a kiss, hands gripping her waist tighter.

She sighed in contentment, eyes fluttering closed as his kisses moved across her cheek and down her neck. Although their fun got interupted as they somehow knocked a pillow into his nightstand, the couple breaking apart when they heard a crash. The lamp had been knocked off, plus an alarm clock and a few knickknacks. They waited for a moment to see if they had woken the Sheriff, but when no one came to the door they looked at each other before they started to laugh, Y/n falling against his chest to quiet her snickers while Stiles muffled his own in her hair.

Once they sobered up Y/n looked over at the accidental mess. "Here, let me pick it up."

Stiles watched as her eyes shifted into the amethyst that always mesmerized him before looking over as the items started to levitate. "I thought you didn't like to use magic for mundane things?"

"It's more like I try not to. Alan always said it was better to pick something up with my hands than with my magic. It's so I don't always rely on magic when I can just as easily do it the mundane way. Honestly I think he was just trying to keep me from being lazy as a tween." She chuckled making him huff a laugh. He looked over again to find that everything had been put back in it's proper place. Well, all except for one item which she held her hand out for as it lowered into her palm. "What's this?" She wondered as her eyes dimmed, holding it up for him to see as well. A delicate chain holding a silver pendant in the shape of a Jeep with gemstone wheels the same blue as his own Jeep.

His eyes lit up in recognition of the necklace. "Ah! I almost forgot about that." He took it from her hands before unhooking the clasp, reaching around and securing it on her neck. He smiled at her puzzled expression. "I got it for you." He clarified.

"What's the occasion?" She asked as she picked up the pendant between her fingers to examine it closer.

"I was going to give it to you for graduation, but I didn't want to wait that long. Plus I thought it would look nice on you while you get your yearbook photo tomorrow."

"It's beautiful. I love it." She grinned, heart warming at the surprise gift.

He shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. "I just wanted you to have a little piece of me wherever you go, so you don't forget me after we go to college."

"Stiles, I could never forget you. I don't think I ever truly can." She confessed as she put her arms around his neck again, his own looping around her back to hold her closer. "Even if I got amnesia, some part of me would remember you." She leaned her head against his, voice dropping to an almost a whisper. "You're etched into me."

His eyes fluttered shut for a moment as her lips ghosted over his, mind going fuzzy as everything about her starts to intoxicate him once again. "Then it can be a reminder that, should you need a nude model at that college you picked out, I'm a happy volunteer and only a drive away."

"Oh, yeah?" She smirked down at him, making him nod with a smile of his own.

"Yeah."

"Well, then, pose for me, Mr. Model." She kissed him again, fingers carding through his fluffy locks.

"Mm. Paint me like one of your French girls." He spoke against her lips, making her laugh again as he rolled them over. The rest of the night was lost in hungry kisses and feather-light touches, sweet nothings and silent promises. All thoughts of magic bullets, mystery men, or possible threats put to the back of their minds just for the night. Just long enough to enjoy these precious moments that burn themselves into their minds, their bodies, their souls. Further cementing just how much they mean to each other.

...

Y/n watched from her perch on top of the picnic table she, Lydia, and Scott were sat at, as Stiles kept trying to talk to Malia while the coyote was trying to get her yearbook photo taken. Malia grinned, ready for the picture when Stiles ran up to her. "Malia, so-" A camera flash made him realize he was a little too early. "My bad, sorry, go ahead, look pretty." He stepped back and she posed once again. "One sec-" He got in frame once again just as Sydney snapped the photo.

Sydney sighed while Malia complained. "That was a good one." Making him step back they tried to take the picture again, and again... And again. "Stiles!" Malia snapped.

"You're still in the photo." Sydney informed, she, Malia, and the long line of students who still need their picture taken all getting annoyed at the over-excitable teen.

"Sorry." He apologized as Malia groaned.

"You ruined it." She accused as she pushed him back towards their table. Y/n smiled to herself in mild amusement, thankful that she managed to get her picture taken before Stiles appeared talking a mile a minute.

"Why would I want to ruin your yearbook photo?" He asked as she sat on the tabletop mirroring her sisters position.

"Maybe because you haven't signed up for your own photo yet?"

"Yes, I did." He pulled the form from his pocket and unfolded it to show her that he did in fact fill it out, but-

"It's blank."

He frowned, looking to see the empty form. "Uh..." He stared at it in confusion.

"Or maybe you're sublimenting the stress of graduating by avoiding key milestones." Scott said, making everyone turn to Y/n's left where he was sitting with his schoolwork. "Psych paper." Malia smiled while Y/n and Lydia 'oh'd' in understanding.

"Hey, the Deputy searched the car." Stiles informed as he stuffed the paper back into his pocket. "No slugs, no exit hole. And the address Alex gave my dad, it's an abandonded house. Come on! Missing parents, suspicious guy on horseback, magic bullet. Who's comin' with?"

"I've got to retake my photos." Malia said.

Lydia shook her head. "Yeah, not interested."

"Shouldn't we wait until after the school day at least?" Y/n asked.

"I cannot miss any more classes." Scott agreed.

"Scott. Scott." Stiles tried to interject.

"I missed thirty-eight last semester. And Lydia's mom is the only reason I'm still in school. I can go after school."

"You know what? Forget it. I'll take Liam." The five turned to find Liam and Hayden on a bench, making out heavily without a care in the world. "Yeah, I'm not taking Liam."

"Mm-mm." Scott shook his head.

Y/n huffed a laugh as Sydney walked up to them with her camera. "Hey, can I get a candid?"

"Uh, no." Stiles said just as Y/n said, "Yeah, of course," grabbing his hand and making him sit on the bench between her feet. "Okay, fine." He relented, speaking quietly to her and Scott as he dug in his pocket. "If you can explain to me why this is blue, I'll let it go." He handed the shard of glass to Scott, who looked at it in puzzlement.

"Everyone smile." Sydney prompted. Y/n leaned her elbow on her knee and propped her head on her fist, leaning over slightly to be seen from behind Stiles. Everyone smiled and Sydney snapped the photo. A while later Scott had gone to his AP Biology teacher, Mrs. Finch, asking her how glass could be tinted, and she said a chemical reaction could cause a tint. When asked about the muzzle flash of a gun, she responded that a muzzle flash is because of superheated gases leaving the gun, and if the gases included certain types of elements it could burn blue or green.

With the new information Scott had gotten Stiles and a slightly reluctant Y/n and started heading for the school doors. "Thirty-nine?" Stiles asked him.

"Thirty-nine."

"Why not?" Y/n sighed as the boys opened the doors, all three going through them only for them to be led back through moments later by Natalie Martin.

"None of you are going anywhere." The woman held the boys by the backs of their shirts as Y/n was prompted forward by her quick pace. "Thirty-eight classes, Scott. I had to beg the superintendent."

"Mrs. Martin, Scott is the sworn protector of Beacon Hills." Stiles argued.

"He can protect it at 3:30." She let them go, watching as they walk down the halls assuming they'd go straight to class.

"We're not waiting till 3:30."

They had to wait until 3:30.

Stuck in their World History class an old documentary plays on the TV as Stiles stares intently at the clock, willing time to go by faster with a frustrated gesture. Y/n smiles in amusement before she turns back to her notebook, idly doodling in the margins as she hums a tune to herself. She had a dream about a familiar voice singing, a woman. And while she couldn't remember the words, the melody had been stuck in her head all day. Lydia glanced over at her friend, brows furrowing as she listened to her singing, for some reason the song sticking out to her. Even the anxious tapping of Stiles' thumb caught her attention, the continuos tap sounding almost like rain.

As soon as 3:30 hit and the dismissal bell rung, Stiles hopped up from his seat, swinging his bag over his shoulder in a rush, making Y/n have to dodge away to avoid being bludgeoned by school supplies. When she went to close her notebook she hesitated for a moment, finally actually seeing what she had been drawing. Eleven crows. She didn't have much time to even wonder about it before her things were being pushed into her bag and she was being pulled from her seat by Stiles who was anxious to get a move on. Still distracted from the things she was hearing Lydia was in no hurry to leave, talking her time to gather her books and follow her fellow classmates out of the room, but she stopped in front of the TV when she heard rain within the white noise on the screen. A voice similar to Y/n's, only with a slightly different tone, started to sing the same song she had been humming minutes before. Lydia frowned, slowly reaching forward to turn the TV off, only to be knocked back when lightning struck right in front of her. A crack of thunder pulled her from her trance, and she turned in her spot next to her desk when the teacher opened up the blinds behind her.

Stiles, Y/n, and Scott climbed out of the Jeep as soon as they came to a stop outside of the supposed abandoned house. Stiles sighed as they looked up at it. "That's not creepy at all." He handed them both a flashlight, keeping a third for himself, before they all walked up to the building. The door creaked as the Alpha opened it, shining the flashlights beam around the large, empty space. Old, dingy curtains covered the windows in the living room, and a glance into the dining room showed a dining table with plates and cups still set out as if someone was going to come back for dinner. Everything was coated in a healthy layer of dust and cobwebs.

"You wanna split up?" Scott asked as he turned to his friends.

"Uh, absolutely not."

"Spooky house covered in cobwebs and dust? Sounds like a basic horror movie, and the last thing you want to do in a basic horror movie is split up." Y/n agreed with her boyfriend.

They made their way over to a staircase, heading up to the second floor, finding more empty rooms. Y/n let her fingers lightly trail along the wall as they walked, trying to pick up any trace of anything that would say that this house hadn't been empty for years. "Maybe Alex got the address wrong." Scott thought aloud.

"Or he lied." Stiles countered.

"Why would he lie?" Y/n wondered. "He doesn't really have a reason to." When they got to the end of the hall they came upon the only closed door within the entire house. "There's something in there." Y/n whispered, finally getting a hint of something, a trace of fresh energy. Stiles glanced at her, and was the first one to inch his way forward, reaching out to the glass knob and twisting. The door swung open to a normal young boy's bedroom, complete with a made bed, wall hangings, knickknacks and toys sat on shelves and a desk still housing undone homework.

"He didn't lie."

"Why didn't the cops say anything about this?" Scott asked.

"They don't know it's here. They can't come here without a warrant, and there's no owner of record to serve it to. So unless there's some kind of threat or imminent danger, they wouldn't come in." A sudden clattering from downstairs had the two supernaturals looking to each other for confirmation that they had actually heard something. Stiles noticed their looks. "What?"

"There was a noise downstairs." Y/n answered, her and Scott turning to go investigate the sound. Stiles went to follow, but he stopped when he noticed pictures Alex had pinned on some cork board. Almost all of them had Alex at various ages, but the strange thing was there was always a big, empty space next to him, like there was supposed to be someone posed with him. Wind rushing made him look to see the bedskirt fluttering.

Scott and Y/n had made their way back down the stairs, looking for anything out of the ordinary. That would soon come for when they looked back to the dining table after having glanced at it, the plates and cups had vanished, leaving only clean circles in the dust as evidence that there was anything ever sitting there. "What the hell?" She muttered, fingers grazing over the empty space.

Stiles moved over to the side of the bed, getting down to his hands and knees to look under. There was a huff, and then horse hooves stepped into view with a gruff. Stiles jumped up to look above the bed, yet the horse was nowhere in sight.

As Scott and Y/n kept looking around, they heard more footsteps approaching. They quickly rounded the corner, giving Liam and Mason a great scare at the sudden appearance of their seniors. "Hey, what are- what are you doing here?" Liam asked, trying to play off his fright.

"This is Alex's house. What are you doing here?" Scott countered.

"This is where the compass led us."

"Compass?" Y/n questioned, prompting Mason to step forward and hold his hand out, showing them an old pocket compass whose needle was spinning around in all different directions.

Stiles, now very spooked, scrambled to his feet and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him with nervous pants. A strange wind scattered the old leaves across the ground. Stiles turned to find the silhouette of a man blocking the end of the hall.

"Why is it doing that?" Scott asked.

"I have no idea." Mason answered.

Liam showed them his phone where he had the digital compass pulled up, which also was spinning erratically. "They're all doing it."

The man held up a pistol in Stiles' direction, spurs jingling as he advanced. "Wait." Stiles' plea was just a whisper. The man fired, missing Stiles and creating a new hole in the door. Stiles flinched away, falling to the ground as he ducked and covered his head as the man fired five more times, each bullet missing his intended target.

A breeze pushed fallen leaves towards Y/n's feet, and she let out a short gasp just as the compass' glass broke. "Something's here." She breathed, her feet moving of their own volition just as they heard a thump from upstairs. Stiles lowered his arm to find the man had disappeared, soon replaced by Y/n's figure as she was the first one up the stairs and hurriedly moving towards him. "What happened?"

"He was here. He shot at me." Stiles panted. He looked to the door, hand vaguely gesturing at where the bullet holes where supposed to have been. "It was one of the guys you saw in Alex's memory."

"The guy who took his parents?" Mason asked.

"No, no, no. They weren't just taken. They were- they were made to disappear. That's why there's no furniture, that's why they weren't in any of the photos. They were erased." Stiles turned to the door and opened it once again, but instead of the room full of things that was there before, it was now completely empty, looking as abandoned as the rest of the house.

...

"I keep feeling like it's familiar, you know? Like I've heard it before." Stiles said as he flipped through a book of unexplained mass disappearances, Y/n and Lydia walking with him outside of the school.

"Une pensée que tu n'arrives pas à atteindre." Y/n said, making Stiles look at her. "It's French. It means, 'a lingering thought you can't reach'. I've got it too."

"How do you even know that?"

"Ophelia and most of her memories are gone, but the language stuck."

"Okay, well, is there a French word for 'feeling an overwhelming sense of urgency and impending doom'?"

"Féminine un fille fantôm?" Lydia offered this time. "It's French for 'banshee'."

He suddenly stopped, making them stop as well as he turned to face them. "Okay, what- what do your witchy and banshee intuitions say this is?"

"That you don't have to figure it all out right this second."

"But this kid. This kid's got no one. You know, and... There's a reason why. There's gotta be." He snapped the book closed, and a thunder clap echoed in Lydia's ears. She heard Y/n's humming again followed by the voice that sounded similar to her witch friend, singing more words that she repeated out loud.

"'Give this man a ride, sweet family will die. Killer on the road'."

"Riders on the Storm?" Stiles asked, recognizing the lyrics.

"What?" The girls chorused.

"That's the song. Riders on the Storm?"

"That song has been stuck in my head since I woke up." Y/n admitted, before something clicked in her mind, and her lips parted in surprise. "Oh, my God. That's it."

"What's it?"

"The ghost riders." Lydia said, making the same connections Y/n had.

"The Wild Hunt!" Y/n exclaimed before elaborating. "That's why the crows keep warning of a storm. I saw them in Alex's memories, I saw them outside your house last night. The ghost riders come by storm, riding spectral horses and abduct people to join their ranks."

"You both are so smart, I could kiss you right now!" Stiles claimed, which is what he actually did, holding Y/n's face between his hands to give her an excited peck. When he pulled away he turned to Lydia, but she held a hand up to him.

"Do not kiss me." Lydia warned.

"Not gonna, no." Before she could react he leaned in and kissed her cheek, rushing off before she could do anything to him. "Did it anyway!"

Lydia stood still in surprise for a moment, wondering what just happened. Y/n's chuckle of amusement brought her back. "How do you deal with that on a daily basis?"

She shrugged. "It's just part of his charm."

...

Stiles had run all the way to the lacrosse field in his search of Scott, finding the wolf walking with his lacrosse stick in hand. "Scott. Scott. Hey. Hey." He slowed to a walk as soon as he caught up with his friend. "It's called the Wild Hunt. It's a myth. Only, apparently it's real. Like every other myth in this town that should just really remain a nightmare."

"The guy on the horse?"

"Yeah, they call them ghost riders." A passing group of lacrosse players walking by caught his attention, more specifically one that was sporting the number 24. "Hang on one second. Hey. That's my jersey. Where'd you get that?"

"Coach gave it to me at practice." The kid responded.

"We had practice?" He turned on Scott. "Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?"

"Why would the ghost riders want to take Alex's parents?"

"Because that's what they do. They take people, okay? They run around collecting souls. And once they take you, you're gone."

"But it's not just you, it's everything about you."

"Yeah, like how they took Alex's room." Stiles was really only speaking facts, but that caused them to come to a conclusion.

"Does that mean Alex is next?"

...

Malia walked into the mostly empty classroom where Y/n and Lydia where waiting for her. "Got your text. You said you needed my help?" When she stood almost in front of them she noticed Lydia's distant look, and Y/n holding her grimoire in her arms. "Oh, God. That kind of help."

"Something terrible is going to happen." Lydia said.

Malia sighed and leaned against a desk. "Okay, what is it?"

"I don't know. That's why we need your help."

"We need to find out everything we can about ghost riders." Y/n set her grimoire on a desk and opened it up, starting to flip through the pages while Lydia and Malia searched what they could on a computer.

...

Stiles and Scott ran into the Sheriff's station, urging Clark to let them into the holding area, which she did with much confusion. When they got there they saw the cell wide open with no Alex in sight. "Where's the kid? What happened to him?" Stiles asked.

"What kid?" Clark responded.

"Alex. The kid from the car wreck? The kid whose parents went missing last night?"

"Who's Alex?"

"Clark, listen to me. He was here, okay? You met him."

Clark only looked more and more perplexed, genuinely having no idea what he was talking about. "Where's the Sheriff?" Scott asked instead.

"He got called out to the high school. They found a body. No one's been in lock-up all day." She directed the last thing to Stiles. She reached over the nearby desk and picked up the clipboard. "Check for yourself." She handed him the clipboard before leaving them alone.

Stiles did indeed check for himself, flipping through every single form trying to find any evidence of Alex, but when he found that every single page was blank he let it clatter on the desktop. "He's not on here. They took him."

"I shouldn't have left him alone." Scott said.

"He knew they were coming for him."

"What if they're coming back for everyone else who was on that road?"

"Then we already know who's next."

"Liam and Hayden." The boys rushed back over to the school, running to the doors but stopping when they saw the officers talking to teachers and students alike, not sure where to look first for the younger teens. "I'll check the Quad. Let me know if you find them. And see if your dad knows anything."

"Yeah, okay." Scott turned away, but Stiles called him back before he got too far. "Hey, Scott, wait. Um, I- I just, uh... I wanted- I wanted to say, um..." Scott looks at him expectantly, but Stiles can't get his thoughts in order enough to say what he wanted.

"Tell me later." Scott gently prompted.

"Yeah, alright." Stiles agreed, watching Scott run off before he turned to speed down the hall, almost running into Natalie in the process.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Sorry!"

"Slow it down."

"Sorry. Mrs. Martin, sorry. Hey, have you seen, uh, Liam and Hayden? Actually, forget that. Have you seen my dad?"

"Who?"

"My dad. He's here because of the body?"

"How do you know about the body?"

"Because my dad's the Sheriff. Mrs. Martin, are you okay?"

Her attention was drawn from the increasingly confusing situation to a couple of officials who were wheeling a gurney by just outside. "Uh, just wait here." She said before walking outside. Not having the time to wait Stiles instead ran down the hall, continuing his search for the Betas he believed to be in trouble.

...

"Why do they look like cowboys?" Malia asked as she looked over Y/n's shoulder at one of the few sketches the witch could find in the grimoire.

"They didn't always look like that." She denied. "This suggests that their form changes depneding on the culture and as time goes on. Apparently they look like fairy soldiers in some places. But it's still not telling me what's going to happen." She raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"When did you first have the premonition?" Malia then asked Lydia who was equally as frustrated.

"I was with Stiles and Y/n. We realized it was the Wild Hunt. The riders, the horses. Souls getting swept up." She sighed as she turned the computer to show the picture she had found.

Faceless figures in black cloaks, surrounded by crows and riding horses in the sky wielding swords, spears, and bow and arrows, people running away from them below, some with arrows in their backs. Malia read aloud the text at the bottom. "'Those who see the Wild Hunt beware, for you are already lost'."

Y/n glances at the picture, lightly frowning when she counted the crows scattered around the riders, an old poem her mother had read to her from the grimoire when she was young. "'Seventeen finds you standing alone'." She muttered.

...

Stiles spotted Mason turning a corner and was quick to catch up to him. "Mason, Mason, hey, where's Liam?" He asked in a rush, although right behind Mason was the two he was looking for. "Liam? Okay, there you go. Liam and Hayden, perfect. You two, you two have to listen to me right now. Alex is gone, just like his parents, okay? The ghost riders took him, so you guys, you can't be alone. You got to stick with Scott or with me because I can see them." The whole time he had been speaking, all three teens had been giving him strange looks which he didn't process until right then. "Why the hell are you lookin' at me like that?"

Instead of answering Hayden turned her head to Liam and spoke in a whisper. "Do we even know him?" Stiles' head jerked back in surprise at that question.

"I don't even know if he goes here." Liam whispered back.

"Do you go to this school?" Mason asked Stiles directly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What's your name?" Liam's question caused memories to surface in Stiles' mind, small things that seemed insignificant but were now alarmingly serious.

"Maybe because you haven't signed up for your own photo yet?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's blank."

"Hey. That's my jersey. Where'd you get that?"

"Coach gave it to me at practice."

Panic started to set in. Stiles then spotted Noah down the hall, and he pushed passed the very confused trio in order to talk to him. "Son, you okay?" Noah asked, holding a hand out to slow Stiles to a stop.

"Oh, thank God. Thank God." Stiles breathed in relief, pulling Noah into a hug before pulling away again. "Everyone's forgetting. E- Everyone is forgetting everything, and-"

"Okay, okay, slow down, slow down. We'll figure this out together."

"Okay." Stiles panted, nodding his head a little.

"Now, why don't you tell me your name?" Stiles felt like a rug had been ripped out from under him, his own father not even remembering him causing him to step away. He pulled out his phone and called one of the people he was closest to, hoping against hope that he still knew him.

"Scott?" He asked as soon as the line connected.

"Hey."

"Scott, where are you? Where are you right now?"

"Who is this?"

His ears rang as he hung up the phone, Clark's confused face flashing in his head.

"Alex. The kid from the car wreck? The kid whose parents went missing last night?"

"Who's Alex?"

"It's me. I'm next."

...

Y/n sits up straighter as her eyes skim over one of the few pages she found on the ghost riders, mouth going dry at the new information.

Ghost riders remain unseen to the naked eye unless they want you to see them. They reveal themselves only to mark their victims, and then the hunt is on. Yet ghost riders are just like any spirit, and may be observed by those who have the sight without endangering themselves. But be warned, carelessly peering through the veil may pierce it and allow them to mark more unwitting victims.

"'They reveal themselves only to mark their victims, and then the hunt is on'." She repeated out loud, Malia and Lydia turning to look at her as she came to a frightning conclusion. "He saw them. He saw one of the riders. They're coming for Stiles." She spoke in alarm, eyes wide in fear as she looked to her sister and friend, although Malia's response was not what she was expecting.

"Who's Stiles?" Y/n looked between the girls, seeing mirrored expressions of confusion.

Realizing their memory had been affected so quickly she knew time was running out. "No, no, no." She jumped up from her seat, ignoring Lydia's calls as she ran to find Stiles.

...

Stiles burst out of the school doors, but slowed to a stop when he realized he didn't really know where to go. "Stiles!" Y/n called as she ran up to him, their arms automatically going around each other as soon as she collided with him.

"Y/n?" His voice was slightly muffled by her shoulder, but he sighed in relief when her arms held him a little tighter. "You know me. Oh, thank God. You know me."

"I know you." She confirmed as she pulled away. "But everyone else is forgetting."

The wind picked up, pushing leaves closer towards the couples' feet. Stiles' gaze went past the witch landing on a figure on horseback. "Hey, do you see him?"

Y/n looked over her shoulder, but there was no one to be seen with the naked eye. "See who?"

"The guy on horseback."

There was still nothing she could see, but there is a way she could. "'May be observed by those who have the sight'." She blinked and this time she could see the rider stalking his prey. Five crows fly by.

"What?" She faced him again and he could see her eyes glowing in the darkness.

"They're spirits, I can see them with my eyes shifted. Stiles, they're revealing themselves to you. You've been marked. They're gonna-"

He cut her off, hands coming up to hold the sides of her face. "No, I know, I know. Okay. They're coming for me. So you have to get away from me right now, okay?"

"I am not leaving you!" She denied with a firm expression, and he knew there was no point in trying to argue.

"All right, come on, come on!" He took her hand and together they began to run. "This way, this way, come on." They turned a corner, but a rider was headed straight for them. Six crows flutter alongside him. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Okay, this way. Keep going." He pulled her in another direction, only to be once again cut off by a rider, two more cornering them. Five more crows swirl around them.

"They're everywhere." She pants, silently begging for the dark birds to disappear, to stop showing themselves to her, to just stop at sixteen.

Stiles looks around for an escape and sees his Jeep not far away. "Come on, come on, come on!" He took off towards it with her in tow. "Y/n, stop looking at them! Stop looking and don't try to stop them. They'll take you too. Just stop looking at them."

"Alright, alright." She did as he asked, shifting her eyes back to e/c as they climbed into the Jeep, slamming the doors closed behind them. Stiles fumbled with his keys for a moment, trying to get the right one and put it into the ignition. Once he did he looked up again, finding that they were completely surrounded by the ghost riders. He looked back down, an understanding of the situation dawning on him. He will never get away from them. Just like Alex, no matter where he ran or where he hid, they would find him and take him anyways. He pulled the key out and turned to Y/n. "What are you doing?"

"There's no time." He fully faced her, knowing there was only moments left. "Y/n, I'm going to be erased, okay? Just like Alex. You're going to forget me."

"No." She shook her head, vision blurring slightly from new tears. "No, I won't. I won't. I can't."

"Y/n, you will."

"Please, don't leave me." She quietly begged, even though she knew neither of them had any control over what was coming.

"Just try to find some way to remember me, okay?" He took her hand in his, and she held on tight as if that might be enough to keep him with her. "Remember how you said I was etched into you?" She nodded. "Then remember how I feel. Remember what it's like when we're together. How every part of us fits together like puzzle pieces. Remember our confessions and our promises and our plans together." He held her hand up to his lips, trying imprint this moment in both of them. "Remember how you hold my heart in your hands."

She smiled. "You hold mine too."

"Just remember... Remember I love you." He whispered. Lightning illuminates his face one last time as a rider opens his door and pulls him out. Y/n's hand reaches for empty air as the door slams closed.

Tears stain her cheeks as she grips her necklace, the metal of the pendant and her ring both biting her skin as she desperately tries to hold onto the memory of him. "Remember... Remember, Y/n... You have to remember..." The seventeenth crows lands on the hood of the Jeep.

...

The bell rings as Y/n pushes open the door to the school, pausing at the end of the hall and clutching the strap of her bag as she watches her fellow students roam around with a distracted gaze. Liam and Hayden walk out of their class together. Mason leans a hand against a locker, smiling as Corey whispers something in his ear. Her eyes bounce between the friends and couples smiling and enjoying their time together. Liam and Hayden had joined Mason and Corey by the lockers, and they had all turned and smiled at the witch in greeting, but she didn't even seem to really notice them.

Malia and Lydia suddenly stop in her view, both with concerned looks at her just standing in the middle of the hall. "You okay?" Malia asked.

"I have this feeling like there's something I'm supposed to be doing."

Scott joined the girls, his own concerned gaze on the witch. "Like what?"

She looked between the three with a helpless expression. "I can't remember."

~~~
Published: 3/15/23

This hurt so much 🥲

BUT I'M BACK! I missed you all so much 🥺💜💙🖤

I'm sorry I was gone longer than expected. I just wanted to finish writing this season before actually publishing it, and then some life stuff got in the way which pushed it back even further. But I'm back now and I'm so excited for you all to see what's coming 🥰

Also, I made a lil something to accompany this chapter 👀 best viewed on full screen 💜💙🖤

☽︎𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖...☾︎