25. Shattered
"Remind me again why you talked me into doing this?" I breathe as I stare at the huge building in front of me, unsure where we exactly were. Allison drove, and it had something to do with the map, so I guess it was somewhat important.
Allison looks over at me, her face stern. "I didn't; you insisted on coming, remember?"
"Oh yeah," I say as she starts to fish out her daggers from the back seat. "That's because no way in hell am I letting you do something like this, because it's crazy."
Allison's eyes look back at me, her hands still hidden in the back as she reached into a bag. "What's crazy is that my dad actually might be the killer, Corey. I'm going in there."
She did have a good point. If her father was the killer, we needed to know, and this was the perfect opportunity since another teacher had been taken from the school. I didn't have him, so I wasn't sure who he was, but either way, his life mattered. I was just nervous of what we'd find in there; mostly because we had yet to see what the Darach was really made of.
"Stay close behind me and be quiet," she says finally, pulling two daggers out and handing one to me. She shoves it into my chest, making sure my hand grabs it before she lets it go. I was a little surprised that she was letting me hold her precious daggers; since she's always been so uptight about who got to touch them. I guess I made the cut.
"Don't have to tell me twice," I mumble before we're both getting out of the car, walking up to the doors of the huge building. It looked like it was some type of old warehouse maybe? I wasn't exactly sure...but I did know that it reminded me a whole lot of the bank vault. Memories flashed through my head of being stuck in the darkness with Boyd and Cora, making me grow sick to my stomach.
I should have gotten over Boyd by now, but something just wasn't settling right with it. Yeah, he was dead and I had accepted that, but something about his death made me realize something. The alphas didn't care who stood in their way when it came to what they wanted; and it scared me that they had taken his life so easily...something that should be unbearable for any person to do.
I guess what scared me the most was Allison. What if they got their hands on her and took her life away just like that? What if they didn't need me anymore and killed me just like that? It made me wonder if my death would affect anyone. I knew it would for Allison, but the others I wasn't so sure about. Yeah, maybe they'll be heartbroken for a while, but eventually, I'll just be added to the "died too young" list they started forming in their heads a long time ago. I guess my death wouldn't really count considering I've already died before.
"Did you hear that?" Allison says suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. I was glad too; because it was starting to get to me.
I look around, seeing that we were now standing in the building. "Hear what?"
"Sounded like chains," she breathes before I look up farther ahead, seeing some type of figure it appeared standing there in the doorway. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't standing in the doorway; it was the teacher, hanging by his neck in chains.
Allison notices too, and she starts to take off running towards the teacher. I scream at her to stop, but she keeps going. "Allison, wait-"
My eyes see movement behind the man as Allison does as well; finally stopping in her tracks. It was someone...no, something with a black hood on. It's face was almost unbearable to look at with it's torn apart flesh and bright clear, shining eyes. It was a monster, alright. Something I wanted to get as far away from as possible.
There was a brief moment when the thing stared at Allison and I; either realizing finally that we were there, or something else that I wasn't sure of. I finally catch back up with Allison, stepping in front of her just in case that thing did decide to come after us. I about told her to turn around and run, knowing she wouldn't do that anyways, before I hear a voice call out, echoing off of the concrete structure around us.
"Get down!"
I know that it's Chris the moment I hear his voice; more than glad that it was him. My arms wrap quickly around Allison as I bring her to the ground, covering her as bullets soared just inches above our heads. I knew that Chris had spot on aim, but the fear of a stray bullet possibly coming into contact with either Allison or me was still there.
One of my eyes open as I look up, seeing that Chris was now in front of us and running towards that thing. I barely catch a glimpse of it turning and dashing off, getting out of there as fast as it could. Chris reloads his two pistols before firing again, clearly not being able to stop it this time.
"Untie him!" he shouts over us, emptying his last few bullets. Allison stands before I do, her fingertips brushing across my hand as she darts towards her father. I follow close behind as we stop in front of him, seeing that he was already dead.
"It's Mr. Westover," Allison breathes, her eyes wide. "We were wrong; it's not guardians it's after...it's philosophers."
My mind works quickly. "Then the last person is going to be a teacher, right?"
"But there's dozens of them," Chris says, sticking his guns back into his holsters on his side.
Wheels spin behind Allison's eyes. "No—tonight is the recital. They'll all be there."
"I guess we're going after all."
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The moment we pulled up to the school, you could practically feel the loss of life linger in the air. No, I don't mean the fact that there have been countless murders or deaths at this school; but rather what I had a feeling was coming.
When we had gotten out of the car, Allison and I both took off at a full sprint. We knew how dire of a situation this was; and I didn't want to sit around and see another murder again. I was surprised that when we finally made it to the auditorium that they hadn't started yet, and I was surprised that Lydia was even here.
Allison glances over at her friend for a moment before looking at me, worry on her face. "I'll go over here and keep my eyes out; you go over there. Text me or call me or whatever if something happens, okay?"
"I've still got your dagger on me," I nod towards my pocket. "I'll be fine."
Allison nods her head once before disappearing into the crowd, being the friend she always was: keeping an eye out for them. I admired her for that; it was something that I lacked. Sure, I'd do anything to take care of them, and I convinced myself that I'd die for them, but when I thought back to Jade...I couldn't help but rethink all of that.
I decided to go talk to Lydia, since what we were talking about earlier today went left unsaid. "Hey, I didn't think you were coming to this?"
Her eyes find me then, worry radiating off of her. "I had to. I don't know why I'm the one that keeps finding the bodies, but maybe if I stopped trying to fight it, I find them before it happens. Maybe even you could help."
"What can I do?" I say, feeling what she was. "I want to stop this just as bad as you do."
Lydia does that jaw thing she always does, looking away for a moment before back to me. "Like Deucalion said, we're messengers of death, right? I guess that has to prove some importance and do some good. Earlier today when I screamed and walked off though...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I get that what I can do can cause harm if I focus on that, but maybe if I try and focus on the better parts, I—we could save someone's life."
"I know we can," I say, glad that she was starting to accept all of this. "You're important Lydia; don't think that you're not."
She smiles at me then. No, not some fake smile she would always shoot at Jackson when he wasn't looking, but a real, genuine smile. I feel her take my hand then, but it wasn't the type of thing when it was with Allison. It was just two friends caring sincerely about one another, hoping to be able to help their friends.
Her fingers latch around my own for a moment before the room around me started to get dizzy. I wasn't sure what was happening at first, but it was almost like I was about to see a vision. They usually didn't feel like this though...what was happening?
The stage and the crowd starts to blur, at least until I focused on something to the side up on the stage. There was a empty chair sitting there, but in the blink of an eye, Lydia was up there sitting in it. Her hands were clasped around the arms of the chair, tears filling her eyes. I wasn't sure what I was watching, but when I saw a dark figure wearing a black hood look around from the back of her, white eyes glowing at me, I pulled my hand away from Lydia, watching as the image completely disappeared.
Lydia looks at me, confusion on her face. "What's wrong?"
My jaw hangs open for a moment, thinking about what I just saw; trying to interpret it. "I-I don't know. Just...please stay here, Lydia. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
She looks utterly confused before I turn to walk away, going to find Allison. I had a gut feeling that what I had just seen related to the future, but I wasn't sure how yet. Allison told me to go and find her if something happened, and something happened. Besides, I couldn't protect Lydia in a way that Allison or Scott could. I needed to find them.
By the time I found Allison, she was leaning up against the wall, her eyes scanning the crowd as the band started to play. She stops when she sees me walk over, pushing herself up as she came to me.
"What's wrong?" she asks, knowing that I was over here for a reason.
I wasn't sure how to start. "I-I don't know. I was talking to Lydia when I got a vision...it wasn't like it was the past, Allison. It was the future; it had to be."
Allison lets it sink in for a moment before she's asking questions. "What did you see?"
"It was Lydia up on the stage, bound to a chair," I start, remembering that things face as it stared right at me. "She was crying. Then that thing we saw was there, holding something up against her throat, but I'm not sure what."
Allison stares off into space for a moment before she looks back at me, walking forwards and grabbing my wrist. "Come on; we need to keep our eyes on Lydia."
After she said that, I knew I had already screwed up. Yeah, I did my part in telling Allison, but I took my eyes off of Lydia. I had told her to stay there, but this is Lydia we're talking about. I only prayed that she had listened to me.
When we had reached where Lydia had been standing a few seconds ago, Scott was in her place. "Where's Lydia?"
Scott's eyes wander to us as he looks between the two of us. "Lydia? She said she went looking for you, Corey."
"I was just talking to her," I breathe, knowing something was wrong. "I told her to stay here."
Scott's eyes show panic. "She said she got a text from you to meet her somewhere."
My hand let's go of Allison's as I search for my phone on me, but it was no where. Maybe I had left it out in the car, but I couldn't help but think that someone had falsely texted Lydia, and I had a feeling who or what did.
"I don't even have my phone," I say, mentally screaming at myself. This couldn't be happening.
Scott and Allison share a panicked look before we're all pushing through the crowd and out the doors into the hall, scanning each way for the sound of clicking heals or her bright strawberry blonde hair. My hopes lifted for a moment when I heard a door open farther down the hall, but after the figure walked around the corner, it was just Stiles.
"Stiles!" Scott shouts, placing his hands on his head. "Did you see Lydia?"
"Lydia? No, why?" he asks, noticing our panic as well. "What's going on?"
I shake my head, staring at the floor. "This is all my fault-"
"This isn't your fault," Allison tries to comfort, but it only makes me feel worse. They were just false words. "You're the one who warned us in the first place."
Stiles was frantic now. "Someone tell me what the hell is going on! What happened to Lydia?"
"Lydia is missing," I say, looking up just in time to see his eyes go from calm to survival mode; like losing Lydia meant losing his sanity.
Stiles shakes his head, panic coming over him. "Oh my God—Did you try calling her?"
"She won't answer," Scott says then, pulling the phone down from his ear. "I-I don't know where she went exactly."
Stiles starts to pace, thinking of a game plan. I think back to my vision. "She was in a chair in what I saw...she has to be in a classroom, if I'm right."
Stiles doesn't listen to any other proposal. He's turning and running down the hall faster than I finish my sentence, searching every classroom as we tried to catch up with him. Everything felt as if it was closing in faster and faster. Suddenly though, a loud piercing scream fills the hallway, causing Scott to fall to his knees in pain as I stopped in my tracks, seeing something flashing before my eyes.
It was another vision; almost similar to the one I saw before. Only this time, it gave me the exact location of where she was. It was in the english classroom; she was sitting there screaming still, tears rolling down her face. Something on her face told me that she knew she was calling out for help...knowing that I'd hear her, or at least Scott. I see Ms. Blake step out from the shadows then, eyes wide as she stared at the wailing girl.
"Corey!"
I gasp as I come back to my senses, trying to get the information out of my mouth as fast as possible. "S-She's in the English classroom—go! I-It's Ms. Blake...she's the Darach."
Everyone stares at me blankly for a moment before Scott is moving first, getting onto his feet and taking off faster than Stiles ever could. He turns down the hall that had Lydia, Stiles close behind him. Allison stays by my side as she tries to help me up, but I was still recovering from that vision.
"Go help Lydia," I breathe, my legs feeling wobbly. Allison keeps her grip on me as she helps me stand, grabbing my chin and turning my head to make sure I heard what she said.
"I'm not leaving you."
In a matter of seconds though, I was able to stand on my own again. That was when my hearing finally came back to me, no longer hearing a constant ringing after Lydia's scream. Instead of hearing that, I heard what sounded like punches on the back of a door as Stiles' shouts echoed down the hall, only making me grow more impatient with going to help.
"Come on," I say to Allison before running towards Stiles' screams, almost fully recovered from Lydia's scream. By the time I turned the corner and saw him, he had already busted through the door, finally getting inside. I only follow him as Allison follows behind me, wanting to know what in the hell just happened.
When I made it into the room and got to look around, I saw Lydia still sitting there in the chair, her eyes tired as she watched Allison and I, but she wasn't looking at us. Instead, she was looking through us as her hands trembled, reaching around her neck as a nice red line was starting to appear. She had almost been strangled—no, sacrificed.
When I looked towards the back of the room, I was only more confused. Scott was lying there on his side, blood on the floor and staining his mouth. There was also a crushed up badge lying there...and that was when I realized that it was Stilinski's.
Stiles was standing there looking out of the window, which was now shattered, tears in his eyes.
"She took him. She took my dad."
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Woah look at me go with this long chapter!
But I'm so excited for the hospital episode! I've got some stuff planned; after all, it's my favorite episode this season. It's gotta be good...right?
Slap that star down there!
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