chapter eighty-seven
heartless

━━━━༺❀༻━━━━

"Kennedy just moved him with her mind!"

Kennedy snarled. "I'm doing more than that." Kennedy swung her fist, and Theo slammed into the ground. Kennedy walked closer, her claws growing quickly. Kennedy stomped her foot down, the heel of her boot landing on the throat of Theo Raeken. "I'm going to kill him."

"Kennedy, don't!"

The Hale whipped her head around. Scott and Liam came rushing over. She craned her neck, throwing up her hand. Scott and Liam froze in place. They both looked at their feet. They gruntled and wobbled but they were unable to move. Kennedy's expression faltered, shocked by these new powers. She looked back at them, directly at Scott.

"Why shouldn't I make him feel the way I felt when he killed me? When he killed us?"

Scott shook his head. "Listen, Ken, I swear, he's going right back in the ground!"

Liam's eyes widen in alarm. "You can't!" Everyone looked at him. "He remembers Stiles."

"I remember Stiles. And Dani. And my mother." Kennedy said. She looked back at Theo. She had never felt such hatred for someone like she did for him. She pressed her heel down further. Theo could feel his throat closing in, he grabbed her ankle, trying to get any air.

"The Dread Doctors knew all about the Wild Hunt. He can help us." Liam explained.

Scott looked over. "Or he could kill us."

Liam looked between everyone with worry. "Looks he's my responsibility! Noshiko gave me the sword." Kennedy looked at the Dunbar. She released her hand, letting the boys move again. They both stumbled forward.

"That's Kira's sword." Kennedy snarled.

Hayden walked over, this time Kennedy didn't stop her. The teenage girl stood in between them all. "You're both right. If Theo tries anything, we'll send him back to the Skinwalkers." She explained, looking between Scott and Kennedy. "But for right now-"

"He goes back now."

"Except Liam's the one with the sword," Theo breathed out.

"Shut up!"

Everyone shouted at Theo at once. Kennedy looked between them all, stepping off Theo's throat. Scott and Liam started to make their way to the next room, Kennedy following suit. Hayden looked at the werecoyote. "Malia,"

"Can you give me a second alone with Theo?"

"Why?"

Malia looked over at the girl. "So I can kill him." She stated bluntly.

Theo grunted as he tried to pull himself up. "Okay, look, I know that there are mixed feelings all around. But I might be your only option to stop the Wild Hunt."

Kennedy walked into the living room with Scott and Liam. "What, you don't trust me?"

"No, I don't," Kennedy said with a shrug. "You're incredibly naive, stupid, and can't even pass a math test. What makes you think I'd trust you bringing him back?"

Scott ignored his girlfriend. "I don't trust him. Do you?"

"No. But I think we can use him."

The True Alpha gestured his hand. "Remember who he is. He got into your head and you tried to kill me. And when that didn't work, he did kill me. And then he killed Kennedy."

Kennedy nodded. "And Tracy, and Josh, and his sister. You know, he's just a horrible murderous, and pathetic excuse of a human being." She listed off ever so casually.

"But this might be our only chance to get Stiles back." Liam pointed out. Kennedy visibly tensed at the mention of Stiles.

"Can't we just try to find somebody that we at least trust?" Scott asked.

Liam shrugged his shoulder. "This might be a mistake. But you don't know that yet." He explained. "And you made mistakes when you were learning to be an Alpha."

"Yeah, I made a lot. But we don't have time for mistakes." Scott looked at Kennedy. He could see her emotions swarming in her eyes. Her worry for Dani, for Sloane, but most importantly... "We can't lose Stiles."

"So we should try anything we can to save him. Right?" Liam asked. Kennedy looked around, clenching her jaw. She started to think that maybe Liam was right. She really would do anything to save Stiles. "Even Theo."

Kennedy slowly turned, her eyes landing on Scott. The McCall was thinking. He looked over at the Dunbar. His beta. "Convince me."

The group was all back in the kitchen. Liam was holding the sword. "I can put you back in the ground anytime."

Theo looked down. "You also need a transformer that can handle five billion joules of electricity." Kennedy narrowed her eyes. "I know where to find one and I can show you how it works." Theo turned to the others. "I'll tell you if Malia promises not to kill me." Malia let out a quiet growl.

Liam nods. "She promises."

"No, I don't." Malia turned to Kennedy with wide eyes. "We're really gonna do this? Trust him?" She asked.

"You got a better idea?" Hayden countered.

Malia looked over. "I've got an idea." Her arms were crossed. "It may not be better. But at least it's not him." The Tate walks away, and Kennedy clenches her jaw.

Theo sighed, looking over slowly. "Now, when the hell did Kennedy start having telekinetic powers?" Everyone looked at him, but their eyes slowly moved to Kennedy.

She sighed, craning her neck to crack it. "When I killed my mom."

༺❀༻

Stiles Stilinski and Danielle Tyler were racing after Sloane. Stiles was shaking his head quickly. "Okay, how the hell is Kennedy suddenly a witch? I think we would've figured it out by now."

Sloane was walking through the train station. "Witch isn't the most accurate term. She's like a Druid specialized in divination, she's been one this entire time. It all started the night of the fire."

"What fire?" Dani asked in confusion

"The Hale fire." Stiles answered, his brows tilting downward in confusion. Sloane stopped walking, turning to look at them both.

"Do you think my husband lived through that fire out of sheer luck?" Sloane asked, looking between them casually. "No. Never. But a ten year old werewolf with the powers of a seer? She could." Stiles and Dani didn't get it. Everything Sloane said felt like foreign words, another language. Frustrated, Sloane grabbed Stiles and Dani. The room suddenly began to spin, sweeping them into darkness.

Everyone was dead.

Stiles and Dani looked at the burning Hale house. Their eyes were wide in horror. Sloane came up slowly, her face expressionless. Fire raged over the beautiful home, the screams of the Hale family now burning into their ears.

The door bursted open. Peter Hale came stumbling out, cradling a young girl in his arms. Stiles recognized her immediately. It was Kennedy. Just before she met Stiles and Scott.

Peter made it a few feet away from the house. Then, he collapsed to the ground. Kennedy let out a shout, stumbling as she pulled herself up.

"Daddy!" Young Kennedy yelled as she looked at her dad. He didn't look like himself. His skin had been so badly burned. He was dying. Even Stiles and Danielle could tell.

Ten-year-old Kennedy sobbed. She cradled her dad's charred body in her small hands. "Daddy, wake up! Daddy!" Despite everything, the tears that fell onto his skin. Then, Stiles saw it. The smallest shimmer in Peter's skin.

It healed. Black veins like what happened with Scott would take away someone's pain. They started at the point the tear fell, spreading out to a small area on Peter's body. Pieces of his burned skin healing, repairing itself.

"Kennedy!" Everyone spun around at the voice. Laura Hale came running with another figure. Ben Stallard.

Kennedy sobbed as she looked at her cousin. "Laura! Daddy's hurt! And Momma-" The little girl sobbed as Laura scooped her up in her arms. Ben Stallard began speaking into his police walkie-talkie. Stiles Stilinski looked back at Peter. He was breathing. The tears Kennedy had shed...had healed Peter enough to survive.

"Kennedy had been pushed to use her magic for the first time that night, but then Laura pushed it away when she erased Kennedy's memories and werewolf abilities." Sloane explained. They watched as the house roared in flames. Little Kennedy sobbed as she cried for her father. For her mother. "Now, after Kennedy has lost the people she loves most, she's been pushed to use it again."

Stiles and Dani opened their eyes. They looked around the train station. Sloane wiped away the stray tears that had escaped. Dani shivered, pushing her pink hair back. "That felt so real." She said, putting a hand over her chest which had felt the burning of the ash in the air. "Are all of Kennedy's visions like that?" She asked, looking over at Sloane. After all, this woman was a seer herself.

Sloane nodded, looking away. "Callista Theroux was a powerful druid, with the special talent in being a seer." She added as she walked again. This time, she walked slower, less anxiety flooding her system. "It's why our seer abilities are so strong, so dangerous. But it's never been stronger than just that. Seers."

"But there hasn't been a witches in your family since Callista, right? So why now?" Stiles asked, waving his arm. He didn't know who this Callista woman was, but Stiles could tell by Sloanes words she was old. Like, too old for this to make sense.

"Kennedy is the descendant of some of the most powerful bloodlines. The Valet's, the Hale's, the Theroux's. Powerful werewolves and hunters and druids." Sloane shrugged her shoulders. "She's the perfect concoction of a purely supernatural hybrid."

Stiles and Dani slowly looked at each other. A hybrid? That sounds...well...dangerous. Stiles looked back at Sloane. "But Kennedy has no idea about any of this? How does she not know?"

"I never quite got the chance to explain her relatives."

Okay, fair enough.

The human boy shook his head rapidly. "Okay, well now what?" He asked the woman. Sloane looked around the train station, letting out a slow sigh.

"I don't know."

༺❀༻

Kennedy sat in Scott's room, watching her fingers move in delicate patterns, moving a small picture of her and him through the air. It was a photo from her Sweet Sixteen. They were somehow off-centered. She wondered if maybe Stiles was in the photo too, missing like he was missing from their minds.

Scott came in. He stared at her, closing the door slowly. Everyone had finally left, preparing for their plan for tomorrow. He cleared his throat, unsure what to say to her. He couldn't believe how much had changed. Kennedy was moving things with her mind. She had almost killed Theo.

Suddenly, the picture dropped to the desk, and Kennedy slowly turned to look at him. "What did you guys learn in Canaan?" She asked quietly.

"The entire town was gone. Except for another banshee, like Lydia." Scott explained. "We think Stiles sent us as a warning as to what will happen to Beacon Hills."

"Everyone will be taken, except Lydia," Kennedy whispered. She sighed, leaning back in Scott's desk chair slightly. "So we have to stop them somehow."

Scott nodded his head. "And you seem to be doing a good job." He muttered.

Kennedy sighed, crossing her legs as she looked down. "I saw Amanda. Except I know she's not real. She was a something I made, a Ghost Rider, and she tried to kill me." Kennedy tilted her head back and forth. "But I killed her first. Tossed her around, stuff like that."

"Wow," Scott exhaled, leaning against his door in thought, "With the...uh..."

"With my mind, yeah." Kennedy looked at the photo again. She picked it up, studying it. She remembered her Sweet Sixteen. It felt like a lifetime ago. "I think Stiles was in this photo. I think it's before he and I got together."

Scott clenched his jaw. "What?"

Kennedy's eyes flickered around the picture, "He and I slept together the night you became a werewolf. We kissed the night we stopped Gerard Argent. We've been dating ever since." Kennedy explained, bits and pieces of Stiles in her mind.

Scott scoffed. "This is insane."

"Scott, just think about it." Kennedy stood up abruptly. He was furious. How could she say their whole relationship was a lie? It couldn't be, right?

Right?

Scott shook his head. He was fuming. Why? Why was he so mad? His girlfriend was telling him she wasn't his girlfriend, of course he was mad! Kennedy stepped away from the chair, looking at Scott's pacing figure. She stared at him with desperation. Her shoulders slouched as she tried to get it through to him. He had to know.

"Scott, none of this adds up. None of our relationship makes any sense!"

"We're werewolves! It's not supposed to make sense!" Scott pointed out desperately. He was in denial. He didn't want to feel like he betrayed his best friend or anyone else. He didn't want it to be a lie. He didn't want to believe his feelings for Kennedy Stallard were all a lie.

She shook her head. "You and Allison broke up two weeks before we supposedly started dating. Would I ever do that to Allison?" Scott looked at the girl with confusion in his eyes. Kennedy wouldn't. He knew that, deep down. "I broke up with someone in Eichen House. I kissed Isaac Lahey days later-"

"Kennedy, please stop," Scott pleaded, shaking his head as he felt sick to his stomach.

"The night we died, the night I died you were at home." Kennedy walked closer to Scott, her eyes never leaving his. The stormy clouds in Scott McCall's eyes wouldn't clear themselves so he could see what she saw. The truth was still locked in its iron cell. Kennedy's teary eyes flickered between his as she tried to get him to understand. Scott shook his head, closing his eyes tightly as he looked away. "I told someone I loved them that night as I died. I died in someone's arms. And they weren't yours, Scott. They were someone else's. Scott we're not in love-"

"JUST STOP!" Scott yelled, pushing Kennedy away from him. Kennedy stumbled back as she watched the teenage boy grab his head. She was out of options. She could never discover the truth so long as Scott didn't believe her.

So, Kennedy inhaled deeply as she mustered up any and all courage she had. Taking two strides towards the boy, Kennedy grabbed Scott by his shoulder. Scott turned towards the girl with hot tears rolling down his face. Her lips pressed against his harshly, and the boy's confused heart began to beat quickly. His hands framed her face as he thought maybe he was right. Maybe she was wrong and it was all a misunderstanding.

Until he wasn't in his room anymore.

Well, at least not his room now. He was in his room from over a year ago. Present-day Kennedy was next to him, arms crossed. Scott looked over, seeing Kennedy and a faceless boy. Stiles.

"I broke up with you because I didn't want you to see your boyfriend killing people!" Stiles yelled. Scott frowned. The Nogitsune. Stiles was the nogitsune. Scott remembered that now.

A sixteen-year-old Kennedy was staring at Stiles. She looked different. Dark brown hair, and a twinge of innocence even then. Innocence Kennedy didn't have anymore."And you know what I had to watch instead?" Young Kennedy asked. Her voice was raw. It caused present-day Scott to swallow thickly. "I saw the love of my life, Stiles. I saw the love of my life hurting my friends, my family. I saw the one person I am completely in love with kill innocent people." The faceless Stiles clenched his jaw. "I knew it wasn't you. But how do you think it felt to look into your eyes as you strangled me, seeing nothing but an empty black void? Or when I got a torture device shoved into my stomach? How do you think it felt to almost die and seeing your hands, Stiles?"

"Do you want me to feel guilty? I feel really freaking guilty, Kennedy!" The boy threw his hands up in frustration. "I feel like this is all my fault and I don't know how to fix it!"

Past Kennedy scoffed, "That's the problem, Stiles!" The human boy frowned in confusion. "None of this, was ever your fault. You were too busy blaming yourself and preparing everyone so they could kill you without even considering the fact that we can save you." Present Scott looked at present Kennedy. She had a solemn expression. "I never gave up on you." Her voice cracked as she tilted her head down. She didn't know what else to say, there was nothing she could say.

"I know," Stiles whispered, looking up at her slowly. "I saw." Past Kennedy swallowed the lump in her throat, looking down at her shoes. Stiles slowly sat down on the bed again, fiddling with his fingers.

There was a tense silence between them. Scott felt uncomfortable, and he could tell Kennedy was too. Past Kennedy spoke up. "Do you need something to drink?" Kennedy's voice was softer, calmer now. Like the storm had passed between the former couple. At least for now.

Stiles shook his head, and Kennedy nods slowly. She turned on her heel, walking out of the room. Present Scott watched as his past self walked in. "I messed up, didn't I?" Asked Stiles.

Past Scott shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Dude, she's more in love with you than Lydia's in love with her designer handbags." Stiles chuckled under his breath. "But you broke her. And not when you gave into the Nogitsune." Scott stated. Stiles looked up slowly, looking at the person he called his best friend. "You broke her when you decided she wasn't strong enough to be by your side. When you broke up with her cause you didn't believe in her, when you didn't believe in the two of you." Stiles looked down at his hands, his mind spinning with thoughts. "She could never stop loving you, even if she tried."

Scott was pulled out of the vision suddenly. Like he had been drowning and was finally pulled out for air. He looked around his room. Everything was spinning. Kennedy stood there with a solemn expression, waiting. Scott slowly stumbled back, landing on the bed. His hands gripped the covers. Kennedy swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I'm going to stay at Malia's tonight. I, uh, can't go home right now. Not when there's another Ghost Rider."There was nothing but silence. Kennedy swallowed thickly, turning for the door. She wiped tears away, making her exit without any words. Scott shook his head, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. How could this be possible?

Scott's heart broke twice that night. Once, when the girl of his dreams told him she didn't love him. Twice, when he remembered the girl of his dreams wasn't his.

༺❀༻

༺❀༻

Malia stared at Kennedy with a confused expression. They were sisters. They knew that now. The realization confused them both, but not in the way it did the first time. Kennedy had told Scott and the others she'd be at Malia's, but when Melissa McCall walked into work to find Kennedy curled up in a waiting room chair, she knew what Kennedy had really been doing.

Waiting for Peter.

Kennedy was staring at her hands, picking at her purple nail polish as she wondered what would come next. What would happen with her and Scott? How was she going to get Stiles back?

When Melissa called for the two girls, Kennedy was out of the seat in seconds.

"He has third-degree burns over 90% of his body." Melissa closed the folder. "I should be telling you to say your goodbyes."

Kennedy shook her head, "He's going to be fine. He's gone through this before."

"It's Peter. I don't need to say goodbyes." Malia blurted. "I need you to fix him so we can find out what he knows about the Wild Hunt."

"Remember who we're dealing with," Melissa told them both. "Your father is a ruthless con man who always has a devious plan to hurt everyone around him." Kennedy swallowed the guilty lump in her throat, looking away. "What happens when he gets up out of that bed?"

Kennedy looked back. "He's still my dad. And I can't lose him for a fourth time." She croaked.

Melissa's expression softened. She slowly looked at Malia. "You got a plan of your own?"

The Tate slowly turned her head towards her half-sister. "I have a plan." She deadpanned. She looked at the McCall. "I don't know if it's devious."

"At least it's a plan."

Kennedy wasn't very talkative. Not as she followed Melissa and Malia to the room where Peter was. Not as she studied the wires and EKG's and the clear bubble they had basically trapped him inside of. She just stared at him. The man who was her father. The man she forgot for months. Guilt was consuming her.

"I can't promise this will work."

"You said he was dying anyway." Malia blurted. She gave a shrug. "What does he have to lose?"

"I can hear you." Kennedy whipped her head around at the sound of her dad's voice. "I'm not dead yet."

Kennedy's eyes widened. "Dad?" Kennedy pushed the plastic back, stepping through. Melissa and Malia were close behind.

Peter's eyes were barely open, but even Melissa could see how they lit up. "Bunny," He croaked, his fingers twitching. "I think they put that there to protect me." Kennedy looked over his burnt, peeling body. It stunk, bad. "Glad to see you're obeying hospital protocols."

"Your daughters asked me to treat you."

Peter looked at Kennedy, he could see the concern in her eyes. Of course, the sweet little Bunny seemingly forgot all he had ever done in a matter of moments. She hadn't changed once. Peter knew Kennedy wouldn't want anything from them. Malia on the other hand. He knew the two of them didn't have that bond. He raised his brows. "In exchange for what?"

Melissa turned to the Tate. "Told you, you needed a plan." She hummed. Malia looked at Peter, seeing Kennedy kneeling on the floor to be closer to him.

"She helps you, you help us."

"That's a bit open-ended. What if I don't agree to your conditions?"

"I leave you for dead."

Kennedy looked back. "What?" She gawked in confusion.

Peter shushed her, causing Kennedy to look back at him. in his eyes, she looked just like she did when he saw her after he came back from the dead. He almost smiled. His eyes flickered to Melissa. "So, what exactly do you know about our kind of medicine?"

Melissa raised her brows in amusement. She slowly pulled out a large needle filled with green liquid. She tilted her head. "I know about the Nine Herbs." Without much more, she stabbed the needle into the middle of his chest. Kennedy stood up straight, stepping back. She watched as her dad groaned and shouted in pain. He began foaming at the mouth, seizing in his hospital bed.

Malia scrunched her face. "Think it's working?"

"Should be. Looks painful enough."

Surely enough, it did.

Malia and Melissa were helping Peter walk out of the room and into the elevator. Kennedy looked back at him, still quiet. Her hand was out in front of the elevator, her eyes on the ground as the three followed her inside.

Kennedy clicked the elevator button, and Peter slowly looked over at Melissa. "You know we never did have that second date." Kennedy turned to look at her. Melissa and Malia threw him off their shoulders, letting him fall to the ground.

Kennedy turned around to look at him, when suddenly a sinking feeling hit her stomach. She swallowed thickly, looking around the elevator. She was sick. Something was wrong.

Malia turned slowly. "K? What's wrong?" She asked as she looked her up and down repeatedly. Melissa and even Peter looked over in confusion. Kennedy's eyes flashed white, causing them all to freeze.

Peter pushed himself up slowly, groaning as he did. "A vision." He whispered. He used the sides of the elevator to bring him to his feet. He looked at his daughter. "Somethings happening."

Kennedy's eyes snapped hazel, and she gasped as she was ripped out of whatever vision she was in. Nobody has anytime to process. Because as soon as the elevator door opened, and Kennedy was sprinting out of there. "Where are you going!?" Melissa shouted.

"Lydia! Somethings wrong with Lydia!"

༺❀༻

Lydia practically ran to the Stallard house. Kennedy's car was in the driveway. Kennedy had to be there. She had to be here. Lydia had a theory. A theory about Claudia and Noah Stilinski.

More specifically, that Claudia wasn't real.

Lydia banged on the front door. She was breathing heavily. "Kennedy! It's me! Ken!" She hit the door again and again.

Sounds of footsteps outside the door were soon followed by the door opening. Benjamin Stallard stood there, disheveled, tired, and his eyes were read. Lydia was shocked to see him. "Lydia?"

"Mr. Stallard." Lydia mumbled. "Is Kennedy here?"

Ben looked behind him, "I'm afraid she hasn't been home in a couple days." He turned to Lydia, pursing his lips together. "I'm worried for the day she does."

Lydia frowned. "Why?"

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat. "Lydia, do you think Kennedys been acting strange recently? Violent? Angry?" Lydia didn't know what to say. "Because I do, and I wasn't going to say anything, but she,"

He started to choke on tears, letting them roll down his face. Lydia was confused, concerned. "What happened, Mr. Stallard?"

"She killed Amanda."

Lydia felt the sentence bounce around in her head. Benjamin opened up the door, letting Lydia see the disaster that was his house, and Amanda's lifeless leg poking from around the corner into the kitchen. She gagged, looking away quickly. She felt like she was dreaming.

Ben stuttered, walking further into the house. Lydia slowly stepped inside. "I haven't called anyone. I mean, how could I? My own daughter killed my wife! I can't, I don't-"

Lydia walked further into the house, her eyes wide. Her mouth was parted in horror as she walked to Amanda's body. She was dead. Her skin was purple and she was completely lifeless. The house was even beginning to smell. Lydia looked down at Amanda, frowning in confusion.

"I don't know who to tell. Noah will try to send her to jail. I don't know what Scott will say-"

"Where are the claw marks?" Lydia asked. Ben looked over in confusion. "Kennedy's a werewolf. If she killed Amanda, wouldn't there be claw marks? Or bruises? Or something?" Lydia looked back at Amanda. "There's not a single mark. Not even a scratch."

Ben shook his head. "I don't-" Lydia leaned forwards, seeing something in Amanda's hand, going under her corpse. Lydia reached for it, expecting to find the strap to a purse. She pulled, nearly falling back as she pulled out a lasso. The same ones the Ghost Riders had. Lydia was shocked. She looked at it in her hands. How did Amanda have one?

Behind Lydia, Ben wasn't exactly Ben. He was changing. It was as if he was glitching back and forth between Ben Stallard and a Ghost Rider. His nice expression fell to a stern glare. A murderous expression. Lydia turned around slowly, opening her mouth to ask. She froze in fear at the sight. Her eyes widened. Her hand tightened around the lasso. She screamed.

Suddenly, the Ghost Rider flew across the room. His back hit the railings to the stairs. Lydia looked to see Kennedy come walking around the corner, her eyes glowing blue. Lydia's mouth was open in shock. Kennedy let out a growl as she turned to the Ghost Rider. "Lydia, run."

The Martin was quick to get onto her feet, running to the front door. She turned back in time to see Kennedy flick her hand and send the Ghost Rider to his knees. She walked closer to him, her eyes still a bright blue. She flicked out her claws, growling. The Ghost rider struggled. He couldn't move. Kennedy raised her other hand, snarling before sticking her hand through the creatures chest. Lydia gawked in horror. Kennedy slowly raised her arm, pulling the Ghost Rider back to his feet as he gripped her wrist. She growled, twisting. Then, with a final pull, Kennedy ripped the heart from the Ghost Riders chest.

Then he fell.

Kennedy let out deep and harsh breaths. She stepped back, looking at her hand. The heart heavy in her palms, blood tricking down her wrist. She dropped it, stepping away again as it fell in front of her. She stared. She didn't know what to do. Her panicked eyes met Lydia's.

The Martin girl stood frozen in the room. Her eyes couldn't move away from the Ghost Rider's corpse, the heart at Kennedy's feet. A scream bubbled up in her throat. Was it a Banshee screech or a scream of fear? She couldn't tell. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't speak. She wanted to throw up.

Kennedy finally looked back down. She stepped farther back. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

Lydia looked at her, now. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She stepped closer, walking over to be next to her friend. "How did you know he was going to kill me?"

Kennedy looked up. "I got that feeling." She looked at Amanda's body. "The same kind when I saw Amanda," She paused. "The same kind when I see Claudia."

"You think that..."

"Noah made her up? I do." Kennedy nodded.

Lydia bites the inside of her cheek. "Good. Because I do too." She breathed.

Kennedy was relieved. Someone was listening to her. "What do we do?"

"Dani's parents don't remember her. I have no way of getting them to if she has nothing there." Lydia explained, her eyes sad with desperation. "But Stiles. His bedroom."

Kennedy frowned. "There was only the guest room, but I stayed there, not Stiles." Kennedy explained. She looked down in thought, "But he had a room. I remember it. But it's not there because—"

"Because it's behind the wall." Lydia finished. Kennedy looked at her friend in realization. The wall the two had been messing with this entire time. There was a reason, the entire time.

Noah Stilinski felt like he was losing his mind. Maybe he was. But he tore down the walls. He broke through a bedroom that he didn't know was there. An empty room with boarded-up windows. It was so empty.

And then Kennedy Stallard knocked on the door, and he brought her inside.

Kennedy looked around the room. It was so dark, so lifeless. She walked past Noah. She looked at the blue walls. Something about it was so familiar. She looked back at Noah. He looked so lost. Her heart hurt for him. She wished she could help him, but she didn't know how.

Noah looked at her. His hands defeatedly at his sides. "You knew about it, didn't you?" He asked. Kennedy pressed her lips together. She nodded slowly. Noah shook his head in frustration "God, it was on the blueprints. It was here when we moved in. That was 18 years ago."

Kennedy turned around, looking in the corner. She gasped quietly. There it was. A familiar bed with blue-gray sheets and a blue comforter. She knew that bed. It was Stiles's bed. Something caught the corner of her eye, and she looked up. Kennedy could feel her heart beating against her ribs. His boards. A cork board and a clear board he put clues on. He used it a lot when the dead pool was a thing. Pieces of Stiles began to appear around the room. Exactly the way she remembered.

"Kennedy?" She looked up, seeing Noah. "What is it?"

She looked around again. The room was bare. Empty and lost like she found it. Her heart ached. She had never felt this way before. "Nothing." She whispered.

"I don't understand how you and Lydia knew this was here." Noah told her. "Whether it was the seer abilities or, or," He stuttered with uncertainty. Kennedy looked at her shoes. She felt like she lost something, and yet she was standing amongst that something in this moment. Noah's voice was soft now. "If you want to discuss the possibility that I had a son," Kennedy's eyes met his. "I'm listening." Kennedy swallowed thickly, looking toward the broken wall. Lydia rounded the corner, smiling softly at her best friend.

They had a lot to explain, and Kennedy couldn't do it alone. She needed someone to back her up. And Lydia was the perfect person to do so. Lydia stepped into the room, closing the door slowly. Noah looked between them. Kennedy sighed, unsure how to start.

༺❀༻

"Wait a second." Noah looked between the two clairvoyant teenage girls. "So this woman, Lenore, she conjured up her dead son?"

Lydia nodded. "She was the only one left." She explained, remembering the banshee she, Malia, and Scott had met in Canaan. "She had to fill a void. So she filled it with her son."

"And you saw this kid?"

"We all did." Lydia answered. "He was real. He was there."

Kennedy looked over. "He also tried to drown Scott and Malia." She added casually. Both of them looked at her. "Malia told me everything."

Lydia looked back at Noah. "But Lenore was there when everybody was taken. She saw it happen. But she didn't wanna believe it." She explained. "She wanted to believe in her son."

"What are you trying to say?" Noah asked lYou think Claudia is not real?" He scoffed at their idea. "You think I made up a phantom wife?"

It couldn't be true. It was too ridiculous.

"You're afraid to remember him."

"She's a flesh and blood woman. She's real." Noah snapped, gesturing to the door. "Everything else here is just, just speculation. Conjecture." He rambled. Kennedy and Lydia shared looks. "It's just, it's a theory based on a ghost town."

Kennedy pressed her lips into a thin line, looking over his shoulder. Her eyes landed on a chair. All alone in the corner, with two things on it. A lacrosse helmet, and a lacrosse jersey draped over the back. 24.

24.

Lydia watched as her friend walked closer to the corner. Kennedy felt tears roll down her cheek as she reached for the jersey.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Kennedy whispered. Melissa looks over in confusion, and realizes Kennedy is talking to Scott from afar.

"No. Stay here in case something happens."

Kennedy watched Scott sneak off the field. The whistle blows and team members are tackled left and right. Stiles watched as the ball rolled to his feet. Stiles scooped it up, before running. Kennedy stood up in shock.

"Oh, god." Noah mumbled in horror. This never ended well.

Stiles approached the net, looking behind him to see everyone charging him. "Stilinski! Shoot it. Shoot the ball! Shoot it, you idiot!"

Lydia and Kennedy stood up. "Shoot it!"

"STILES, SHOOT IT!" Kennedy yelled slightly louder then everyone else. Stiles snapped into reality, throwing the ball. Shockingly, he made it. Lydia and Kennedy scream in excitement. Stiles, now more exited than ever, scores more and more goals. Kennedy grabbed her sign, lifting it in the air.

BILES BILINSKI #1

Stiles scoredshot after shot. He smiles as he looks over at Kennedy. The sign covered in hearts and glitter caused his own heart to swell. He was in love with her, and he knew it. As he watched her clap for him, he realized nothing could stop him from loving someone as much as he loved her.

Kennedy held the jersey in her hands. The fabric was so familiar. She could smell him. The Stiles she missed. The Stiles she loved. Kennedy turned toward Noah and Lydia. They both stared at her. Blankly. "You don't see anything?"

"I see a deeply disturbed young woman." Noah answered.

Kennedy clenched her jaw tightly, ignoring the tear rolling down her face. "You're afraid to remember him because you're afraid of what it means. Just like I am."

"Why do you care so much if I remember him?"

"Because you loved him!" Kennedy snapped. She scrunched her face in anger, letting out a grunt as she threw the jersey in her hand.

She didn't expect anything to happen. She really didn't.

But then Noah caught it.

Lydia's eyes widened as she saw the maroon jersey in Noah's hands. Noah stared at it. It hadn't been there before, and her there it was. Beacon Hills Lacrosse. Number 24.

"Amanda and Ben weren't real." Kennedy whispered, her eyes glossy. "I made them up so I wouldn't remember my parents. Scott and I made up our relationship so we wouldn't remember Stiles." Kennedy listed off with glossy eyes. "We didn't want to remember Stiles because if we did, we'd know we betrayed him." She choked. "But I'm not going to lose him again. I'm going to find him. Malia and my dad are looking for the rift. We're going to find my mom We're going to find Dani. And we're going to find Stiles."

Lydia nodded slowly, smiling. For once, they felt hopeful. They were going to find everyone. One way or another. Even if Kennedy ruined everything in her path.