We're getting towards proper Void and I'm excited.

I also may have figured out how many chapters are left in this book.

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When I woke up the next morning, I found that someone had wrapped a blanket around me. I guessed that it was Melissa, since Stiles was still asleep.

Pulling myself into a seated position, I carried my chair closer to Stiles' bed. Sitting back down, I leaned forward to hold his hand. His breathing was steady, so I only hoped he was sleeping peacefully. I wasn't able to admit it, but after everything that had just happened, there was definitely something wrong with Stiles.

I only hoped that it was something we'd be able to fix. Supernaturally or not.

It was early afternoon, so they must've given him a pretty strong sedative. I traced the veins running down the inside of his arm with my finger, before linking our hands. Stiles was a good person; he didn't deserve any of the negativity that entered his life, and yet he was constantly drawing the short straw.

I was considering going and getting some food for when he woke up, until I heard talking outside of the room. It was the Sheriff and Mrs McCall. 

Out of worry and curiosity, I focused in on them.
"I think I know what you're talking about. I've been writing these down for the past two weeks," I heard the Sheriff say softly.

What were they talking about? What had he written down?

"I think we need to do some tests," he told the woman.

I felt every vein in my body turn as cold as ice. That was usually never something you wanted to hear in a hospital. And especially in such a solemn tone.

"Squeezing a bit hard there, don't you think?" A croaky voice asked.

I looked down, to see that Stiles was awake, his eyes on me as he smiled. Letting go of my iron clad grip on his hand, I pushed forward, practically jumping on him.
"Thank God," I gasped as I wrapped my arms around him. "Stiles, what happened?"

He took a shaky breath, hugging me back, "I'm honestly not sure, Ri. I woke up, and everything was dark, and my leg was hurting, and I. . . I don't know. I'm sorry, I wish I did."

"Hey, you don't need to apologise," I told him as I shifted to sit beside him on the bed. "I'm just glad you're here, and you're alive."

We lay there together, quietly holding each other. But that all came to a halting stop, when Mr Stilinski and Mrs McCall entered the room.

♡♢♤♧

At about six thirty Mr Stilinski, Mrs McCall, Charlotte, Scott, a doctor and I all stood in a medical examination room. And in the centre of the room, was an MRI machine, where Stiles was sitting in a blue hospital gown.

When his dad and Scott's mum had entered the room earlier, they had wanted to speak to Stiles alone. I was more than willing to go, but Stiles insisted that I stay

I had been hesitant, but I stayed. Sheriff Stilinski started talking about taking tests later that day because he was worried about him. Then he started talking about Stiles' mum, and that's when I started to worry.

After we had finished speaking, I had called Charlotte to tell her why I wouldn't be at school. She proceeded to call her work and get the day off so that she could be at the hospital to support Stiles and Mr Stilinski. She even brought food for everyone so we didn't have to have something from the vending machines. I had never been more grateful to her.

Now, hours later, those tests were about to happen.

The adults were talking off to the side while Scott and I stood silently beside Stiles, just waiting. I didn't even have to ask to know that we were all worried.

The doctor began to walk over to us, talking to the boy sitting on the MRI bed. "Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones?"

Stiles shook his head, but I felt his hand tighten around my own. "Oh, no, no, I don't need anything."

"Hey, we're just on the other side of the window. Okay?" The Sheriff reminded his son, before leaving the room with Mrs McCall, my sister and the doctor.

Once the three of us were alone, Stiles began talking to Scott and me. "You know what they're looking for, right?"

Scott and I both knew, but neither of us said anything. Saying it made it real; and Scott wasn't even able to make eye contact, let alone respond.

When we didn't answer, Stiles did for us, "It's called frontotemporal dementia."

This made Scott look up from his hands. I just froze, watching my hand holding Stiles's.

"Areas of your brain start to shrink," the boy continued. "It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure."

It took everything within me not to break down in tears at his words. Everything that had happened had hardened me, but hearing him say that had definitely fractured something within me.

Scott's lips pursed as he wiped his eyes, "Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something."
He then looked up to make eye contact with Stiles, saying knowingly, "I'll do something."

We all knew what he meant by that; Stiles even seemed surprised by the implication. I, myself, would've been pissed if Scott hadn't offered. There was no way we were just going to sit by and let this happen.

Stiles began to cry, reaching forward and wrapping his arms around Scott. Scott mimicked the movement, both of them embracing each other. I bit my lip, trying to stay strong, but it was hard.

After a few minutes, Scott left, leaving Stiles and I alone.
"You promised," I whispered to him.

He put a hand under my chin, getting me to look at him. He seemed confused, asking me what I meant.

"You promised you wouldn't leave me. You have to fight this. And not for me, you have to fight for yourself, okay?" I told him, continuing to hold myself together. If I cried in front of him, he'd see how worried I was, and he had enough on his plate. "Please."

Pulling me towards him, he put his arms around me and ran his fingers through my hair. "You know I will. We've gone up against an Alpha werewolf, a Kanima, a dark Druid and an Alpha pack. This isn't going to be the one I lose to."

I tried to laugh, but it came out as weak as I was feeling. He was scared, and nothing I said was going to change that. The only thing that would change that was the results of this test.

♡♢♤♧

It had been about fifty minutes and the test was almost over as far as I knew. Mr Stilinski had remained in the room with the doctor and Mrs McCall, whilst Scott, Charlotte and I went and sat in chairs outside of the room.

Derek had showed up about twenty minutes ago, asking to talk to Scott. They went to talk in a waiting room. I was curious as to what they were talking about, but all I could hear for the whole time since the test started, was the loud clanging of the MRI machine.

Charlotte had tried to help take my mind off it; to not focus on the noise. But even when I tried not to listen to it, it was all I heard. For fifty minutes now, just a loud metal clanging sound, as if I were in the MRI machine myself.

So, when she realised she couldn't make me not hear it, she just sat beside me. The best she could do was be there, and I was thankful.

I was currently sitting in a chair, leaning over with my head between my knees and my hands over my ears. It wasn't helping, but I tried to tell myself it was.

Amongst the clanging coming from the room, I began to hear voices. This, I made sure I heard.

"See this?" I heard the doctor say. "The tissue here and there. Both those spots are showing signs of atrophy."

"Atrophy" Mr Stilinski repeated.

"I'm sorry."

"No," I whispered.

I didn't need to search on my phone to know the meaning of that. Atrophy, in short, was the process of body tissue or an organ to waste away.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Charlotte asked from beside me.

I couldn't answer though, all I could do was hear my heart beat speed up, beating at the same pace as that of the clanging next door. I felt like my ribs were closing in, pressing against my lungs and shortening my breaths.

This wasn't happening. He wasn't sick. He couldn't be.

Charlotte reached for me, but I stood up, pushing her hands away. I couldn't breath, I needed to get out of this hospital.

As I made my way down the hallway though, Charlotte caught up to me, grabbing me in her arms. "Hey, talk to me, what's happening?"

"Stiles- Stiles. . ." I couldn't even get the words out. My chest continued to tighten, my head starting to go fuzzy, the MRI machine still clanging in my ears.

I tried to get away from Charlotte, but she was holding me too tightly. She kept me in place, not allowing me to leave.

My sister tried to calm me down, but it was too late by that point. I had to drown the clanging out before it drove me insane.

A scream tore through my body, escaping my lips. I felt Charlotte's grips around me loosen considerably, until she had let go completely. She had let go because she had her hands at her throat.

Turning around, I noticed every person in the hall beginning to drop, unable to breathe. It was me.

I had let my ability take hold, and now, I couldn't stop. In the past year of training my abilities, I had never gotten to this size radius before. My ability had reached so many people, and I couldn't pull it back.

"Riley, what are you doing? Stop it!" A voice called out to me. Turning on my heel, I saw Mrs McCall staring at me in shock.

Mrs McCall dropped like the rest of them, her lungs tightening.
"I'm trying," I told her.

I felt myself drawing more from the air around me. I tried to stop - I really did - but I couldn't. It was like something else had control over it.

"Stop! Riley, stop!" Charlotte shouted from where she knelt on the ground, her voice faltering. She was suffocating.

I was gasping for air, trying so hard to focus that I didn't even notice a fly buzzing around me. I almost choked when it flew down my throat.

Seconds later, the power in the building went out, the hospital resorting to its emergency lights. Charlotte was still looking at me, her eyes begging. Melissa had left though.

Shaking my head, I looked down at her. "I can't."
My voice sounded so monotone. So emotionless.

But, on some level, I wasn't sure that I wanted to even try anymore. They were all hurting; just like I was. It almost gave me a weird sense of relief.

What was wrong with me?

Before I could even think about the answer to that question, I felt a sharp prick in my neck. I let out a strangled choke as I looked over my shoulder, to see Melissa holding a needle. I tried to speak, but couldn't find the words; I was too surprised.

"It's just a mild sedative," she reassured me. "You'll be okay."

I could hear Charlotte coughing, before she ran over to me. Apparently I had been falling, because she had caught me, laying me on her lap.

The sedative felt more than mild as my vision blurred before me. Melissa had stopped me from hurting those people.

"What's wrong with her?" Charlotte asked Melissa.
I didn't hear Melissa's response, I was too focused on what I saw at the other end of the hall.

Stiles was standing under one of the emergency lights, no longer in the hospital gown. I was definitely confused by this, but what really got me, was the smirk on his face. Why was he smiling like that?

♡♢♤♧

When I opened my eyes, I was staring into a bright, white light.

"Oh, good, you're finally awake. We weren't sure how long that sedative would keep you out," a voice said. It sounded so muffled, like I was listening through a pair of ear muffs.

I tried to bring my hands up to my eyes to cover them from the light, but found I couldn't move them. Glancing down, I saw restraints on my wrists and my ankles.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, beginning to panic.

The person in the room with me, who appeared to be a nurse from the way they were dressed, began shushing me. "You need to calm down, or I'll be giving you another sedative."

"How am I supposed to stay calm when I'm strapped to a goddamn bed?" I snapped, looking around me. The room was sterile, like a hospital room. But something looked different; it didn't look like any of the rooms in the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. "Where am I?"

I felt myself drawing the oxygen from the air, but all the nurse saw was me struggling against my restraints. She grabbed a needle from the tray beside her, bringing it towards me.

"No! Don't touch me!" I shouted, trying to get away. Unfortunately, the restraints were doing their job. "Don't touch me!"

"Oh stop fussing," she told me, before jabbing the needle into my arm. I felt the sedative run through my veins like ice cold water, chilling me to the bone.

My body lost the will to fight, my eyes drifting to the light above me. "Where am I?" I mumbled once more.

I managed to hear the nurse's response right before the sedative dragged me back under, but a part of me wished I hadn't.

"You're in Eichen House, dear. But don't worry, we're going to take good care of you."