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harringtonstilinski · 2 years

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You’ll Always Be My Hero - Chapter 82 ; Superposition

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Stiles Stilinski x Emma Thomas (OC) Word Count: 6,758 Warnings: angst, A/N: Hi, friends! 82 Chapters down, 18 to go!! Emma is going to be with Scott (platonically) until Chapter 90. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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You know what’s boring? Doing homework with no music in the background.

You know what’s even more boring? Watching two werewolves practice lacrosse.

I watched as Scott scooped up a ball, then turned to face behind him.

“Did you feel that?” Scott asked.

“Are you asking the werewolf or the banshee?” I asked, taking a small break from homework to look over the plays of the next lacrosse game.

“Werewolf.”

“Then no.”

“Feel what?” Liam asked, twisting his stick in his hands.

Scott turned back to face Liam. “Thought I heard something.” He looked behind him again for a moment before turning back around. “Forget it. Alright, let’s keep going,” he said before tossing the ball to Liam… who easily caught it.

“Or we could call it,” Liam said.

“We gotta work on your back shots,” Scott countered.

“His back shots?” I asked, incredulously.

“Yeah, why?” Liam asked.

“Liam, they suck,” Scott said.

“What are you talking about?” Liam and I asked.

“Your back shots… which suck. You should know this, Em. You’re the Assistant Coach.”

“Uhm…” I said. “Do your back shot, Liam. Make the Alpha happy.”

Liam scooped up a ball and shot it over his back, the ball landing in the net… about six different times.

“Are you sure it’s not your back shots that need work, Scotty?” I asked.

He looked at me like he was confused. “I must’ve been thinking about someone else.”

I nodded my head, lips pulled into a knot. “Yeah, probably.”

“Maybe someone else who should be Captain?” Liam said, tossing a ball to Scott.

“We’ll make it,” the Alpha said.

The lights in the stadium turned off, sending me into a small happy dance from my place in the grass.

“Well, guess we have to go now,” Liam said.

“Thank the good Lord above! My ass hurts from sitting for so long,” I sassed, standing up.

Scott looked at me, a small grin on his face… which made me groan in protest.

“No, we don’t,” Scott said.

“Oh, Scotty, no!” I whined, stomping my foot once.

He flashed his Alpha Reds, which made Liam’s Beta Golds shine… where’s my Banshee Greens, you ask? Right here.

They continued to play for a couple of more hours before I called it a night. “Alright, my two favorite werewolves, I’m gonna call it a night. Bobby’s coming over for dinner… or did come over for dinner. Please, for all that is good and awesome in this world, don’t stay here too late.”

Scott chuckled. “Alright, Em. We promise.”

“One more hour. Tops,” Liam said.

“Good! I don’t wanna have to bench you two because you can’t stay awake in class,” I said, giving them a chuckle. “I’ll see you later.”

As I was walking back through the halls, I found my uncle… bitching at the kids who stayed super late for their extra credit assignment.

“Your teenage years are not the time for academic achievement,” Coach said.

“Yes, they are,” Mason said.

“That’s a lie sold to you by the government,” Coach countered, finger pointed at Mason. “Go find some girls, get into trouble. Live a little.”

I rushed over at the word girls. “Uh, Coach, they’re gay.”

Coach looked at me. “Even better,” he said, looking back at Mason and Corey. “Go gays! Now get out of my face! I don’t get paid to lock up after you losers.”

“Yes, you do,” Mason said.

“Get out of here! Go wreak some havoc like the other kids,” Coach said, closing the doors and turning around to face me with his fist in the air… before putting it down to point at me. “And you! You know how upset your mother is that you didn’t show up for dinner?” “You knew I was here with Scott and Liam. They’re out at the field practicing right now,” I said, pointing behind me in whatever direction.

“What were you doing out there?”

“Being Assistant Coach and looking over the plays for the next game… and providing.. moral support?”

He nodded a couple times. “My office. Tomorrow morning. With breakfast.”

“Waffles?”

He looked like he was thinking about it. “Sure.” He leaned forward, placing a kiss to my forehead. “Now, go home and get some sleep.”

“Alright. Love you, Bobby!”

“Yeah, yeah. Love you, too.”

~~~

Well, my idea of getting in my Jeep to drive away from this school and going home sounded like a great idea… until I got a call from Corey, telling me to get back inside the school immediately.

I walked in the doors with Scott and Liam, who found me and told me that something was happening to Mason. As soon as we rounded the corner in the library, said boy was about to bash our heads in with a fire extinguisher.

“Mason, it’s us!” I yelled.

“They were here. The Ghost Riders,” Mason said, putting his object down.

I looked over at Corey and pulled him into a bone crushing hug before pulling away to look at Mason.

“Here? Just now?” Scott asked.

“I thought they left when the storm left,” Liam said.

“I guess not, because two of them were right up there,” Mason said, pointing to a couple of spots where the Ghost Riders were spotted.

“What were they doing?” Scott asked.

“We didn’t see when they came in. We only saw them when we turned invisible.”

I looked at Corey right as Liam started speaking. “You brought him into this?”

“He was trying to protect me,” Mason said, getting in between Corey, myself and Liam.

Corey looked at me. “They didn’t seem to care about us. They-- they walked right by us.”

“You’re very lucky. What happened after?” I asked, crossing my arms.

We all looked between Corey and Mason, waiting for an explanation.

“Uh-- then they just jumped down and left,” Mason said.

Scott looked up at the second story, my eyes stayed on my cousin and his boyfriend to make sure they were alright.

“That’s it?” Liam asked.

Mason and Corey looked at each other. “Yeah,” Corey said.

“They didn’t take someone?” I asked.

“There was nobody else in here?” Scott added, coming up to stand behind me.

Mason and Corey looked at each other again, then back at us. “No. It-- It was just us.”

~~~

After finally making it home, I showered and dried my hair, dressed for bed and crawled in. I was fast asleep in seconds, a new personal record.

It wasn’t until about 1:30 in the morning when I woke up to the strangest sound ever. A male’s voice asking, “Do you see him?”

A loud thud sounded after that, causing me to sit straight up in my bed. I heard a train outside my window along with the wheels screeching on the tracks. I looked around, seeing an orange yellow light shining through my windows, the noise itself causing me a little discomfort.

It wasn’t until I saw my mom walking through my bedroom door all frantic a few moments later.

“Emma, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

“I heard you screaming.”

“No,” I said, swallowing hard. “It-- it-- it was the sound… of a train… passing through my room.”

She walked over to my bed and sat on the edge of it. “Oh, sweetheart, you were having a nightmare.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I said, as she reached over and grabbed my hand. “It wasn’t a--”

“Well, there wasn’t a train and we haven’t had an earthquake, so--,” Mom said, sighing. “It must’ve been a bad dream.” She stood up and pushed some of my hair back, placing a kiss on my hairline. “Go back to sleep, honey. I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, she turned and walked out of my room, taking one last look at me before closing my door.

“But I wasn’t asleep,” I muttered to myself.

I sighed and pushed my hair back with my hands before placing my hands back on my bed. I looked at the picture that was sitting on my dresser in a beautiful frame.

I tilted my head to the side, eyebrows scrunched together as I got up out of bed and walked over to my dresser. I picked up the frame and looked down at the picture.

“What?” I mumbled. What confused me about the picture was my arm was in the air with my hand hanging there, as well. I was kissing the air for no apparent reason.

I decided to call Scott to see what he thought about the photo since we all got one printed.

“Em?” Scott greeted.

“Are you looking at the same picture I am?” I said.

“Yeah, the one of all of us?”

“That’s the one. Look at it. Why am I holding onto nothing?”

Scott went silent. “I don’t know.”

“I sense an investigation in our midst.”

~~~

I ended up going back to sleep after having a small talk with Scott. So, I did what any sensible Senior would do; I got up and got ready for my day then headed off to school. I met Lydia in the parking lot, as she had just gotten out of her car as I had parked mine. We walked in the school together and I noticed that everyone seemed to be doing just fine.

I saw a girl dressed how I would and a boy dressed in a plaid shirt, and oddly enough, looking at the plaid made me feel all warm and safe inside, and I couldn’t tell you why.

I told Lydia that I would meet her after class as I stood by a locker. I tried to open it, but I couldn’t get the combination right for some reason and I was starting to grow frustrated. I turned around and leaned against the lockers, wondering why the locker number 1075 felt so much like home to me.

When I finally realized that I needed to be on the practice field for the lacrosse team, I rushed over out of the locker hall and straight to the field, spotting Liam doing the same.

“That is Captain material,” Coach said, standing next to Scott… who wasn’t playing.

“You’re late,” Coach and Scott said.

I looked between them and Liam, finally setting my sights on Liam and crossing my arms. “Yeah, Dunbar. You’re late. Which makes you not Captain material.”

“You’re not out of the clear yet, missy,” Coach said.

“I know, I’m sorry,” I said, shame filling my voice as I uncrossed my arms and dropped my head.

“Liam is Captain material,” Scott said. He started to say something else about Liam, but Coach decided that he’d heard enough and blew his whistle.

“Let’s go. Gather around, listen up,” Coach said. “Thanks to McCall’s selfish desire to focus on his grades and his graduation, we are leaderless. You want to be a champion, you wanna be a hero? Now’s your shot.”

“Alright, boys. Line up,” I said, clapping my hands. They all just stood there. “Assistant Coach, let’s go!” At that, they all lined up in two rows… facing Liam… who was at the end.

“Emma, take charge,” Coach said.

I sighed, rolled my eyes and looked out at our players. “Alright, all you wannabe Captains, I wanna see you tear each other apart.” I put the whistle between my teeth, saying, “Let’s go!” before blowing the whistle to start the play.

Liam ran and dodged a player before being crowbarred to the ground.

“Definitely not Captain material there, Dumb-bar,” Coach said.

“Dunbar,” I corrected, leaning over to Coach.

“That’s what I said.”

“No, it’s not-- you know what, nevermind.”

Liam turned his head to face us. “He said Dumb-bar.”

“And your mouth just bought you equipment duty,” Coach said, kneeling to get closer to Liam.

Scott and I looked at each other like is he for real.

Liam took off his helmet and ran off the field.

“Bobby, Bobby, Bobby,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

After practice was over, Scott and I sat in the locker room, waiting for Liam to return with the equipment the other players left out. Liam set the bags down against the wall near Coach’s office, turning to look at me and Scott, who was tying up his boots.

“I blew it, didn’t I?” Liam asked.

Scott sat up and sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. “You blew it off.”

“You’d have to be trying in order to blow it,” I said, coping Scott’s movements, but lacing my fingers.

Liam sighed and looked around for a moment. “Maybe someone else can be Captain. With schoolwork and all the other stuff we have to deal with--”

I shifted on the bench to face Liam and Scott more. “Devenford Prep started practice three weeks before us. Riverside two weeks. We’re behind before we even start. Half our team can’t even cradle the ball, let alone score.”

Scott and I stood up, Liam looking directly at Scott.

“Why can’t you stay Captain?” Liam asked Scott.

“I’m graduating. Ya’know, I’m not-- we’re not gonna be here next year,” Scott said, taking a couple steps towards Liam. “Somebody’s gotta step up and fill in the gap. It should be you.”

“Yeah?” Liam asked, then looked at me. “Well, Coach doesn’t want me.”

“Liam,” I said, Gentle Emma working her way out.

“I don’t know if the team wants me.”

“It’s not up to them! It’s up to you!” I said, taking the few steps towards the werewolves. Aggressive Emma is out now. “You have to want this… because they’re gonna keep coming at you. They’re gonna keep knocking you down. And you have to get back up. You have to show them that you can get back up.” I looked over at Scott then back at Liam. “Leaders don’t run.”

At the sound of clapping, we all turned our attention to the source. Coach.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about, McCall,” Coach said.

“But Coach, that was all Emma, not me,” Scott said.

“Doesn’t matter. That’s exactly the intensity this team needs. And you,” Coach said, looking from Scott to Liam. “I’m looking forward to crushing that little adorable baby face of yours.” Chuckling, he turned around and went back into his office, closing the door behind him.

Liam turned and faced me and Scott, looking at me like I had some sort of explanation.

I sighed, “It's a curse being related to that man sometimes. I gotta get to class.” I hugged each werewolf before walking out of the locker room and straight to my class, which had Lydia and Malia in it.

Lydia and I walked in at the same time, with the same looks on our faces. We sat down in our respective seats, Mrs. Fleming getting started right away.

“I’m impressed… with most of you,” Mrs. Fleming said, standing from her desk. “Really speaks to your study habits and your commitment to your own education. Everyone else, see me for extra help.” She placed Malia’s paper down on her desk, a red D- on the front.

I noticed Malia gripping the desk, claws out. I reached over and tapped Lydia on the arm after getting my paper back from Mrs. Fleming. “Lyds,” I whispered. “Malia’s claws are out.”

Malia turned to look at Mrs. Fleming, Lydia taking action. “Mrs. Fleming, uhm--”

“I already told you, Lydia, as well as Emma, I don’t give extra credit on alternate equations based on your own theoretical findings,” Mrs. Fleming said.

“Well, okay then,” Lydia said, turning back to face the front. “Claws. Malia. Malia, claws.”

She loosened her grip on the desk, her claws put away, and I let out the breath I wasn’t aware I was holding.

For some reason, I got this overwhelming feeling about the locker I tried to open this morning. So, I grabbed my bag, put my paper into it and stood up. “Uhm, Mrs. Fleming--”

“Yes, Emma. You can come get today’s assignment and go visit your dad,” she said.

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water before nodding and walking up to her desk, grabbing said assignment and walking out into the hallway. I spotted Scott standing at the locker, just looking at it.

“Got a weird feeling about it, too?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah.” He put his hand on it, trying to get a feel for it, but ended up taking his hand off and started to walk away.

I, on the other hand, put my own hand on it, seeing if my Banshee senses would tingle… and to my surprise, a little something.

“Remember the ring,” that same male voice said. I took my hand off the locker and reached under my shirt, pulling out said ring.

Scott walked back over. “What’s that? How long have you had that?”

“It’s Claudia’s. She gave it to me at the start of the year. Said it meant so much to her that she wanted me to have it,” I said. “But this guy's voice just told me to remember the ring.”

“But what’s so special about it?”

I sighed and looked down at the ring. “It was her engagement ring.”

“Looks more like a promise ring to me.”

I had a flashback moment to the point where I received this ring. I couldn’t put a face to the person that slid it onto my finger, but all I knew in that moment as I squeezed the ring in my hand was that I loved this ring with everything that I had. “I gotta get back to class. I’ll catch you later.”

Scott nodded and headed off in the direction of his class.

I was walking down the hallway towards my classroom when I stopped dead in my tracks, seeing an older gentleman with a newspaper standing at the end of the hall. I looked around the hallway and behind me before looking back at the gentleman and walking more towards him.

“Excuse me, who are you?” I asked him. He didn’t answer, just stayed looking at his newspaper. “What are you doing at this school? Are you a teacher? Part of the front office faculty? Hall monitor that never left?”

Still no answer. I sighed and slapped my hand against my leg, frustrated. I looked back at the gentleman, ready to give him a piece of my mind when he looked up from his newspaper. He opened his mouth like he was gonna say something, but all that came out was the same sounds that I heard last night; a train rattling and the wheels screeching on the tracks.

I covered my ears at the sound, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. I opened them again, looking all around me, gasping in the air that I had held during the sounds.

“Holy shit,” I whispered to myself.

~~~

I decided that I was going to check myself out instead of just walking out of school today. When I got to the front office, however, I saw my cousin and his boyfriend standing at the front desk.

“Werewolf stuff,” I heard Mason say.

I quickly made my way over to Mason, Corey and Mrs. Martin. “What are you talking about?” I asked, leaning against the desk next to Corey.

Mrs. Martin sighed and took off her glasses. “I thought I made it clear that Beacon Hills High School is a dedicated safe place. I had to convince 23 students that what they saw in the library last semester was a large bear and the fangs on Scott McCall were the result of acute Teenage Hallucination Syndrome.”

“What is Teenage Hallucination Syndrome?” Corey asked. Bless this innocent werechameleon.

“I have no idea,” Mrs. Martin said.

“But we think someone could be missing,” Mason said. “And they could be in danger.”

“Well, I can assure you that nobody has reported a student missing,” she said, looking at the absentee list. “And all absentees are accounted for.” She started guiding them out of the office. “Gentlemen, I appreciate your concern and I thank you for your vigilance. Remember, safe space. Now, go back to class.”

“We don’t have class,” Mason said.

I facepalmed at his response.

“Then go back to something. Anything.”

She closed the door and walked over to me. “Emma, what can I do for you?”

“I need to check myself out… if that’s at all possible,” I said.

“You’re not 18 yet,” she said.

I groaned. “Mrs. Martin, come on. You’ve known me since like 7th grade. Have I ever been called out of class? Have I ever not come to school sick? I literally have perfect attendance.”

She leveled me with a look.

“Okay, fine, maybe that’s down the drain, but look. I just need a day. I need to see my dad or my mom or my boy--” I stopped my words, wanting to say that I had a boyfriend… when I didn’t. “Forget it. I’ll just stay here and drown in boredom. I know almost all the material anyway.”

I walked out of the office and down the hall a little, seeing the same guy from earlier with his newspaper walking down the hall. I decided to follow him, basically chasing after him. I ran out of the double doors at the end of the hall, finding myself in the same spot I was in a couple of nights ago when Dad and Sheriff were here because of the body that got called in. I looked around, confused as to how I actually got here, but fear ended up taking over for a moment.

“You know me. Oh, thank God, you know me,” that same male voice said.

I looked around everywhere, the wind kicking the leaves up.

“Do you see him?”

I looked at the tree beside me before I found my arms up in the air as if they were wrapped around someone’s neck before they moved down to where their arms would be. I also felt hands on my cheeks, so loving.

“Do you see him? Alright, come on, come on!”

I felt myself being dragged away, running down the sidewalk.

“This way. Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop! This way, this way.”

I turned to look behind me, hearing horses whinnying. “Where are they?” I yelled.

“Everywhere! Will you forget me?”

I turned to look off the side. “I won’t-- I won’t!” I ran out into the street, not thinking.

“Emma, look out!”

I was pulled back from getting hit by a car… at my own fault. I looked back at who my savior was, hoping it was the male I kept hearing, but alas. It wasn’t. It was Malia.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment. “I’m fine.”

I watched the last bit of her nod after I opened my eyes.

“What were you doing?” she asked.

Tears lined my eyes as I looked at her. “Trying to remember.” I shook my head and walked around her, going back inside the school.

What I didn’t expect to see was Scott standing at that locker trying to look into the vents with the flashlight on his phone.

“Scotty? What’cha doing?” I asked, clasping my hands behind my back.

“Trying to find a way into this locker.”

I hummed. “Have you tried the combination?”

He looked at me as I raised a brow. “No.”

“Do you know it?”

“Do you?”

I looked down in shame. “No.” I picked my head up and watched as he looked around before he grabbed the lock, fully prepared to break the bitch off.

“Ohhhh, good idea,” I said, bringing my hands in front of me and rubbing them together.

“You’re too eager.”

“Look, this is the first normal thing that’s happened in like two days, alright?”

He went back to the lock, starting his pull on it, but before it could actually break, a voice sounded behind us.

“What’cha doing?”

We turned around, seeing the new, good looking teacher, Mr. Douglas. Did I mention that he was good looking?

Scott looked from me back to the locker. “Uh, nothing. Just checking out this locker.” He pulled on it, checking it out… as he stated.

“Is it either of yours?” Douglas asked.

I chuckled. “Ya’know. It’s the funniest thing.”

“You wanna explain it to me?”

My chuckles turned to one of nerves before I sighed. “Not really. About the locker.”

Douglas hummed. “I’m relatively new here, but I’m pretty sure breaking into someone else’s locker is against the rules.”

Scott and I gave nervous chuckles. “We’re not breaking into someone else’s locker.”

“Miss Thomas, what does this look like to you?” Douglas asked.

I smiled at him sweetly… like every other girl at this school. “Like we’re breaking into someone else’s locker.”

“Yeah… uh… I think we’ll go to class now,” Scott said, putting his arm around my shoulders. He started guiding me to the doors at the end of the hall.

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Douglas agreed.

~~~

During our free period, Scott wanted me to come to Deaton’s with him, so being the good friend that I am, I went with him… since we both have the same thing to talk to him about.

Once we got to the clinic, Scott handed Deaton the piece of blue glass from the magic bullet.

“We keep having these feelings like there’s something missing. Holes in our memories,” Scott said. “Like this. I took that from a windshield from the Sheriff’s Impound Lot but I can’t remember why I was there.”

“Yeah, I was there, as well, and I can’t figure out why,” I added.

“The subconscious can be a conduit for our memories,” Deaton said. “Dreams and waking dreams can be powerful tools to help us remember.”

I sighed. “Do you think this is all connected? The Ghost Riders, the Wild Hunt, the holes?”

“The Wild Hunt are drawn to war and mayhem. I’ve never heard of it doing anything to anyone’s memory.” Deaton handed Scott the medical equipment that the windshield piece was on. “It’s almost like you have a form of Phantom Limb Syndrome.”

Scott looked at me, waiting for me to explain further.

I sighed. “It’s common in war. Amputees can have the sensation of an itch they can’t scratch or a pain that couldn’t possibly be there. The missing limb is so important that the brain acts like it’s still there.”

“So, our subconscious is trying to tell us what’s missing?” Scott asked, looking from me to Deaton.

“It may be,” Deaton said.

“How the hell do we figure out what it’s saying?” I asked, resting my elbows on the table and placing my face in my hands.

“Well, Emma, the easiest way to do that would be to simply go to sleep.”

~~~

After taking Scott back to the school to get his bike, I drove myself home, had dinner with my parents then went upstairs to get ready for bed.

I looked at the picture frame on my nightstand, seeing a strange photo of myself sitting in the frame. What was in the frame was me looking at the air beside me, my arm in the air behind me, smiling. It also seems like I had my head resting against something… or someone.

I shook my head and decided to just crawl into bed, forgoing the reading.

I fell asleep in no time after cuddling with my favorite pillow… which I don’t remember how I got. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour before I got a call from Scott, telling me to meet him in the Preserve.

As quietly as I could, I snuck out of the house, knowing I’ve done this before, but not remembering who with. I got in my Jeep, carefully shutting the door before starting it up and peeling out of the driveway.

Once I got to the Preserve, I started walking towards the spot where I was hearing voices.

“Where’s Emma?” Malia asked.

“Right here,” I said, yawning.

“Hey,” Scott said, walking over to me to give me a flashlight and a hug.

“Hey, Scotty. So, why are we out here in the middle of the night?” I asked, rubbing my arm, not really feeling super safe after my adventures five years ago.

“So, I went to bed at home and I woke up out in the woods,” he explained. “About a mile out. I think there’s a reason why this has happened.” He looked at me. “We’ve been out here before. It was the beginning of Sophomore year the night before tryouts for First Line. I remember because it was all I could think about.” He started walking out in the woods, arm around my shoulders.

Don’t get me wrong, I felt safe with Scott, but… not as safe as I should’ve felt.

“I remember,” I said. “I was out here with you.”

“What were you two doing?” Malia asked.

“Looking for a dead body.”

We walked in silence for a second before Lydia said, “That’s morbid.”

“So then, what were we doing out here all alone?” Scott asked, squeezing my shoulders.

“I wish I could help you, but Emma and I were on the outs then, and I didn’t know you,” Lydia said.

“I was still a coyote so I might’ve tried to eat it,” Malia said.

“Deaton said that our subconscious was trying to tell us something,” I said, shaking my head. “But we need you guys to help us figure out what it’s saying.”

“Maybe you were a curious teenager. You heard there was a body,” Lydia suggested.

“But how? I never watched the news. And I didn’t have a police scanner,” Scott said.

“But I did,” I said, looking up at Scott. “Have a police scanner. In my dad’s cruiser. But you came and got me that night after my dad had already left and my mom was home.”

“Scott, your mom works at the hospital. Maybe she got called in and you overheard her?” Malia suggested as well.

Scott stopped walking and turned us around to face the girls. “My mom wasn’t home that night.”

Scott and I looked at each other. “I live five miles from here. You only live on the other side of the Preserve. How did we get here?”

“You drove,” Malia said.

“We didn’t have vehicles yet,” I said.

“You ran.”

“I couldn’t have. I had asthma,” Scott said.

I had a flashback to that night. “I remember you saying my name after I stood up from where we hid for a moment. But I didn’t stand on my own,” I said, turning around with my thinking. “I was pulled up by my arm.” I started walking, everyone else following.

“Yeah, I remember. We were hiding, but they knew that we were there.”

“Scott, maybe you made a ton of noise with your asthmatic breathing,” Malia said.

“How would they know that it was me?” Scott asked.

“I got caught by my dad and Sheriff, who both knew that you were out here with me,” I said.

“Why would the Sheriff and your dad even think that we would be out here?” Scott asked.

“Because like most deaths in this town, it was related to the supernatural,” Lydia said.

“I wasn’t supernatural. I mean, this was the night that I was bitten.” Scott thought back to the night he was bitten. “I wasn’t a werewolf yet. And we weren’t out here alone.” He sighed. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think we had a best friend, and I think he was out here with us that night.”

“It doesn’t sound crazy,” Malia said. “I know that someone chained me up and I think they wanted me to stay human.”

As Malia spoke, I reached into my shirt, grabbing my ring and holding it tight.

“I came to school this morning and I was so sure I was supposed to meet someone,” I said, Lydia nodding.

“I was pretty sure I was supposed to take you to your locker until that someone arrived,” Lydia said.

“But I couldn’t remember who it was supposed to be,” I added, looking down at nothing. I sighed and squeezed my ring harder, but was careful not to break it. “I have been looking for them all damn day. Whoever it is, I think I loved him. No. I know for a fact that I love him. And I think he gave me this,” I said, showing the girls my ring.

We all looked at each other for confirmation before Scott spoke up. “What if we’re all missing the same person?” Scott pulled out the photo I had printed for all of us, showing it to the girls. “And I think that he was in this picture.”

“Scotty, he was in the picture. He was sitting right there. What the hell else would I be kissing? Air?” I sassed. I sighed and looked at the time on my phone. “As much fun as this has been, I gotta get to the diner and pick up a burger for my dad. Mom’s working late at the office… again.”

“Alright, well, be careful,” Scott said.

“Call me if you can think of anything else or if you need me somewhere else, got it?”

Scott nodded before I walked up to Lydia and gave her a hug. I shocked the hell out of myself and Malia by giving her one as well. After saying my goodbyes, I walked back to my Jeep, getting in and heading to the diner to place my dad’s order.

After receiving his order, I drove straight to the station, to which the front desk officer let me right in… like I’ve done this about a thousand times before, which felt weird, but normal at the same time.

I walked up to my dad’s desk, setting the bag down and placing a hand on the desk and the other on my hip. “Dinner. Take a break from work and eat.”

He chuckled. “You always know exactly what to say to get me to stop working.”

“That’s because I’m your daughter, and you have to do what I say,” I sassed, moving to a leaning seat on the desk.

He opened the bag and smiled at the aroma the burger gave off. “You are my favorite child.”

I chuckled. “Daddy, I’m your only child.”

We both realized what I had said and gave off sad looks.

“Only living child,” I muttered quietly.

“Hey,” Dad said with a mouthful of burger. “That wasn’t your fault. Don’t feel guilty about it.”

“It’s hard not to, Dad,” I said.

My attention was brought to my godmother, Claudia, walking through the station with a bag of her own in hand.

“Dinner for Sheriff?” I asked.

“Well, what I’m gonna try and get him to eat,” she said, looking at the bag.

“Can I see what’s inside the bag?” I asked, taking quick steps over to her.

“Hey, Emma. Why is there--” Dad said.

“Just a second, Daddy,” I said, digging through the bag. I looked back up at Claudia, an unimpressed look on my face. “A salad? Really?”

“What? He needs to start eating healthier. Once you find your person, you’re gonna do everything in your power to try and help him live a super long and happy life,” she said, before turning around and walking into Sheriff’s office.

I rolled my eyes and walked back to my dad’s desk, reaching in the bag. I motioned to Sheriff’s door, full on sass mode. Dad nodded his head in understanding before I put the burger and fries behind my back and walked into his office.

“Emma, what a nice surprise,” Sheriff said, a smile plastered on his face.

“Well, I wouldn’t be a good goddaughter if I didn’t show my face every once in a while,” I said.

“Anyway,” Claudia said. She placed the salad on his desk and looked at me before looking back at Sheriff. “I had a hunch you probably forgot about dinner.”

Sheriff moved the box a little. “Oh, it’s uh-- What, uh-- what, what is quinoa?”

“It’s quinoa. Quinoa and kale.”

Sheriff removed the fork from its plastic wrapper. “Oh, that’s--that’s…” He opened the top of the plastic box. “Well, uh, you’re--you’re always looking out for me.”

Claudia looked at me, while putting her hand on his shoulder. “Well, I want you around for a long, long time.”

I watched with amusement as he took a small bite, not really wanting to. I shook my head as he hummed, walking over to his desk and closing the lid. “I present to you, your delicious dinner,” I said, placing the burger and fries on his desk, garnering a laugh from him.

“And this is why you’re my favorite,” he said.

I pretended to be bashful with a little bit of sass added in. “Well, what can I say?”

Sheriff looked at Claudia. “Happy?”

“Always,” she answered.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that’s my cue to leave,” I said. “I’ll just be-- yeah.” I walked out of the office and back to my dad’s desk. I went to sit back down when I got a text from Scott, telling me to meet him at the clinic.

“Daddy, I gotta go. Scott needs me at the clinic,” I said, putting my phone in my back pocket.

“Alright, sweetheart. Be safe,” he said.

“Always am.” I leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek before jetting out of the station.

~~~

Arriving at the clinic, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that when I got there, Lydia was sitting at the table with the windshield piece in front of her hanging by thread and light shining underneath it.

“Anyone care to explain what’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, since you weren’t here, Lydia’s gonna conduct a little experiment for us,” Deaton said.

“Look, I know we’re both Banshee’s, but we’re not lab rats.

Without missing a beat, Lydia said, “I volunteered.”

I looked at her for a moment before chuckling nervously. “Well, nevermind then.”

“Now, she just magically writes down all the answers?” Malia asked.

“It’s not quite that simple,” Deaton said.

“It never is,” Lydia said, getting more comfortable on the stool.

“In automatic writing, the hand moves outside of any conscious awareness,” Deaton explained. “Now, hopefully the silence, the darkness, and the light will allow you to find a more comfortable, relaxed, trance-like state. Lydia, I want you to stare into the light. And let go of all thought.” Deaton looked from Lydia to us, nodding with his head that we should leave the room and give Lydia the quiet she needs.

I watched as Lydia picked up her pen and clicked it, setting the ball on the paper. She looked at the light and got busy focusing before I saw her pen move just a touch.

“I have to warn you,” Deaton said. “We may not be able to access these memories.”

“Why not?” Scott asked.

“The legend has always been that the Wild Hunt takes people. But if what you’re telling me is right, the truth is much worse. They erase people from reality.”

After looking at Lydia scribble on the paper, I looked up at Scott, who was already looking down at me.

“How do we remember someone who has been completely erased from our minds?” I asked.

It was quiet, except for Lydia’s scribbling.

“Maybe he hasn’t been,” Malia said, nodding towards Lydia.

“Oh, is she okay? Should we stop her?” Scott asked.

Deaton put his arm across me and Scott, but I ducked under his arm, walking towards my Banshee friend.

“Lydia? Lydia? Slow down,” I said, soothingly.

Deaton turned off the light and Lydia dropped her pen, breathing heavily. She was still in her trance-like state.

“Is she okay?” Scott asked, leaning down a little closer to her.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Lyds?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Malia pick up the paper Lydia was scribbling on. “What does mischief mean?”

“Why does that ring a bell?” I asked no one in particular.

“That’s not what she wrote,” Scott said, after seeing the paper. “Em, come look at this.”

I rounded the table and saw the word that Lydia had scribbled. Warmth immediately fled my body, and I grabbed at my ring again. I’ve been doing this a lot lately.

Lydia gasped and looked up at us. “What the hell is a Stiles?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N 2: hi, friends! HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!! let me know what you thought! again, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

~~~

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*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from Emma and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of Jeff Davis. Our home slice Emma was made up all by me. As well we her parents and their storyline throughout the series.

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Posted on June 29, 2022

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harringtonstilinski · 2 years

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You’ll Always Be My Hero - Chapter 81 ; Memory Lost

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Stiles Stilinski x Emma Thomas (OC) Word Count: 6,561 Warnings: angst, fluff, lots of hand holding, A/N: Hi, friends! 81 Chapters down, 19 to go!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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If you were to ask me what I’d be doing with my night, I’d be lying if I said laying in bed with Stiles, wrapped up in the sheets, listening to his heartbeat. But alas, that’s not what I’m currently doing. But what I was doing was standing in between Scott and Stiles with my arms crossed, scowl on my face, watching my loving boyfriend get a brace put on two of his fingers. Erratic driving, kids. Don’t do it.

“What in the hell... were you three thinking?” Sheriff asked.

“Don’t put me in that equation. I was dragged into this,” I said, turning to face my godfather.

“We were just trying to help,” Scott said.

Dad chuckled. “Why don’t you try and help us understand…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “...what the hell happened here?”

“Right, well, we were trying to gently persuade him to pull over…” Stiles said.

“Yeah,” Scott said.

“That’s not exactly how I would put it,” I muttered.

If you think that Scott wolfed out on top of the dude's hood is us gently persuading him to pull over… then you’d be correct… because that’s exactly what happened.

“He was getting away,” Scott said, more as a question than a statement.

“He got away,” Dad and Sheriff said.

“Right. Because obviously he’s some sort of criminal mastermind, Dad,” Stiles said.

Sheriff and Dad moved around us, walking to the back of the van we were… persuading to pull over… well, actually, just the boys. I was just an accessory.

“Uh-huh,” Sheriff said.

“You wanna guess what the stolen merchandise is?” Dad asked.

Sheriff opened the back doors of the van, revealing what looked like tanks. “Hmm?”

My face fell as I looked at the tanks. “Oh, no,” I muttered, putting my thumb and middle finger against my temples.

“Critical life-saving medical equipment?” Stiles asked.

“No,” Sheriff said.

“Poison gas?”

“Nope,” Dad said.

“Filled with drugs?”

Both Sheriff and Dad leaned forward, saying, “Helium.”

“Helium?” Stiles said… more like singsong stuttered.

“Get my daughter home. Now,” Dad said.

“On it,” Scott said.

The three of us walked back to the Jeep, Scott hopping in the driver’s seat, me in the back, and Stiles in the passenger seat.

Scott drove us down the road, silence filling the Jeep for a little bit. “This could be a good thing,” he said.

I watched as Stiles leaned down in his seat a little, bringing his right foot up to rest on the seat. “That we saved helium?” he asked.

I moved from the middle of the seat to over behind Stiles, putting my arms around his shoulders the best I could, resting my chin on his shoulder.

Scott chuckled. “I mean, that--”

“What he means, babe, is that… they don’t need us anymore,” I said, tilting my head to the side, getting a good look at the constellation on the left side of his face.

Stiles scoffed at my statement, looking out of his window. “Okay, well, they need us. They just don’t know it.”

“We’re all going off to college soon,” Scott said. We both looked at each other before he nodded at me. I turned my head back to look at Stiles, shifting forward in my seat a little to see him better.

“So Beacon Hills is gonna have to survive without us,” I said, gentleness coming through.

“Beacon Hills will burn to the ground without us,” Stiles said.

“Babe,” I said, putting my hand on his right cheek, guiding his face towards me so I could look into those whiskey eyes. “They don’t need us.”

He turned his face in my hand, kissing my palm. His phone vibrating broke apart our little moment, causing me to scoot back a little for him to retrieve his phone from his pocket.

He jumped forward a little, foot dropping back to the floorboard. He held his phone up, his dad’s name on his phone. “They need us!”

~~~

We get to the station, standing by Sheriff’s office door as he walks up to a little boy sitting in a chair in front of his desk… my dad standing in the office with his best friend.

“Alex, you know we’re having trouble locating your parents,” Sheriff said, kneeling in front of the kid we now know as Alex.

Dad knelt next to Sheriff, telling Alex, “And since you can’t remember anything, we have a method, an unusual method that might help you remember.”

“But we need you to be okay with it,” Sheriff added. “We also need you to know that it’s probably gonna hurt.”

“I don’t care,” Alex said. “I just want to find my mom and dad.”

Sheriff and Dad looked at each other for a moment before looking back over their shoulders at me, Scott and Stiles.

The three of us walked in the office, shutting the door. Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders, giving me a quick side hug before helping Sheriff close the blinds.

I went back to Stiles’ side, wrapping my arm around the middle of his back. Sheriff and Dad came to stand behind us, observing Scott and Alex.

“You ready?” Scott asked from his squat next to Alex, who nodded his head. Scott put his fingers near the back of Alex’s neck, flicking his claws out, digging them in. Alex’s eyes rolled in the back of his head, letting me know that Scott was successfully seeing Alex’s memories.

After a few minutes of just watching Scott and Alex, the Alpha came out of his trance, standing up and backing into me and Stiles, gasping.

“What’d you see?” Stiles asked.

“I saw a guy… on a horse,” Scott said.

“Horse?” I asked. “Like, neigh, horse?”

Scott looked over at me. “He had a gun.”

“Okay,” Sheriff said. “A guy with a gun. That sounds like our department, not yours.”

“What about his parents? What happened to them?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know,” Scott said. “That’s all I remember. But… I got this feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?” Sheriff and Dad asked.

“They’re coming back,” Alex said.

I looked over, seeing that his head had fallen forward when Scott retracted his claws.

Alex looked up at us. “They’re coming for me.”

~~~

We called Lydia and Malia to come and help us out. Lydia for me and Malia… well, she could help by sniffing them out.

I was sitting inside of the car, trying to get a premonition while Lydia, who was outside of the car, put her hand on the glass, trying to get the same thing.

Getting nothing, she walked to the passenger side, getting in.

I closed my eyes, continuing to try and get the feeling, but came up short. I opened my eyes, looking at myself in the rearview, Lydia humming.

From the backseat, my loving spazzed out boyfriend popped up. “What?”

“This is a perfect shade for me. Forget the name,” Lydia said, motioning to her eye makeup.

I sighed as Stiles said, “Can we please stay on topic here?”

“Babe, we’re not getting anything,” I said, looking at him through the rearview.

Hearing Malia howling, Lydia got out of the car, clothes in hand. “I don’t think they’re dead,” Lydia said, handing Malia her clothes back.

“They’re dead. Probably torn apart,” Malia said.

“Good way to be optimistic for a kid,” I sassed.

Ignoring me, Malia continued, “The only thing I don’t get is why there’s no blood.”

“They’re not dead,” Lydia said.

“If they were dead, we’d sense it,” I said, motioning back and forth between Lydia and I.

“If they were alive, I’d smell it,” Malia said, putting her shirt back on.

“Yeah, Em, I’m not getting anything either,” Scott said.

“Scott, what are you talking about? You were in his head for four minutes,” Stiles said.

“He timed it,” I added.

“Well, it’s not an exact science,” Scott said. “And he’s a kid. Maybe he’s too freaked out to remember.”

“Why does it matter if they’re dead?” Malia asked. “Dead is dead.”

Stiles leaned against the car behind him, grabbing my hand and pulling me to stand in front of him, his arms wrapping around my waist. “Okay, if it’s just a robbery, we can’t help them.”

“And if it’s supernatural, our dad’s can’t help them,” I added.

“It sounds like the two of you want it to be supernatural,” Lydia said.

“Oh, no. Not me,” I said, pointing to myself then to Stiles with my next words. “Talk to him.”

“It’s been, like, three months since anything’s happened,” Stiles said.

“Yeah, and once a week you drag me and Emma out of bed like we’re some sort of supernatural metal detectors,” Lydia countered.

“Okay, it is way more often than that,” Stiles said. “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.” Lydia and Malia walked off, the were-coyote hair flipping on the way out.

Stiles had stood up while he and Lydia were arguing, moving to my left to walk after them.

I looked over at Scott, giving him my best help me fix this face as he took a few steps towards us.

Stiles turned around and faced Scott, neither of them saying anything. Stiles sighed and walked to the drivers side of the car, getting in and slamming the door shut.

I sighed, “Scotty.”

“What do you want me to do, Em?”

“Go be his best friend. He needs that right now.”

Scott sighed and hung his head for a moment. “You’re also the one that said they didn’t need us.”

“And now I’m retracting my statement. Scott, you saw something in Alex’s head. You know what happened to his parents, even if you don’t remember at this very moment. You will eventually.” I looked over at Stiles, seeing him either sulking or trying to figure something out. “So, the both of us are gonna walk over to the car, and talk to him. Well, you are. I’ll just stand there and look pretty.” I walked over to the car, resting my elbows on the window sill.

“You’re staring at a broken windshield,” I sing-songed, feeling Scott stand behind me.

Stiles sighed, staring at the windshield. “There’s something wrong with it.”

“It’s broken,” Scott said. “And it wasn’t a magic bullet. It was a regular bullet. That blew out a regular windshield. Just like that one, and that one…”

I looked around at all the windshields Scott was pointing out before looking back to the car we were at. “You wanna rethink that one, Scotty?”

He didn’t pay attention to me, keeping his gaze on the last car, whispering, “...and that one.” He looked back at me and Stiles, finally picking up what I was putting down.

Stiles leaned forward, picking up a piece of the windshield, looking at it intently. “Magic bullet.”

~~~

The next morning, I made sure to get up earlier than normal to get myself ready for picture day. It was my last yearbook photo ever for High School and I wanted to look my absolute best.

I sat down at the stool in front of Sydney, who was standing behind the camera. I smiled my best smile… before my awesome boyfriend came up and ruined it.

“Emma, so…” Stiles said, stopping at the sound of the camera shuttering. He looked at Sydney quickly before looking back at me. “My bad, sorry, go ahead, look pretty.”

I shook my head, putting on my best smile again… getting interrupted again.

“One sec--” Stiles said, looking at Sydney… again.

“That was a good one!” Sydney said.

This went on for three more pictures.

“Stiles!” I said.

“You’re still in the photo,” Sydney said.

“Sorry,” Stiles said.

“You ruined it,” I groaned, pushing him back towards our table. “My last yearbook photo ever, and ya ruined it.”

“Why would I want to ruin your yearbook photo?” Stiles asked.

“Maybe because you haven’t signed up for your own photo yet?” Malia suggested.

“No,” I said, sitting down next to Scott. “I watched him fill out the form.”

“She’s right,” Stiles said, pulling the paper from his back pocket. He unfolded it, showing it to Malia.

“It’s blank!” she said.

Stiles looked at it, a confused look all over his face. “Uh…”

“That can’t be right,” I muttered, taking the paper from his hand. Sure enough, it was blank. I hummed, handing it back to him.

“Or maybe you’re sublimating the stress of graduating by avoiding key milestones,” Scott said.

We all looked at him like he was a little crazy.

“Psych paper.”

I gasped. “Oh, my God!” I smacked Scott on the arm. “Why didn’t you remind me?!”

Scott just chuckled as Stiles put his hands on my shoulders. I leaned back against him.

“Hey, your dad searched the car. No slugs, no exit holes. And the address Alex gave my dad, it’s an abandoned house. Come on! Missing parents, suspicious guy on horseback, magic bullet. Who’s comin’ with?” Stiles said, a little pep in his step.

“I’ve got to retake my photos and start my Psych paper,” I said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, not interested,” Lydia said.

“Yeah, I agree,” Malia said.

“I cannot miss any more classes,” Scott said.

“Scott. Scott,” Stiles said.

“I missed 38 last semester. And Lydia’s mom is the only reason I’m still in school. I can go after school.”

“Yeah, me too, babe,” I said.

“You know what?” Stiles said, taking his hands off my shoulders and taking a step back. I’d be flat on the ground if it weren’t for Scott’s wolf-like reflexes. Get it? Cause he’s a werewolf? Alright, nevermind. Back to Stiles. “Forget it. I’ll take Liam.” He sighed, looking over at Liam… who was with Hayden… locking lips. “Yeah, I’m not taking Liam.”

Scott hummed in agreement as Sydney came walking up, asking, “Hey, can I get a candid?”

“Uh, no,” Stiles said as Scott said, “Yeah, sure.”

Stiles motioned for me to stand up, so I did. He pulled me to sit sideways on his lap as Scott pulled him to sit in between him and Lydia.

“Okay, fine,” Stiles said. He reached in his pocket for the broken piece of the windshield. “If you can explain to me why this is blue, I’ll let it go.”

I looked at the piece of glass along with Scott, noticing that it was indeed blue… well, blueish-green.

“Everyone smile,” Sydney said.

Stiles put his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as Scott leaned more towards us. I put my arm around Stiles shoulders, putting my hand on the side of his head, kissing his cheek.

After hearing the camera shutter, I looked at Sydney. “Can we get a couple copies? More like 3?”

She smiled. “Yeah, sure, Emma.”

~~~

I decided to go with Scott to ask Mrs. Finch about the piece of glass from the windshield… since Stiles was so adamant about it.

Mrs. Finch held up the glass, stating, “A chemical interaction could cause a tint.”

“What about the muzzle flash of a gun? Could that be blue or green?” I asked.

“A muzzle flash is created by superheated gases leaving a gun. Uhm, it’s possible that the gas could include copper, barium, cesium. Those can burn blue and green.”

“Can that tint the glass?” Scott asked, gesturing to the piece of glass in her hand.

“You think a gun did this?”

“Maybe,” Scott said while I said, “In theory.”

We took that information back to Stiles, who was more than eager to leave the school.

All of us walked down the hallway. Even though I stopped at my locker, I could hear their conversation.

“Thirty-nine?” Stiles asked.

I chuckled and shook my head, opening my locker.

“Thirty-nine,” Scott agreed.

I grabbed the notebooks I needed, closing my locker at the same time they opened the doors at the end of the hall… only to be escorted back in by Mrs. Martin.

“Neither one of you are going anywhere. That goes for you, too, Emma,” Mrs. Martin said.

I scoffed in shock, mouth open. “But I wasn’t--”

“Thirty-eight classes, Scott,” Mrs. Martin continued. “I had to beg the superintendent.”

“Mrs. Martin, Scott is the sworn protector of Beacon Hills,” Stiles said.

“He can protect it at 3:30,” Mrs. Martin countered.

The boys walked by my locker, Stiles with his hand out. I took it as he said to Scott, “We’re not waiting until 3:30.”

Yeah. That didn’t work out to his advantage.

We were currently sitting in our last class of the day, me in my normal spot between each boy. They were both watching the clock while I was doodling in my notebook; the sole reason I stopped at my locker to retrieve it.

I chuckled quietly as Stiles looked over in my direction, giving me a look that said he was fed the hell up with the slow moving hands on the clock.

I was in the middle of a doodle when I heard a woman singing. Scrunching my brows, I picked my head up, looking behind me at Lydia.

“Do you hear it, too?” I mouthed, to which she nodded. I looked back over at Stiles, seeing him tapping his thumb on his desk. He really should take up drumming.

Around 30 minutes had passed by before the bell rang. Scott and Stiles gathered their bags quickly, making their way out into the hallway with the rest of the students… save for me and Lydia.

Once I realized that Lydia was standing at my desk, I closed my notebook and shoved it into my bag, standing up to shoulder my straps. Lydia and I started walking out of the classroom, but I stopped walking when I heard rain pattering.

“Lydia, please tell me you hear the rain, too,” I said, a little bit of fear in my voice.

“Yup,” she said.

I looked at the TV, seeing that the static screen was on as thunder rolled. Lydia and I reached out to touch the screen when a bolt of lightning struck in front of us, sending us flying backwards.

I jolted in my seat, looking down at my notebook, seeing that I had drawn a bolt of lightning on my paper.

“Em,” Lydia said.

I looked up at her, seeing her standing next to my desk. My phone ringing caused me to jump about 5 feet out of my skin. I grabbed it from my backpack, seeing Stiles’ face on my screen. “Yeah?” I answered.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Still inside. I’ll be out in a minute,” I said, before I hung up. I sighed and stood from my desk, putting my phone in my back pocket.

Lydia and I both went outside, arms locked. Whatever the hell that premonition was, I didn’t want to know the meaning behind it.

I got in the front seat of the Jeep, taking Stiles’ hand once he got the vehicle in the gear he needed.

~~~

After getting to the house, I quickly got out of the Jeep so that Scott could get out. The three of us stood in front of the vehicle, looking at said house.

“Pretty nice,” I said. I tapped Stiles on the shoulder. “Wanna buy it?”

He chuckled and reached back for my hand, looking back at the house and sighing. “It’s not creepy at all.”

Stiles and I looked back at Scott, me handing him a flashlight before I felt a tug on my arm.

Scott was the first to walk in the house, me and Stiles right behind him. Part of me wishes that I hadn’t.

Cobwebs. Cobwebs everywhere. Made me shutter. “Uhm, that’s definitely not creepy at all,” I muttered.

We walked into the house more, the boys shining their lights through the house. Scott shined his light in what I figured was the dining room, a table for two set up.

Said Alpha turned to face Stiles and I. “Wanna split up?”

I grabbed Stiles’ hand a little tighter, wrapping my hand around his arm.

“Uh, absolutely not,” Stiles said.

“See, this is why I love you. You say what I’m thinking,” I said, looking off to my left at the staircase.

We slowly walked towards the staircase, Stiles stepping behind me.

“Just don’t touch anything,” he whispered.

Fun fact about me! I hate spiders. I have a fear of spiders. If there were such a thing as a were-spider, you can watch me catch the next flight to Nopesville.

Anyway. The three of us walked up the stairs, again cobwebs everywhere. Once we made it to the top of the staircase, there were two options; go right or left. We ended up choosing left since that’s where most of the doors up here were.

One of the rooms was completely empty, except for curtains. Looked like either an office area or a guest room.

“Maybe Alex got the address wrong,” Scott said, walking down the hall a little.

Stiles tugged on my arm to get me walking. “Or he lied,” he said.

Being up here gave me the creeps, like a… creepy Banshee vibe. It was weird. “Why would he lie?” I asked.

Another empty room… then another. Looking down at the last door of the hallway, we noticed one that was closed.

“Why is that door closed?” I said in my best Vernon impersonation from The Breakfast Club.

Stiles looked at me like he wasn’t impressed for a moment before he took a few steps towards the bedroom door, Scott and I following. Stiles paused for a moment before reaching forwards and opening the door. He walked into the bedroom first. Again, Scott and I followed behind him. What confused the hell out of me was that the bedroom was fully furnished, fit for a preteen boy.

“He didn’t lie,” Stiles said, looking back at me with his hand out.

“Why didn’t the cops say anything about this?” Scott asked.

Stiles and I looked at each other.

“They don’t know it’s here,” I said, looking back at Scott. “They can’t come here without a warrant, and there’s no owner of record to serve a warrant to.”

“And unless there’s some kind of threat or imminent danger, they wouldn’t come in,” Stiles added.

Scott looked around for a moment before putting on his focusing on his hearing face.

“What?” Stiles and I asked.

“I think I heard something,” Scott said.

“I would hope you heard something. You put on your concentration face when you hear something,” I said, crossing my arms.

Scott leveled me with a look before I raised my hands in surrender. The three of us moved to walk out of the room and into the hallway when Stiles stopped. He looked at pictures of Alex and the empty spaces beside him.

I walked up behind Stiles, putting my hand on his arm. “Looks like he took selfies. Really weird selfies.”

“Yeah, but look at this one,” he said, pointing to a frame on the desk. It was of Alex with his arm up, almost as if he was leaning against someone. The frame had #1 Dad on it.

“He must’ve taken this picture with his father,” I said. I rubbed my hand up and down on Stiles’ arm. “Don’t stress about this too much, handsome.”

“It’s hard not to,” he mumbled.

“Well then. I’ll just have to destress you later tonight,” I whispered into his ear.

He turned his head towards me, placing a kiss on my forehead.

“I’ll be downstairs with Scott, okay? Holler if you need me,” I said, giving his cheek a kiss before walking out of the room.

As soon as I was back downstairs, I noticed that Scott was looking at the table again that was set for two. “Scotty?”

“Em. Come look at this,” he said.

I walked over to him, seeing that there weren't plates and glasses sitting there anymore. He looked at me, the question filling his eyes.

I shook my head, “No. Banshee senses aren’t tingling.”

Scott and I decided to explore a little more before we heard footsteps approaching. We decided, like idiots, to follow the sound… running into Mason and Liam.

“What-what are you doing here?” Liam asked.

“This is Alex’s house,” Scott said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“This is where the compass led us,” Liam said.

“What compass?” Scott and I asked.

Mason stepped forward, showing us said compass… that was spinning like crazy. I looked over at the staircase upon hearing Alex’s bedroom door closing.

“Why is it doing that?” Scott asked, regaining my attention.

“I have no idea,” Mason said.

Liam pulled out his phone that had a compass on it already, it spinning like crazy as well. “They’re all doing it.”

“That’s strange,” I said. “I wonder why they’re all doing it.”

The glass on Mason’s compass shattered right before I heard thudding. I looked back at the staircase, saying Stiles’ name under my breath before I ran over to them and climbed them to get to my boyfriend.

“Stiles!” I yelled. When I rounded the last corner to the bedrooms, I saw him standing at the end near Alex’s room. “What? What happened?” I asked, rushing over to him and placing my hands on his cheeks quickly before putting them on his shoulders, his own hands coming to my arms.

“He was here. He shot at me,” Stiles said. He looked at Alex’s door then back at us. “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,” Stiles said. “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.”

It was quiet for a moment before it hit me like a bus. “They were erased.”

Stiles locked eyes with me for a moment before he quickly turned around and opened Alex’s bedroom door back up.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled. What I saw was horrifying.

Alex’s bedroom was completely empty.

~~~

The five of us went back to the school to do research on what’s been happening the past few hours. It was nighttime by the time we were done for the night.

Stiles and I were walking along the sidewalk, him with a book in his hand. “I keep feeling like it’s familiar, ya’know? Like I’ve heard it before,” he said.

“Pensée a civage?” I said. “That’s French. A lingering thought you can’t reach.”

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

I chuckled. “Anxiety?”

He looked like he wasn’t amused as my chuckles died down.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

He sighed. “Is your Banshee intuition saying anything about what this is?”

We stopped walking to face each other. “Babe, you don’t have to figure it all out right this second. Yes, it’s one of the things that I love most about you, but I also know how you get when supernatural stuff happens.”

“But this kid, babe. This kid’s got no one,” he countered. “Ya’know, and…” he flipped a page, looking at them. “There’s a reason why. There’s gotta be.”

I looked down at one of the pages, seeing the title The Lost Colony of Roanoke. “That’s a good, spooky story,” I said, pointing to the page.

Stiles sighed and closed the book. As soon as he did, thunder clapped and, oddly enough, I started hearing music. “Give this man a ride, sweet family will die. Killer on the road.”

“Riders on the Storm?” he asked.

“What?” I asked, the music disappearing.

“That’s the song, Riders on the Storm?”

My eyes widened a little as I pointed at him. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?”

“The Ghost Riders, babe. The Wild Hunt. They come by storm, riding horses, and they take people.”

He looked at me like I was the only girl in the world for a moment. “Emma, you’re so smart, I could kiss you right now!”

“Don’t kiss me unless a certain activity is gonna follow.”

“Not gonna, no. Mmm.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my lips before running off, yelling, “Did it anyway!”

“You owe me, Stilinski!” I yelled back at him, following him back inside the school. “Where are we going?”

“To find Scott.”

Our running through the school brought us to Scott, who was leaving the lacrosse field.

“Scott! Scott,” Stiles said, coming up to his side. “Hey. It’s called the Wild Hunt.”

“It’s a myth,” I said.

“Only, apparently it’s real,” Stiles said. “Like every other myth in this town that should just really remain a nightmare.”

“The guy on the horse?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, they call them--” Stiles looked down at me.

“Ghost Riders. They call them Ghost Riders,” I said.

“Ghost Riders,” Stiles repeated. “Hang on a second. Hey, that’s my jersey. Where’d you get that?” he asked a random player passing by.

“Coach gave it to me at practice,” the kid said.

Stiles looked back at Scott. “We had practice?” He turned to face me. “We had practice?”

I raised my hands. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t know.”

“Why doesn’t anyone tell me anything?”

“I love you?”

“Why would the Ghost Riders take Alex’s parents?” Scott asked, getting back on track.

“Scotty, it’s what they do. They take people, okay?” I said.

“They run around collecting souls,” Stiles said. “And once they take you, you’re gone.”

“But it’s not just you, it’s everything about you,” Scott said.

“Yeah, like how they took Alex’s room,” Stiles said, before looking off the side, putting the pieces together.

“Does that mean Alex is next?” Scott asked.

My phone dinged with a text.

Lyds: Come meet me in the Math room. Just you.

“Lydia needs me. I’ll go see what she wants. Call me when you find something out,” I said, leaning up to give Stiles a kiss.

“Alright, beautiful,” he said.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

~~~

What I wasn’t expecting when I got there was to see Malia there as well.

“Hey, I got your text. You wanted me to meet you here?” I said.

“Em, something terrible is going to happen,” Lydia said.

“But I’m sure you already knew that,” Malia mumbled.

I sighed. “Yeah.”

“What is it?” Malia asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“That’s why I need your help,” Lydia said.

“Okay, wait a second. I’m here so that Malia can help you figure out what the hell’s gonna happen?” I asked.

“To help us,” Lydia informed.

I nodded my head once. “Gotcha. My bad. Continue.”

My phone started ringing, which caused me to groan in protest. “I’m sorry.” I grabbed my phone from my back pocket. “Hello?”

“Sweetheart? Where are you?” Dad said.

“At the school. Why?”

“I need you to come meet me. I need to see you with my own two eyes.”

I sighed. “Alright. I’m on my way.” I hung my phone up, looking at the girls. “I gotta run. My dad’s freaking out.”

Malia nodded. “Alright.”

~~~

As soon as I ran into the hallway, I crashed right into a body, who steadied me against them.

“Damn it, Stilinski,” I muttered.

“I’ll check the Quad,” Scott said. “Let me know if you find them. And see if your dad knows anything.”

“Hey, Scott, wait,” Stiles said.

Scott turned back around from the start of his run.

“Uhm, I-I just, uh-- I wanted to say, uhm…” Stiles sighed.

“Tell me later,” Scott said, running off again.

“Yeah, alright,” Stiles muttered.

“Find who?” I asked.

“Oh, no.”

“Who are you talking about? Find who?”

“Liam and Hayden,” Stiles said.

“And we’re finding them, why?” I asked.

“Because they might be next.”

Stiles turned around, almost running to Mrs. Martin as she said, “Whoa, whoa whoa!”

“Sorry,” Stiles said.

“Slow it down.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Martin, sorry,” I said.

“It’s quite alright, Emma,” she said.

“Hey, have you seen, uh, Liam and Hayden?” Stiles asked. “Actually, forget that. Have you seen our dads?”

“Who?”

“Our dads. They’re here because of the body?” I said.

She looked at me like she knew who I was, then looked at Stiles like she didn’t. “How do you know about the body?”

“Because my dad’s the Sheriff and her’s is his right hand Deputy,” Stiles said. “Mrs. Martin, are you okay?”

“Uh, just wait here,” she said before walking towards the doors Stiles had just come through.

We shared a look before we darted down the hall, looking for our dads. We weren’t running for very long before I was pulled by someone in another direction. Stiles noticed and his eyes went wide.

“I’ll catch up. Go.”

He dashed back down the hall as I turned and faced my dad.

“Hey, Daddy,” I said before being pulled into a bone crushing hug.

“Thank God you’re alright,” he sighed.

“You’re crushing me, so no. I’m not alright,” I groaned.

He pulled away, keeping his hands on my shoulders.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Your friends found a body in one of the closets,” Dad said.

“Gross,” I said, before realization hit. “Wait. What friends?” “Liam, Hayden and Mason.”

“Which way did they go?”

“Uhm,” Dad said, looking around. “I think they went that way.” He pointed behind him.

My phone dinged again with another text message.

Lyds: Keep Stiles safe and with you. Don’t let him out of your sight.

To Lyds: Why?

Lyds: I know you heard the song. You’re always with him. Keep. Him. Safe.

“Uh, Daddy. I gotta go,” I said, looking from my phone to him. “I gotta go find Stiles.”

Dad looked at me like I was crazy. “Emma. Who’s Stiles?”

“My boyfriend? Your best friend's son? Dad, I--” I said, before realization hit me. “Oh, no. Not Stiles.” I ran around him, now on a wild man hunt to find the love of my life. “STILES!”

Running left and right, I was going around every corner, calling out for him. I finally found him coming out a set of double doors.

“Stiles!” I yelled, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Emma? You know me. Oh, thank God. You know me,” he said, returning my hug.

“I know you,” I said. I pulled back, looking him in the eyes, my arms still wrapped around his neck. “But I think everyone else is forgetting.”

He looked behind me, the wind picking up. He looked off to his right, spotting something. “Hey, do you see him?” he asked, still looking in that direction.

I turned my head over my shoulder, not seeing anything there but the school, my hands dropping to his arms. “See what?” I asked, fear lacing my voice.

“The guy on the horse,” Stiles said, pointing to what he was seeing.

“Stiles, if you can see them, they’re gonna--” I said, tears already filling my eyes.

“No, I know, I know,” he said, putting his hands on my cheeks. “Okay. They’re comin’ for me. So you have to get away from me right now, okay?”

“Stiles, you’re fucking crazy if you think I’m leaving you,” I said.

He looked at me with all the love in the world. “Alright, come on, come on!” He laced our fingers, turned around and started running. “This way, this way. Come on.”

It was a good thing I was wearing my trusty Converses.

We turned a corner, but stopped at Stiles’ multiple whoa’s. He turned around, saying, “Okay, this way, come on.” before stopping again.

“Where are they?” I asked, looking around at the trees.

“They’re everywhere. Come on, come on. Emma, don’t look at them, okay? Don’t try to scream. They’ll take you, too. Just do not look at them.”

We ran towards the Jeep while Stiles was telling me what not to do before we both got in, me telling him that I wouldn’t. He fumbled with the keys for a second before putting them in the ignition before going absolutely still.

“Babe, what are you doing? We need to go!” I said.

He pulled the keys out of the ignition. “There’s no time.”

“No, there’s time. Just start the damn Jeep!”

“Emma-- Emma!” he said, turning to face me.

I sighed and looked at him, tears lining my eyes.

“Emma, I’m going to be erased, okay? Just like Alex. You’re gonna forget me.”

“I won’t. No, I won’t. I can’t,” I said, voice shaky.

“Beautiful, you will. Just try to find some way to remember me, okay? Remember how you were the first girl that slept in the same bed with me when I saved you in the woods? Remember how you were the first girl I ever danced with? Or how I had a crush on you Freshman year. Sophomore year before we got together? Remember the ring that’s sitting against your heart? Remember how you saved my life?”

“You saved my life, too. On multiple occasions,” I said, earning a small chuckle from both of us.

I reached forward and laced our fingers together, leaning my forehead against his, sighing as tears streamed down my face.

“Just remember…” he whispered. “Remember I love you.”

Before I could press my lips against his, the door opened and he was yanked from my grasp, the door closing again just a second after.

My hand was still hanging in the air, missing his touch so damn much. I sat in the Jeep, looking out at the school in front of me, breathing deeply. “Remember.”

I reached under the collar of my shirt, bringing my promise ring out and holding it. “Remember… Remember.”

~~~

I went home last night and fell asleep in Stiles’ bed with his shirt and a pair of my pajama shorts on, but when I woke up… I was in my room at my parents house.

I got dressed that morning like normal, but it seemed like I was waiting for something… or someone. I sat outside in the driveway, waiting for my ride when my mom came outside in a hurry.

“Emma? Why are you sitting in the driveway?” she asked.

“Waiting for my ride,” I said.

She looked at me a little funny. “You mean, the ride that’s sitting right there, that’s a white Jeep Commander?”

I looked at my Jeep, forcing a chuckle. “That’s the one!” I said.

“Alright, well, why don’t you get your little sassy butt to school?”

I fake saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

Getting into my Jeep, I felt a little off. Almost like it was wrong to be driving myself to school.

When I got there, I parked in my normal spot, at the front of the school. I walked in, seeing Corey and Mason having a conversation, Liam and Hayden in all their couple glory, and everyone else walking and chatting with their friends.

Malia and Lydia walked in my view of my cousin and his friends.

“You okay?” Malia asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong, honey?” Lydia asked.

“I have this feeling that I was supposed to do something,” I said.

Scott walked up then, asking, “Do what?”

I tilted my head to the side, tears lining my eyes and I grabbed the ring that was around my neck, holding it.

“I can’t remember.”