3.
Stiles hasn't gotten much sleep lately.
His dreams—nightmares—keep getting invaded by that horrible Kanima creature. Even the peaceful dreams of Lydia, dreams he used to take solace in, didn't give his mind a place to rest. He's pretty sure the only reason he hasn't gone completely batshit insane yet is because of Scott, Allison, and Lydia. The power couple (Scott and Allison) is keeping him grounded by assuring him that both the werewolves and the Argents are on the lookout for the Kanima—but people are still dying. The bodies keep piling higher and higher.
The next time he sees Scott he tells him its time they formed a search party of their own and hunted the damn thing down. They start at the school. And on their third night searching (they've thoroughly cleared all the back sheds and storage areas as well as the outer classrooms and football, soccer, and lacrosse fields). Usually they team up with Derek and his pack of creeper wolves, but tonight they've decided that bringing Lydia without the aid of the others is a good idea. Because they're complete dumbasses.
Somewhere along the way Allison had finally told Lydia what the hell was going on (because she couldn't take lying to her best friend any longer) and now (for whatever reason) the red head is determined to help them hunt this thing down.
At 10:30 Scott and Allison are at the helm of their stupid little squad, with Lydia and Stiles at the rear.
"Why are we here without back up again?" Stiles asks because, honestly he can't figure that part out.
Scott shakes his head at him like he's disappointed, and Allison answers the question rather fiercely, "We're doing it to save lives."
"Oh. Well as long as we're doing it for the right reasons..."
The power couple turns around to glower at him in perfect unison.
.
They split up to search for clues, not unlike the Scooby Doo gang would in any of the old cartoons. But this isn't some cheesy 70s cartoon with gaudy costumes and idiotic villains. It's real and it's dangerous. And down-right terrifying.
Stiles and Lydia are looking in the computer lab for any signs of the Kanima. She isn't as anxious as he expected her to be. She had taken all the news about all these supernatural creatures being an actuality pretty well for someone so rooted in science and logic. And now in the middle of this dark empty classroom he's thankful she's so stubbornly brave. She's got this pink flashlight, it's bedazzled and ridiculous but throws out a wider beam of light than the simple black flashlight Stiles lifted from his dad's patrol car.
Lydia has wandered to the back of the room to search by the last row of computers while Stiles remains at the front of the room, feeling antsy as he swipes a sweaty palm up the side of his denim clad leg. He can feel the tell tales of a panic attack coming on: severe anxiety, shortness of breath, accelerated heartbeat. He can feel the pulse of his heart drumming in his ear.
"Stiles?" From the look on her face she's discovered something unpleasant.
"Did you find something?" As he starts pacing toward the back of the room he follows her line of vision, spotting the pool of venom on the floor.
"I think so." She glances at him, then back to the pool on the tile, following the trail of liquid up the back of a computer, along the wall, and up to the ceiling. There is a corner of one of the ceiling panels that is considerably darker than the rest, and from it drips the same clear thick liquid. "What the hell is that?"
"Venom. Careful, you don't want to touch that stuff or you'll be paralyzed."
They hear a creak come from the front of the room, and the two of them glance toward the ceiling, where they watch as the darkness from the corner of the panel spreads until it consumes the entire space.
"We should probably run."
"Good idea."
And they do. Lydia goes out first, with Stiles right on her heels. He clears the doorway just as the creature bursts from the ceiling and lands on the ground in a slimy heap, fangs bared and dripping.
"Run!" He hears himself scream.
They're running down the hallway at top speed, with the creature right behind them, claws sliding against the school tile. He hears them scrape against the metal of lockers and senses that the creature is about to make a lounge for them.
Gripping Lydia tightly by the shoulders he abruptly changes direction, pulling her tiny body along and pushing her ahead of him once they had switched course. The scaled tail of the creature slices the air just over his head as the rest of the body flies passed, claws desperately seeking traction on the slippery tile surface.
Blood plumping, heart racing, Stiles is frantic as he makes sure to keep himself positioned between Lydia and the creature at all times. They duck into hallway after hallway as it gives chase.
"Where are we going?!" Lydia screams beside him, and Stiles wracks his brain for a solution. How do you kill a creature that's faster and stronger than you when you barely know how to defend yourself? He tries to remember everything he has learned about the creature so far, through fables, encyclopedias, websites. Then he remembers the night in the pool.
"The pool! I-I think it's afraid of water or something."
The creature's tail nearly whips Stiles in the back as it leaps passed them when they duck into another hallway. "Cut through the gym!"
It's nearly paralyzed him twice already. But all he can think of is keeping Lydia out of its reach. Pool, gotta get to the pool, gotta get to the pool. He keeps repeating this to himself as they continue running. He can hear Lydia struggling to keep up with him, her strides shorter than his, her build not as athletic. But she manages, pushing herself beyond her limits as she keeps pace with him.
He can see the safe haven of waters ahead of them. They've made it to the building that houses the swimming pools. As they're about to clear the entrance he hears the Kanima hissing just behind them, crouching low and ready to strike. How did it catch up so quickly?
He pushes Lydia out of the way before the thought fully forms in his head, and feels the sting of that scaled tail as it slices open the back of his neck. He hears Lydia scream, and the sound is deafening. The venom is cold in his blood stream and already numbing his body. The ground is rushing toward him and then his cheek hits the concrete hard, teeth biting into the flesh of the inside of his mouth.
Stiles tastes the coppery tang of blood.
Lydia is still screaming ahead of him, backing away as the Kanima advances, slithering passed Stiles' stiffening body. He tries reaching for the creature, to slow its advance, but he isn't quick enough. It's stalking toward her on all fours, gleefully flicking a serpentine tongue across a row of needle thin, sharp, bone white teeth.
Stiles is desperate as he reaches for Lydia, who's voice finally cracks as she runs out of air. She looks at Stiles, green eyes wide and terrified. He can see the reflection of the creature in the tears that form in her eyes. "L-Lydia…" He croaks, trying to scream for Scott or Allison or someone—anyone to save them.
The Kanima has her backed up against the edge of the deep end of the pool. She opens her mouth to scream again and this time Stiles sees a flash of white the sound is so loud. The creature cries out, apparently pained by the severe high pitch in her voice.
His vision is starting to fade. No, no, no I have to stay awake. Lydia. I have to save Lydia.
Lydia is moving while the creature is immobilized, apparently in a temporary daze. She's so fast. Scrambling to get behind the creature, she screams again at the same blood curdling pitch. Stiles drops his head against the concrete, repeatedly thudding his head against the cold hard ground to stay awake. It's like nails grating against a chalkboard, Freddy Krueger's knives scraping against metal, and wet sneakers squeaking against tile all at once. His heartbeat throbs painfully in his head.
The Kanima cries out again. And as the world around him begins to blur he sees Lydia suddenly charge the creature, pausing just before it and kicking it square in the spine. The stunned lizard tumbles into the water.
Abruptly torn from its stupor it scrambles to stay afloat, screeching and moaning as it claws the liquid surface around it. The water sloshes around the giant lizard, lapping at the edges of the pool. It can't get purchase, it's drowning. Somewhere in the shadows of his mind a voice of blue velvet murmurs with a chuckle, Its like a child drowning.
But Lydia isn't done yet. Stiles can barely make out what she's reaching for his vision is so skewed and blurry, but she pulls something free from the purse strapped around her shoulder and points it at the frantic creature. She clicks a button and suddenly the entire pool is ignited with electricity. Blue streams of electricity spread across the surface like the branches of a tree, barren in the dead of winter. The current hits the lizard, wrapping around it and coursing through its veins like poison.
The creature yowls in pain, body jerking with the volts coursing through the water into its scaled body, but Lydia doesn't let go of the trigger. It feels like it goes on for hours—the Kanima's screeches, the buzz of electricity in the water, the water slapping against the concrete of the pool's rim—but from what Stiles can see, the creature finally disappears from view below the surface of the water. Lydia detaches something from the device Stiles now recognizes as a taser gun and rushes toward him.
The last thing he hears is the distant sound of Scott and Allison screaming as they run down the hall toward them.
.
Stiles feels like he's floating in some really cold water. His body is completely numb, but light.
He feels free.
He inhales deeply, feeling the air rush into his lungs, inflating his chest, pumping clean blood through his veins. He feels the oxygen flowing through him, spreading under his skin, wedged between muscle and bone, lifting him above the surface.
He feels really, really good.
And he can't help but laugh. Because he hasn't just laughed in a while. He throws his head back to laugh again, and finds that he now on his feet. The ground beneath him is solid, and white. The room around him a spacious, open, garden. With grass (the color of Lydia's eyes) and tall trees that dwarf him in size, he recognizes them as some species that hails from Asia. It's leaves are the color of flames, shades of red, orange, and yellow. It's odd. That the ground with flowers in full bloom seems stuck in spring and the trees up above are in the beginnings of autumn.
He's looking up at the tree tops when he feels a raindrop splash against his cheek. He blinks. But…there aren't any clouds in the sky. Or a sun for that matter.
Stiles turns his head in search of the source of light. When another rain drop hits his face. Now he searches for the source of the water, squinting up into the sky to see if he can find a cloud hidden high among the layers of the atmosphere. But he can't find one.
Then the sky darkens, thick clouds of dark grey rolling overhead. Thunder rumbled in the distance, as the mass of darkness above him lit up. Flashes of light blind him temporarily, and he hears that voice of blue velvet louder than ever.
Hello, Stiles.
And for the first time since the voice began speaking to him, Stiles is deeply, deeply enveloped in its presence.
.
So originally I was going to post this on Halloween. But Alas it wasn't quite ready. Anyway sorry this chapter is a little shorter but I felt like it had enough going one without immense length. Maybe later I'll come back at add more to it if I think of something else but I'm pretty happy with it the way ti is. But here's some good news! The next chapter is already about halfway done so i'll try and get that done as soon as possible! Anyway please leave a comment, I love being updated on everyone's thoughts and hearing your input!