"Lydia"
"No."
"Lydia"
"It's not real."
"Lydia, are you afraid?"
"No."
"Lydia, are you afraid?"
The words echoed in her mind. She wasn't afraid, was she? Her thoughts searched the corners of her imagination to keep her mind of the one word. Fear. What was fear? Was it a reality? Or simply the brain reacting to something it did not like? The goose bumps on her arms; the chills traveling down her spine. Those were only a few of the symptoms that Lydia Martin suffered from. And why? She did not know. She was completely unaware of the growing unease in her body, yet completely aware. She needed comfort. Love. Were those the same? She questioned the idea of both.
"Comfort is not needed, Lydia. Love, affection. It is not real. Listen to me, Lydia."
Who? She thought to herself. The voice in Lydia's head was a regular phenomenon. But sometimes, she could not tell if it was Satan himself speaking to her, or her own creation to blame her problems. She was losing her ability to tell right from left, or another example, right from wrong. Lydia needed help. A psychiatrist may be of some use. But what Lydia truly needed was a friend. And the closest person that Lydia would ever open up to was Stiles Stilinski. Stiles, being the only human who could actually understand her. Stiles, the boy who was madly in love with Lydia. And Stiles always knew what was wrong and how to fix it. Lydia was confused by how he could read her so quickly, because she had always classified herself as an unpredictable girl. And as soon Stiles arrived at her doorstep, he knew that something was up.
"Close the door, Lydia. Don't let him in. Emotions weaken your strength."
The resistance against this unseen foe became smaller everyday. The commands were getting worse, but each time, Lydia proceeded to ignore them. Little did Lydia know, the hardest was yet to come.
They sat in silence. Stiles was nervously playing with the keys in his jacket pocket, and sat in a slouched position on the corner of her bed. Lydia slumped down next to him, her body almost to heavy to carry. The dark circles under her eyes proved her long suffering days, and even worse nights.
"Hey," The boy said with concern in his golden-brown eyes, "Have you been sleeping lately?"
Lydia's green eyes slowly traveled up from the dark spot in the distance they had been staring at. Their eyes met.
"Tell him to leave, Lydia."
Lydia was left speechless, literally. She wanted to defy the voice in her head, but was it possible? How could she live like this in darkness?
"I…"
Nothing but a mumble from Lydia's part. Stiles' furrowed brow deepened. The nonsense from Lydia's mouth quickly turned into a sob as she fell backwards onto her bed and rolled over. She lay there for a couple of seconds while stiles contemplated what to do with the helpless girl. But Lydia would be strong. She would not be afraid, and certainly, the voice in her head was no obstacle. Lydia's newly improved ego overcame her as she shot straight up and began pacing. What would she tell stiles? That there was some evil demon trying to control her and it seemed to be working, or would the new friend inside her brain force him to leave?
"Help" A whisper barely escaped her breath. Lydia's great wall of strength crumbled as quickly as it had come. She fell and time slowed as the beautiful young man caught the beautiful young woman. As darkness surrounded Lydia, one last word fled through her mind. "Death"
That same darkness surrounded Lydia as she awoke. Where was she? Had she died? She surely couldn't have been in heaven. Hell? Maybe...
"Death" The same word played over and over again. That voice sounded all too familiar. The same voice everyday. This demon in her head grew louder as she closed her eyes and shook her head. And without knowing it, her eyes opened. From this evil darkness was the person whom she least wanted to see. The figure in front of her was a manipulative, foul, ruthless being. The evil creature standing in front of her had used her. And now, he was using her again. The person standing in front of Lydia was the same voice inside of her head. Peter hale. Fury boiled inside of her.
"That's right Lydia. It is I again. Your mind is so very vulnerable, and that is exactly what I need."
"For what?" Lydia said through clenched teeth. She had been played yet again.
"Don't you see, Lydia? I have built your strength. All along, you thought you were defying me, but now you realize you were doing exactly what I wanted."
Lydia was dumbstruck. She could not move a muscle. She would not move a muscle. The monster chuckled.
"I have one last trial for you, Lydia," He waltzed around the motionless girl. Her eyes trailed him, but her body stayed unmoving. "If you succeed, I will drain your strength, for you have proven to me that you are stronger than you appear. If you fail…"
"Death." Lydia repeated the word that had been stuck in her head.
"Correct." Peter smirked, the menacing tone in his voice making her wince.
How could this have happened again? She thought to herself. As Peter's voice echoed in the dark chamber, she sat on the cold floor. A single tear dripped down her face. How could she have been so weak? Along with the buzzing noise of a light bulb, something lit up behind her. She slowly turned, and what she found was horrifying. Her muscles tensed and she grew short of breath. A whimpering noise came from what lay in front of her. Her wails from a second ago were nothing compared to the rivers that streamed down her face now. For Lydia found Stiles strapped to a chair, his mouth duct taped shut. He sat with his wrists and ankles harnessed to the seat, and his fluffy hair matted down from all of the struggling. Lydia felt her body moving towards the torcher scene. Her chest tightened as her lungs searched for air.
"Look down, Lydia." Peter's voice boomed out of nowhere.
Her head moved without knowing, and her eyes fell to her hands. Placed in her palm was a sharp dagger. She stared intently into the reflection of it, to find that her mascara was smearing. A knot in her stomach formed as she peered down towards her friend with a broken heart. She knew exactly what was going to happen.
"No. No. No." Lydia shrieked, as a river poured down her face. Her legs were moving, slowly but surely towards Stiles. She couldn't resist. This time she couldn't resist.
Stiles is going to die. I am going to die. This isn't possible. Stiles is going to die. Stiles is going to die.
At this point, Lydia was so close she was almost on top of him. She knelt to the ground. Stiles, the poor, sweet boy, that all he knew was love, looked up at Lydia. His eyes filled with fear, but also with a naïve perception that Lydia would never hurt him. Lydia stared back with an extraordinary amount of remorse. She wouldn't, would she? Would she sacrifice her power and soul for stiles? Or would she kill him too?
And within that beautiful moment, Lydia did it. She plunged the blade into the deep heart of her only true friend. His screams were slowly sucked away into the depths of the grave, one by one. His eyes filled with a mortifying pain that Lydia would never look at. She collapsed. She could feel the power being drained from her body, just like peter said. Peter, that evil monster. But then again, wasn't she a monster too? After all, she had just killed her best friend. Maybe more than just a friend…
Rage coursed through her veins like venom from a snake. She hadn't passed the test, had she? The voice of the devil rang throughout the hollow cave. She heard him laugh with all of his might. He laughed until he could no more. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
"Why," Lydia stammered.
And as a reply, the old man cackled, as he could not stop. Lydia slowly let down her head as she allowed the slow process of death take over her body. Her last memory being the repulsive smell of blood filling her nose and mouth.
Lydia awoke. She was in a familiar place, but could not put her finger on it. Where am I? Lydia thought to herself. Then, all of the memories came rushing back, bringing a throbbing pain with them. They flooded her brain with so many emotions. Her body trembled with such ferocity that she yelped. And suddenly, someone was beside her, caressing her, telling her that it was going to be ok. She felt a blanket and a warm embrace around her. She liked that feeling. It made all of the memories melt away. It felt like home to her.
Lydia revealed her light green eyes to the world, to find that it had been Stiles holding her. They were sitting in his room as Lydia gripped him furiously. Then the memories came crashing back. She remembered those scared, golden eyes staring back at her, trusting that she wouldn't harm him. She remembered Peter and his evil laugh. She remembered everything. Lydia cried, turning her tear stained face into stiles' over sized sweatshirt. He stroked her strawberry blonde hair as she plastered her soggy face into him. She cried for what seemed an eternity, and finally she whispered,
"I don't ever want to hurt you."