"Are you sure you have to go Malia?" Stiles forced himself to sound sad… well sadder.
His girlfriend was leaving for God knows how long and he doesn't feel like he's living up to the Hollywood break up scene. Malia smiles and gives Stiles a kiss.
"I have to find my mother. I'll do whatever it takes. I'm sorry, but I hope you can understand…"
Stiles understood. If it were his family he would be gone in a heartbeat.
"I do… I hope you find her… Good luck."
Malia nodded and walked towards Braeden's van. Braeden was kissing Derek goodbye, which tore at Stiles heart. Derek has the worst luck with relationships, and the fact that he finally found someone nice and she had to go and leave him to finish what she started just didn't seem fair to Stiles, especially after she told Derek she wouldn't think about it anymore. Stiles just wanted to see him smile… he loves when Derek smiles. The first thing you want to do is gawk at him considering how grumpy he always is, but his smile is contagious and Stiles always ends up with one on his face. Stiles' glad Braeden's going with Malia but still he couldn't help but feel for Derek. He wanted to just run over and give Derek a nice hug, but he doesn't think the feeling was mutual. All he could do was frown as the van took off and Derek stood in the middle of the road. They decided to meet up at Derek's because Malia had all her guns there, which Derek no longer needed with his powers back. Stiles decided to walk over to Derek and forget about the hugging.
"I'm sorry she left."
Derek looked down and sighed. "Yeah, me too."
Stiles felt his heart drop into his stomach, feeling nothing but sadness for the poor man. His family is either dead or insane and power hungry, his girlfriends either try to kill him or leave him, and it seems he can't have both his powers and a companion at the same time. This man has some kind of curse on him, and Stiles wanted to relieve him of his sadness so badly it hurt.
"Did you want to go back inside? It's getting pretty cold out here… or we can do this staring off into the distance thing if you prefer."
Stiles felt stupid, that was suppose to be a joke but it just sounded like he was mocking Derek. Luckily Derek seemed to cast it aside as another weird thing Stiles said.
Derek turned to him and looked a bit confused, "You don't seem sad that your girlfriend just left you, not sure when or even if she is going to return."
Stiles shrugged. "I don't really know why I don't seem to be as sad as I thought I'd be. Is that bad?"
Derek stared at him for another second and then looked back in the direction Braeden drove off in. "Let's just get back inside. We can add it to the list of weird things you do."
Stiles sat down on Derek's couch, while Derek grabbed himself a drink and joined Stiles on the opposite side, taking a sip and then turning on his TV to the news. The TV filled the room but the silence was still palpable between them. Scott and Kira were on a second first date, Liam was at a party with his friends, and Lydia was with Deputy Parrish looking through the bestiary. Stiles didn't want to leave Derek in the state he was in without trying to talk to him.
"Are you going to be ok?"
Derek let out a hollow and pathetic laugh. "Yeah. I'm use to being alone."
Stiles couldn't handle the pain in his heart, but he couldn't do anything. That was something he had to come to peace with a while ago. All of his friends have something to add to the supernatural table except him, unless you count the time he was possessed and forced to kill people against his will.
Stiles shook his head silently. "You're not alone. You have everyone… including me… here for you."
Derek looked at him and forced his frown to straighten and curve up just a little. He could tell Derek was exhausted. Stiles figured he needed to leave Derek alone.
"If you need me, don't hesitate to call. Ok?"
Derek looked up at him and nodded, looking back down at his drink.
"Ok. I'll help myself out," Stiles reached the door and turned back to Derek, "I'm sorry."
Stiles fell, back first onto his bed, exhaustion hitting him hard. He was still thinking about why he wasn't feeling worse that Malia was gone, the only girl he's ever dated. Stiles took out his phone from his pocket and looked to see if he had any text messages. Nothing. Stiles rolled over and laid on his pillow, thoughts of Derek entered his mind like they always did, and all he could wish for as he drifted close to sleep was for Derek to call him… give him a chance to be useful.
Suddenly Stiles was pulled from his dreams by a quite vibration that radiated through his mattress. He grabbed at his phone and tried to look at the screen, the brightness blinding him. He made out the name Derek and a mix of adrenalin and excitement poured through his body. He answered and pulled the phone up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Derek. What are you doing right now?"
Stiles looked at his clock, 1:17. "Well I was sleeping. What's up?"
There was a pause. "I'm in my family's house, and I found something I think you need to see. Can you meet me here? I wouldn't call unless it was compl—"
"Sure! I'll be right over!"
Stiles hung up on Derek who was probably still talking and got into his car. The night surprisingly cold and Stiles wasn't fully aware of anything until he parked outside the burned building.
Stiles entered the house, chills running up his spine as the wind picked up inside. He crossed his arms to conserve body heat and willed his eyes to see in the moon lit house.
"Derek?"
There was the sound of the wind circling above him and creaking echoing from different ends of the house.
"D—Derek?" Again no answer. "Hey Derek! Where are you? It's Stiles!"
Stiles stood there for another few seconds and then Derek turned the corner,
"Hey. Thanks for coming."
Stiles shrugged not wanting to show how excited he was that Derek called him.
"It's cool, I'm glad you did… So what's up?"
Derek's face went serious which didn't look encouraging to Stiles.
"It's in the basement."
Stiles squinted, obviously not liking how Derek was describing 'It'.
"It? What is 'it'?"
Derek shrugged, "Not sure. That's why I called. I'll explain on the way."
Stiles hesitated when Derek started moving, but followed as the thought of being in the house alone entered his mind.
"Wait up!" Stiles bolted out of the main room and headed after Derek.
Once he caught up he matched Derek's pace and headed down into the basement. "I came here to think after you left, but when I got down to the basement something felt off."
They were now standing in the center of where the fire started. Stiles looked over at Derek with pain in his stomach.
"Derek, why would you revisit this place?"
Derek looked over at him and shrugged with a frown, "I don't know. It helps me put everything into perspective… anyway as I was down here I noticed something felt strange, I couldn't put my finger on it but I started looking around when I noticed this."
Derek pointed over to one of the walls of the basement behind Stiles. Stiles backed up to see what Derek was looking at and noticed the bricks were hiding a door, that Derek had to just have opened. There was a hand print on one of the ash coated stones to the right of the door, which must have been the pressure plate.
"No way!"
A silence fell over the house again and you could hear the wood floors resting.
"What I wanted you to see is inside."
Derek pushed the door with some force required, and it grinded open, allowing more light to enter. A wave of cold thick air escaped the chamber and Stiles had to step back from the intensity.
"Come on."
Derek entered and quickly vanished into the shadows occupying the recently disturbed chamber. Stiles was shaking, fear taking over his body. He wanted to just step back and run to his car but Derek called him here for a reason and he had to trust him.
"Are you sure we should be in there?"
Stiles voice carried until it got to the opening of the hidden door where it hollowed out into nothing but a whisper. He could feel the darkness seeping out and the hair on his arms stood on end, but he forced himself to move inside. Stiles embraced the darkness and soon his eyes adjusted to the faint light given off by the poorly laid floorboards above them. Derek was standing near the center of the room, staring at a podium. Stiles stepped up behind Derek to get a good look at what it was. A wooden stand stood in the center with a leather book wrapped in chains on it. There were other marks on it but it was too dark to make anything out. Another chill went through Stiles as the floor boards above him echoed inside the chamber.
"What is that?" His voice escaped his lips and soon vanished into the darkness, faintly reaching Derek's ear.
"I don't know. I can't get close to it because there's a mountain ash barrier. It's too strong for me to get through. I need you to get the book for me."
Stiles throat was growing a lump and his body started shaking again, this time he couldn't suppress it. He was scared shitless at the idea, but a little part of him wanted to do it, partly because Derek was asking him to, and partly because he could finally be of some use. Stiles moved towards the podium only to make contact with Derek's outstretched arm.
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
Stiles took in a shallow breath and looked over at Derek, blue eye's illuminating a small part of the darkness.
"I got it."
Stiles looked back at the book and stepped closer, and again taking another step, each step took more will power as every fiber in his body was telling him to run. Eventually he was inches from the podium and the intense chill he felt moments ago were much stronger. With his shaking hands he reached out to remove the book from it's home. He decided he was going to do it fast, one swift movement, get it and go. His hands were shaking as it hovered over the book. Stiles counted down, making sure to breathe with every number. Three… two…. one… NOW! Stiles hands shot out in front of him and grabbed the chain bound book, a chilling pain overwhelmed his hands but he pushed through it half thinking it was in his head. Moving back he picked up the book, it was surprisingly heavy but Stiles could manage it. Stiles feet moved next, shooting back from the podium, his only goal was to hand the book to Derek. Suddenly his face made contact with a solid space of air that redirected Stiles motion, sending him flying back by his head, a purple light shot through the air forming a bubble around the podium trapping Stiles inside. Stiles' back made contact with the dirt floor and pain was sent through his spine.
"AH!"
Stiles rolled off the root he landed on and started rubbing his back. When it hit him that he was now trapped inside he started panicking looking for Derek on the other side. He found Derek against the wall rubbing his head, the shockwave must have been emitted from both sides.
"Derek! What's happening?"
Derek looked up at Stiles and his face went pale. "Stiles!"
Derek picked himself up and ran over to him. He placed his hands on the bubble and was pushed back. "It's a force field of some kind?"
Stiles saw the panic in Derek's face and it only made the situation worse.
Stiles voice started quivering as fear wrapped around his throat. "Derek, what do I do?"
Derek shook his head. "I don't know."
Stiles stood up and touched the field. It felt like something was pushing back at him, and it was strong. Stiles turned around and the pain radiating through his body was replaced by fear.
"Derek! The book! It's back on the podium!"
Stiles stood as far away from the book as he could, but the only way to get out was going to be through that book. Trembling, his body stepped closer to the book, Derek tried touching the wall again but had no luck getting through.
"Be careful Stiles."
Stiles looked back at Derek who stood there helplessly. Stiles reached out his hands again, this time embracing the chilling pain, sending the wave up his arms making his hairs stand on end. Stiles gripped the chains and started unwrapping the book. Derek moved around the bubble so that Stiles could see both the book and Derek's face. Derek looked down at the book in bewilderment. Stiles dropped the chain on the floor producing a haunting metal on metal sound. Stiles took a deep breath, and after looking at Derek for encouragement but finding nothing but fear, he lifted the cover. The leather didn't give in and Stiles had to put some force behind it. Stiles got it an inch open and then the book sent a wave of purple energy throughout the bubble, slicing Stiles in half. Stiles looked down to see his body still intact but there was a pain building in the area he was hit. It built up in an instant and shot through his body towards his head, and stayed there. Stiles screamed in pain as his mind was being pushed past the limits of pain he thought imaginable. He put his hands up to his head and fell to the floor, squeezing his head and screaming, the agony taking over his body. He could hear Derek screaming back at him, but all he could think about was the unimaginable agony. He managed to open his eyes to see Derek charging at the field and being shot back against the wall. Derek would get up and charge in again, claws tearing at the field. Derek shot back in a spin. The pain started to pulse and all Stiles could do was curl into a ball and hope it would stop.
"Derek…"
Stiles kept whispering his name. He felt the words leave his lips but didn't know why… he just needed to say it for comfort or just to let him know he was still alive.
"Derek…"
Derek was crouched on the floor pushing on the field.
"Stiles! Are you ok?"
The pain resurged and Stiles screamed again, his head felt like it was about to explode. Stiles felt a strong pressure surround his neck and he instantly wrapped his own hands around, trying to pull whatever it was off of him. Stiles searched for Derek and wheezed his name. He saw Derek's eyes wide and red, and a tear was running down his face.
"Stiles! I'm so sorry! I don't know what to do!"
The grip around his neck tightened and he felt his vocal cords crushing underneath the pressure, and slowly he was lifted up by the phantasm. Stiles grabbed at the air, trying to find his attacker but was only surrounded by the ever-growing darkness. His vision was blackening and he resorted to kicking at the air. He tried to take in a breath but all that entered his shrinking lungs was blood. He felt himself drowning, and all he could do was flail and cry. He found Derek again, who was now ripping at the field, breaking bones against the wall he was thrown back on, but he still got up and tried again. It was hopeless, the force field wouldn't be defeated so easily, but still Derek tried. It was equally perplexing and encouraging to Stiles. How could someone like Derek still find the energy to fight? Knowing everything he has been through. Stiles decided he had to try something else, he tried to calm himself. But how? He remembered what Derek said about control, he needed an anchor. Stiles thought of Malia, but the pain sharpened. He thought of his father, but his lungs still filled with blood. He remembered all the good times with Scott, but his vision still faded black. When Stiles was on the brink of death. Only one person stayed, and that was Derek.
Stiles thought of Derek and was able to suck in just a little bit of air, but that was all he needed. He flooded his head with memories of Derek. His lungs felt like the time he was keeping Derek above the water while being attacked by Jackson. He started replacing the blood in his lungs by the chilling air of the dark chamber. The grip loosened a little bit more and Stiles could feel himself being lowered onto the floor. Stiles remembered when Derek broke into his room trying to hide from his father, or the time Derek was trying to fit into his clothes. Stiles felt his vision clearing and he focused back in on Derek, who was now kneeling on the floor next to him, a bloody mess. The force field separated them but he could still feel the warmth from Derek. The pain in his head started to pulse and he curled back into his ball, breathing was labored with his collapsed trachea but it was manageable. Stiles just kept staring at Derek and the pulsing started to slow. Eventually the only thing Stiles was feeling was a warm tear cascading down his cheek. Derek reached out his blood-coated hand and pushed against the field but was shot back a few inches. Stiles sat in that position for what felt like hours, but never once looked away from Derek.
"Stiles? Are you ok?" Derek looked really beat up.
Stiles nodded, "I think. How about you?"
Derek shook his head, "We need to get you out of there."
Stiles let out a hallowed laugh. "Yeah, that'd be nice… I'm really cold."
Derek's face turned pale again, which made Stiles think, "Are you not?"
Derek shook his head.
"Well that's not the most encouraging thing to hear. You could have lied."
Derek's face went sad with regret. Stiles reached for the podium and picked himself up, leaning against the piece of wood. The book rested on the podium opened. Stiles looked at the page. It was defiantly old, the pages yellowed with age. The first page read,
Mihi fortis in unum hoc aperit, cave his. Magna vis est in se, sed etiam de malo. Væ mihi, decidet super vehiculum.
Stiles recognized the language as Latin, which he took last year, and if he paid attention it would have come in handy finally. Instead he pulled out his phone and entered it into the app that was used to translate his homework. Derek was looking at Stiles with caution written across his face.
"What are you doing?"
Stiles kept tapping on his phone, "It's Latin, and I'm translating it."
Derek looked confused at him. "But didn't you take that class?"
Stiles looked up at him, "Yeah. Why?"
Derek cocked his head to the side, "Shouldn't you be able to just read it?"
Stiles let out a soft laugh. "I only passed that class because of this app,"
Derek's face only looked more confused so Stiles quickly explained, a little embarrassed,
"I didn't have time to translate the homework so I never really learned the language. Plus it's a dead language."
Derek shrugged. "But do you expect to have service down here?"
Stiles shook his head going back to his phone. "Nope. I didn't have service in class either but that didn't stop me from downloading the database onto my phone. Ok. Here's the translation. 'To the one brave enough to open this tome, beware the following. Great power is within, but so too is great evil. A curse shall fall upon the bearer of the tome.'" Stiles looked up at Derek who was just as concerned.
Stiles decided to state the obvious. "That doesn't sound good."
Stiles turned on his phone light and looked at the page. On the bottom was something else.
Conversus in verbis concipi possit, quod sint unreadable readable.
Stiles looked up at Derek, "What? What do you see?"
Stiles looked back down. "I don't know. It says something else at the bottom. 'Conversus in verbis concipi possit, quod sint unreadable readable.'"
Stiles eyes started to burn and he tried to wipe them but before he could reach his hand up, his eyes started to illuminate purple and the book started to glow. Stiles looked up at Derek.
"Stiles! Your eyes!" Stiles frantically put his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them.
"What? What is it?"
Derek shook his head with disbelief, "They're purple."
Stiles looked at his phone screen and saw two purple orbs staring back at him.
"No way!"
Stiles looked down at the book and notice the words were English now.
"Derek. I think I just casted a spell! What I just said in Latin translates to 'Turning words into the conceivable, make what is unreadable readable.' And the book looks like it's in English now."
The field around Stiles made a buzzing sound and slowly dissipated into the darkness.
Stiles looked at Derek, "Is it gone?"
Derek shook his head. "I don't know. One way to find out."
Stiles closed the book and picked it up. It was still heavy even with the chains removed. Stiles slowly approached the space where the barrier was just radiating and put out his hand, finding nothing but chilling air. He took a step forward and then another, repeating until he was grabbed by Derek and pulled into a hug. Stiles just stood there not knowing if he should return the hug or just not ruin the moment, Derek's warmth spread through his core and he didn't want it to end, sighing in relief Stiles leaned onto Derek and Derek whispered to him,
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do this without knowing anything. You trusted me and I put you in danger."
Stiles decided to wrap his arms around Derek, "You don't have to apologize for anything. I did it because I wanted to help."
Stiles lost himself to the warmth, but eventually Derek loosened his grip and their bodies parted, the chilling air infiltrating Stiles body again. Derek looked around and then stole Stiles words right out of his mouth,
"Let's get out of here."
Stiles nodded and followed Derek back up, tensing as he stepped farther and farther from the podium, afraid the field would reappear and slap him in the face. Derek walked Stiles to his car and looked at the book.
"Are you sure you should be holding onto that?"
Stiles looked down at the book, which he completely forgot he was holding. He looked at Derek and then back down at the book,
"I don't know…" Stiles kept his stare on the book, he felt connected somehow to it. "Would you mind if I took it home and studied it?"
Derek frowned at Stiles who was now returning the gaze. Derek leaned on Stiles jeep and thought.
"I guess it would be wrong for me to deny you that."
Stiles smiled, "Thank you. Can we meet up tomorrow?"
Derek nodded and added, "I'm glad you're ok."
Stiles got into his jeep and headed home. By the time he got back into his house and washed off the blood around his mouth and head it was 2:43 am. Stiles grabbed a jacket and put it on, trying to get rid of the chill he was still feeling. He sat at his desk and turned on his light, focusing it on the book. Curiosity took over and he started inspecting it, noticing the leather had stitching to the edges, probably to keep it all together, but also stitching on the front cover. It spelled out Umbra. He looked it up on the Internet and found some information about a fabled tome called the Umbra or The Shade as it's translated into English. The information Stiles read about would have given him the chills, but he was already so cold he didn't think it was possible. He pulled out the board he used previously to find the Benefactor and started piecing the information together on it. The conclusion he came to was haunting and he needed to tell Derek immediately. Stiles glanced over at his phone for the time. 4:35 am. A wave of exhaustion hit him and his legs started shaking. Stiles turned off the lights and got into bed with the book still in his hands, he figured he should get some sleep and tell Derek in the morning. As his bones settled and his body started recovering from the pain he endured, all Stiles could think about was the book in his hands, the overwhelming feeling of doom, and the warmth he felt when thinking of Derek.
