"You know you remind me a lot of your grandmother" Brunski whispered in Lydia's ear. The sound made Stiles' skin crawl, and once again he struggled to break free from the bonds that held him to the pole in the centre of the room.
"You killed her" Lydia's voice shook as she breathed out the accusation her green eyes narrowed, glaring at him.
"Yes" Brunski chuckled "Yes I did dispose of dear old Lorraine, bless her towards the end she certainly showed her Banshee qualities, the screaming I mean geez I almost felt sorry for her"
Lydia shook her head in disgust and disbelief as he continued to tell her step by step in extreme detail how he killed her grandmother. The girl's whole body shook, and fat salty tears leaked down her cheeks.
Stiles clenched his jaw as anger washed over him, he didn't want to listen to this, it was sick.
"Lydia" he groaned as he twisted round despite his handcuffs "Don't listen alright just block it out"
The increased pace in her breathing suggested this technique wasn't working, so the boy took a deep breath and tried again, trying to ignore the fact that Brunski was still trying to get into Lydia's head.
"Lyd hey look at me" he instructed, tone softer in an attempt to calm her down "Just focus on me okay?" his eyes bored into the back of her head, willing her to turn and look at him. As she slowly moved to do so, she let out a gasp as Brunski grabbed hold of her chin, wrenching it back to face him.
"HEY!" Stiles roared, thrashing around even more as he heard Lydia whimper in pain
"Shut it Stilinski, no-one's listening"
"Take. Your. Hands. Off. Her" he snarled
Brunski chuckled, shoving Lydia's head so it jarred. "Touched a nerve have I Mr Stilinski?" he smirked, wandering round and crouching beside Stiles. "Don't you like it when I hurt your little red head friend?"
"Strawberry blonde" he muttered, not willing to give him the satisfaction of saying how much hearing Lydia cry hurt him.
"What was that?"
"She's strawberry blonde!"
Brunski's face contorted into a scowl before he pulled back and punched Stiles in the jaw.
"NO!" Lydia cried out, writhing around trying to see if he was alright
"Don't get smart with me kid" Brunski growled "It won't end well"
He rounded on Lydia with a cold smile "Now for you little Banshee, I'm thinking it's time to go the same way as grandma" he strode over to the shelving and produced a white box with a red cross on the top. "You know I've been saving this for someone special" he breathed, kneeling beside her and opening it "Looks like I found her huh?"
Stiles gritted his teeth, sweat dripping off the end of his nose as he cautiously turned to see what was happening.
Brunski withdrew a long needle from the box and proceeded to fill it with a clear liquid from a little bottle. When he was done, he looked up at Lydia with a sickly sweet grin "Now, shall we see if you scream more than dear sweet Lorraine?"
"NO!" Stiles yelled, still desperately struggling despite the fact that Brunski now had the needle point grazing Lydia's neck. "Lydia" he panicked "What can I do? Tell me what I can do to help you!" he pleaded as Brunski laughed cruelly.
There was a slight pause before the reply came, weak and in a voice that wavered "Just...hold my hand?" she whispered, and Stiles felt her twist her wrists as their fingers brushed.
"Wait what?" he swallowed hard, beginning to understand "No Lydia do not give up you hear me?"
"It's too late Stiles" she sighed, scrunching her eyes shut as Brunski lowered his thumb onto the syringe.
Before he could push it however, the door was thrown off its hinges as Parrish charged in aiming his gun. "Put it on the floor" he ordered, his own finger hovering inches from the trigger.
"You don't scare me deputy, we both know you're not gonna-"
A loud bang sounded that echoed all round the room as the bullet was fired, hitting Brunski square in the chest causing him to fall back onto Lydia with a groan.
She waited one second before screaming out and thrashing around as his blood began to soak her clothes "Get him off me get him off me" she panicked, cutting her wrists up as they rubbed on the edges of her handcuffs.
Parrish rushed forward, simply kicking Brunski's body so he rolled onto the cold stone floor.
"It's okay calm down Lydia" he pleaded, trying to get past her flailing limbs so he could set her free.
"Let me try" Stiles said firmly, rattling his wrists against the pole.
Parrish nodded, reaching over to untie them. "I'll be dealing with..." he trailed off, motioning to Brunski's bleeding body in the corner.
Stiles barely nodded in acknowledgement. Instead he lowered to his knees in front of a shivering Lydia, and gently stroked a hand over her cheek "Hey, it's okay" he soothed "We're okay, we're safe now" he looked her dead in the eye and she slowly nodded, breathing returning to a slightly slower pace.
Stiles nodded assuringly as he leant across to untie her. Lydia let out a sigh of relief as she felt the grip on her wrists disappear, she brought them round to her front, wincing at the scratches and bruising that covered them.
"He's dead" Parrish informed the pair, as Stiles helped Lydia up. She bit her lip, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as her hands shakily touched the blood that had stained her skirt.
"It's okay" Stiles repeated, squeezing her hand "He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore"
"We should really get you two to the hospital" Parrish interrupted softly "Those wrists could do with assessing"
Lydia looked up at Stiles as the deputy left the room to inform 911 of Brunski's death.
"You got angry" she whispered "I've never seen you get that angry"
He placed a hand on the back of her head as he pulled her into his chest
"He touched a nerve" was all Stiles said, murmuring into her hair as he stood rocking her gently as they stood in the middle of the room.