It's been a long time since he has been in the boys locker room. He really wasn't in the mood for lacrosse now. The thought of Lydia made him feel terrible. The fact that she had to live through the horrible things he did to Maggie was unbearable to him.
"Wow, you'v got even a more pokerfacier poker face than usual," Scott said, taking his shirt off.
"Hmm."
Stiles took of his hoodie and T-shirt. A memory came to him. A memory how he had to wrestle other demons, Abaddon watching him, telling him what to do and what not. He always had his shirt off while fighting, he didn't want to get blood on his T-shirt.
He turned around to Scott, about to say something but Scott's expression stopped him.
"What?" Stiles asked.
"Um, nothing. I just hadn't realize that you've become... all Schwarzenegger-ish."
Stiles looked down at his chest. "Don't exaggerate... I didn't change that much."
"Well, if you don't believe me, believe them," Scott said and nodded towards the other guys who were obviously dealing it. Stiles looked around, the whispering stopped as they caught Stiles gaze. He quickly put on his T-shirt for P.E..
"Jesus," Stiles sighed.
"You're good at hiding those under the hoodies," Scott said, poiting at Stiles.
"Hmm, please, let's just go..."
...
"So! I suppose that you are thrilled to see me again! I'm excited to see you, too! Well, everyone but you Greenberg! Let's start with some running, 5 times around the lacrosse field! Go!" Coach screamed.
Scott and Stiles run along side each other. Scott noticed right away that the running didn't make any problem for Stiles. Not as it used to do.
"How's Kira?" Stiles asked.
"It's not as good as she said at the Loft. She was just trying to be positive, but the reality is a bit different."
"So?"
"She said that she was fighting against some shapeshifters, they were supposed to help her or what, but it didn't go quite as planned. Kira escaped with her mom. And now she's here."
"So the fox has still control over her?"
"I guess..."
"Hmm."
"What?"
"...I was thinkin'... I might be able to help her, but I don't know..."
"What do you don't know?"
"She has a problem with a dark Kitsune, I'm not sure if it's the best way to help her with more darkness..."
"Hm. Well, and do you know what would you do? If you were to help her..."
"Not sure, but I could figure it out."
"How?"
"I... I would have to ask somebody, I guess."
"Who?"
"Uhh, Omri probably..."
"Who the heck is Omri?"
"Umm..."
"Somebody from Hell?"
Stiles looked suprised that he figured it so fast.
"Don't look at me like that. A name like Omri, common. Who would give that name to somebody in the 21st century?"
"Yeah." Stiles smiled humorlessly.
"Okay, felas! Grab your sticks and let's shoot something!" the Coach yelled. Scott and Stiles stood in the row and waited for their turn.
"...He was Abaddon's servant," Stiles continued.
"Was?"
"Yeah... Abaddon gave him to me."
"You have your own servant?"
"Kinda..."
"Uh... Okay. But when you came back in time... If I understand correctly, at the present moment... You are twice here, right? So, how does that work?"
"He already knows what's happening. In hell, he 'does' Abaddon's bidding but in reality, he is doing what I'm telling him to do."
"And the you in hell?"
"I don't know anything... Nothing can be changed, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"How come that Abaddon doesn't notice?"
"I took care of that... Everytime he wants to invide Omri's mind, I hide everything what should be hidden from him. It already happened a few times."
"And you are doing it from here?"
"Yeah... I've got some kind of a connection with him like I've got with Parrish. It's simple for me because of the connection. But I'm keeping Malia's mom obediant from here, too, otherwise she would have already run off."
Scott was suprised too hear all this. It seemed that Stiles wants him to know of what he is capable of, or maybe just because he wants Scott to be his good friend again, trying to achieve it with honesty.
It was Stiles' turn to shoot. And he did miserably. The ball flew a few feet above the goal. Scott, despite his Alpha problems, made a nice shot.
"I thought that you'd be good at sports..."
"I'm good at sports."
"So, why did you throw like a llama?"
"Because attention is excatly what I want. I want everybody to look at the weirdo who became an athlete over night."
"You've got a point."
"...Am I making you uncomfortable with the stuff I'm tellin' you?"
"Naaah... Not at all."
"Okay, let's change the topic. Did you hear something about the chimeraturd?"
"Actually, I have. After a conversation with Liam about how he's sorry that he tried to kill me, he mentioned that Hayden is apparently greatful that Theo brought her back... I don't know what Theo's excatly up to, but he is interested in the last chimera..."
"Oh, yeah... The big scary-looking dog."
"You saw it?"
"I checked dad's laptop and there was a footage of this thing."
"Oh, I guess that Parrish showed me the same one."
"Hm, yeah... We should probably check the place out."
"Why?"
"I've watched it a few times in a row... The wolf didn't enter the building from the outside."
"Really? After school, then?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Shit, I have to learn for a biology test, though."
"Should I go alone?"
"No..."
"I can help you cheat, if you want..."
"How?"
"I would simply have a conversation... In your head, though. If you were be okay with that.
"Well, if it makes me pass... How would it work?"
"At the time your class starts, I'll be ready with notes you have or books or whatever. And I'll find your mind. At first, it might feel weird because you'll have literally voices in your head... But it should be alright, you'll just ask me a question and I'll tell you the answer."
"Um, uh, okay... I need an A, so you better give me the right answers!"
"Of course," Stiles chuckled.
"I've never thought that we would bring cheating up to this level."
"Yeah."
"One other thing..."
"Hm?"
"Theo thinks I'm dead right?"
"Well, I haven't seen any of his chimera minions at school, and if Liam didn't say anything... Then, yeah... You think that we can use that for our benefit?"
"Not that much I guess. But it'll buy us some time... But I think that you should act as a human in front of him."
"Um, okay. Why?"
"Well, I think that it might pay off. Not sure when, but I just think it's a good thing. And secondly, at least after Hell, you'll gonna have a chance to be human somehow. You know, actually walk somewhere instead of teleporting your ass around, doing things with your hands instead of your mind..."
"Hm, yeah, why not. It actually doesn't matter, at least it will be a suprise for the motherfucker. And I guess that I can try to do things as I used to..."
"Great," Scott smiled.
...
Stiles took out some books and closed his locker. He felt somebody going towards him. So he turned around and put his backbag on.
"Stiles," Malia breathed.
"Malia?"
"I... I need a favor."
"What is it?"
"Uh, I need you to stop doing whatever you are doing to hold down my mom by Deatons."
"You know that she will run away if that happens?"
"Yeah... I've figured."
It didn't take long for Stiles to realize what was Malia up to.
"Are you doing it alone?"
"What...what do you mean?"
"I mean if there's somebody helping you to kill your mother or if you are alone in this."
"Hey! Get out of my head!"
"I'm not in your head, Malia... It's kinda obvious."
"I am alone in this..."
"Peter?"
"No, I told you that-"
"Breaden?"
She bit her lip and looked away.
"So what, are you gonna stop me again?"
"I've thought about it... And no, I'm not going to stop you. But I don't recommend it to you."
She looked suprised.
"Why won't you stop me?"
"I think that it's not my business. Not anymore at least. I don't think it's right, but I won't lecture you on how is killing bad. I'm not in that position to do that."
"Uh-huh... So, will you do that thing for me?"
"Yes, consider it done. But if anything pops out, any thing which I'll consider problematic for others. Or if you were about to die... You need to count with that that I'll make it my business. Nobody I care about is gonna die because of your need to kill her, especially not you, understood?"
Malia nodded. "Are you telling Scott?"
"If he finds out, it's gonna be from you."
"Thanks."
"Malia?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful, okay?" Stiles said and put his hand on her cheek. She seemed to be a little ashamed for what she is about to do, but then, the fire in her eyes reappeared and she run off.
Stiles sighed. Did he do the right thing? Probably not. But he can't just return from hell and start telling everybody what to do because he has the power to do it. He walked down the hall when suddenly something came to him. A feeling. He stopped and focused on that feeling. Stiles heard somebody crying. Lydia was crying.
Stiles followed the sobbing. He was quite suprised that he noticed it, even though he wasn't trying to. Maybe it was the emotional tether, like Deaton once said. He entered the music classroom. Lydia held her breath, wishing for the person to leave.
"Lydia."
She didn't answer. She wasn't in the mood to discuss anything with anyone. But he didn't leave. She was sitting behind in a corner on the floor, hidden from his sight. It was quiet for a while. She almost thought that he left but then, she heard music. She stopped crying and listened. She recognized that piece. It was Lacrimosa from Mozart. She slowly stood up as the music continued. Stiles was sitting at the piano, his fingers skillfully pressing the keys. Lydia dried her cheeks with the sleeves of her jacket. She watched him in silence, letting him finish. After several minutes, he laid his hands on his thighs.
"You know, demons don't hear the rhythm, therefore they aren't able to play instruments well. I played every time I could to prove to myself that the monstrous things I've done didn't turn me entirely demonic. That I still have some humanity left. And when I was able to play something, I still saw hope. Some kind of hope for redemption..."
Lydia didn't answer, she just stood by the piano and listened.
"I guess there's nothing that I could do... Nothing what would take back what I did."
"Play something else," Lydia whispered. Stiles looked up at her and then back at the keybord. He decided for Pathétique from Beethoven. Lydia quietly carried a chair to the piano and sat down. Thoughts running in her head. When he is capable of something so beautiful, he can't be a ruthless beast, right? Despite what he did, he has still some good inside of him.
When he finished, Lydia felt even more confused than before. Now, she didn't know what to think or do. She turned around and quickly walked away, leaving Stiles at the piano. She run through the empty hallway, she didn't know where she was running. Suddenly, she stopped in front of the library. Lydia took out her keycard in order to get in.
She was starting to feel slightly dizzy while walking to the book shelves, her vision getting blurry. Everything went black.