Ooooo it's the final day of spirit week so you know what that means... CARNIVAL! This one's gunna be fun...
"And you're sure she's fine?" Allison asked.
"Yeah" Scott exclaimed.
"Sam was more than fine yesterday" Stiles stated. He remembered all the events that took place the other day at his house all the way from Sam's difficult apology to her falling asleep. "I really think the wolfsbane's wearing off."
"That's amazing" Allison stated as she mentally reviewed all the updates that Scott and Stiles had given her about the state of her best friend.
Currently it was the next day, and the trio were pacing up the stone walkway to Sam's house to pick her up. It was day five, otherwise known as the last day of Beacon Hills high school's spirit week meaning the final event was very much so underway. A lot of the student body was worried that due to the previous school day's cancellation that that meant that there wouldn't be the huge carnival today but fortunately enough the Sheriff's department had given out an okay for the all-day event to still take place.
And so, as Scott, Stiles, and Allison finally made their way to the front door of the Cameron home they also hoped that things would run smoothly for the most part at the seemingly fun-filled spirit week festivity. With that in mind though, they knew they couldn't just bank on that wish coming true which was why they had even considered still going to the carnival. Learning from all the previous experience's that the group had to endure for the past few months, it was for certain that something major, and usually terrible, always ended up happening at these huge events. With this, and the extensive knowledge that the friends all unwillingly had, it was their duty to stealthily patrol everything for the day while still somewhat attempting to enjoy themselves. Plus, Jackson had again warned them to be wary of today's event.
Keeping that all in the back of their heads though, Stiles was about to finally ring the doorbell just as Abigail simultaneously opened the front door.
"…Woah, I never thought my prayers would be answered that fast" the girl said in disbelief.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Allison asked.
"Oh I'm fine! It's Sam who isn't though. Sleeping Beauty hasn't left her room since last night. It's like she's taking refuge in there or something. I've tried bribing her, begging, I even tried dragging her out of her bed. I didn't know her death grip was that strong."
Last time anyone of them had checked it was about one thirty. That meant Sam had already spent half of the day locked in there.
Worry began to pool at the bottom of Stiles' stomach. "Well did you ask her what was wrong?"
"Obviously, but she's my kid-sister, it's not like she was going to tell me anything. I was actually going to call one of you guys to come talk and her but I'm already running late to work" she said and scooted past them to start heading towards her car. "Do me a favour and figure out what her deal is please? Thanks" she finally said and got into the driver's seat.
As Abigail backed out of the driveway and sped off onto the road, Allison looked between the two boys hoping that they'd be able to have an explanation for the news that they'd just learned. Everything that Sam's sister had said seemed to oppose what Scott and Stiles had just claimed to Allison.
Scott nervously shrugged while Stiles gave the girl a bothered look and made his way into the house followed by the couple. It didn't take them too long to make their way up the stairs so when they reached the door to Sam's room Stiles wasted no time and opened it.
A subtle sigh of relief escaped Stiles' lips as he saw that at least she wasn't harmed or anything. Stiles' tendency to automatically assume the worst circumstances had tripled in intensity ever since all these unfortunate experiences kept on happening to Sam and his friends. And so when Abigail had said what she'd said, Stiles had immediately thought that Sam had relapsed back to the other more troublesome Sam, but by the looks of it that didn't really seem to be the case.
Instead, the gang found Sam lying underneath the covers of her bed, still in her pj's, her phone in her hands as her attention was solely focused on the game that was displayed on the screen. Her eyes slowly glanced away from the device in her hands when she saw that her friends had made their way in. "What're you guys doing here?"
"What're you still doing in bed?" Stiles countered.
"I remembered you telling me about catching some sleep, so that's what I was doing" she said defending herself.
"You're remembering more things now?" Allison asked intrigued.
"Bits and pieces" Sam shrugged.
"But you were on your phone just now, not sleeping. Plus you fell asleep on me for like half of the day yesterday Sam, I think sleep has to catch up to you now" he softly chuckled as he sat at the edge of her bed.
Sam disregarded what the boy said and asked the same question again. "Why are you guys here?"
"Did you forget? The carnival's today" Scott said answering her.
Ever since Sam had gradually began returning back to her normal self she found that it was much more difficult to lie the way 'wolfsbane-Sam' easily could. "No, I didn't forget" she said and put her phone on the white night table by the side of her bed.
"Well then why aren't ready? I told you we were on our way" Allison said confused.
"'Cause I'm not going" Sam stated and sat up. She crossed her arms across her chest.
Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean you're not going? I even mentioned it to you yesterday and you said that you were gunna come-"
"I changed my mind" she interjected.
Stiles turned around to look at his friends. He made a face as if to say 'what the heck.'
"Well you kind of have to come Sam" Scott said, trying to help Stiles.
"Why?" she asked in disbelief.
"Well for one," Allison began, "It'll be fun. We haven't done anything enjoyable in an extremely long time. And two, you know something's always up whenever something as big as a carnival happens here. It's werewolf central wreaking havoc on everything and everyone. We tried stopping you from having anything to do with Derek and werewolves for the past week, now we're asking you to come with us and help if anything gets out of hand. Isn't that what you always want?"
Stiles mentally praised Allison for her response. Everything she'd said was true but it was also an added fact that they still had to keep her under close surveillance for just a while longer in order make sure that she was one hundred percent healed in every way possible.
"Also, do you really wanna stay locked in here and just be staring at the ceiling for another five hours?" Scott added.
Sam shrugged and pointed to her phone. "I reached level two hundred and thirty-six on Space Shooter though. If I stay I'll probably be able to finish the entire game."
Stiles gawked at the girl. "Level two hundred and thirty-six! That's fricken incredible!"
"I know right!" Sam exclaimed back.
"Stiles!" Scott called. Stiles turned around to look at his best friend. "Focus, you're forgetting the goal dude."
Stiles let Scott's words replay again in his head realizing that his thoughts had shifted elsewhere. He shook his head as if to shake off his annoyingly short attention span.
"C'mon please Sam! It's not going to be as fun without you" Allison said as she too, along with Abigail previously, had resorted to begging.
Sam sighed as she was faced with the fact that her friends weren't going to just drop this. She actually began weighing what they'd all said, realizing that they'd made some good points. In her gut, she knew that she also wanted to help them more than anything. "Do I have to wear my stupid cheer uniform?" she suddenly asked.
"Nope! We don't even have to work there at all" Allison added. "I didn't sign us up for this event."
Sam grew quiet again as she played with a handful of her sheets and went on back to thinking about things. Scott, Allison, and Stiles slowly began inching in closer as they thought they saw the expression on her face look like she was about to finally agree.
"I think you guys should still go without me" she abruptly said and quickly slipped back under the covers of her bed. She brought the large comforter up over her head to finish covering up her whole body.
Scott and Allison's face fell as they sighed.
"Ugghhh Sam" Stiles groaned.
"Can't you guys just leave me alone?" her muffled voice begged. "I reeeaaaaaallllllyyy don't want to go."
Stiles inched closer to the mountain of blankets and bedding that made up Sam's hidden form. The boy attempted to take off some layers. "C'mon Sammy! At least get out from under there so we can talk about this some more" he said.
"No!" she exclaimed tugging on as many handfuls of fabric and sheets as she possibly could.
"Quit it Sam!" Stiles said back.
At this point the two were playing a difficult game of tug of war. Scott and Allison finally came over deciding to help the boy unravel the makeshift hideout Sam was currently fighting to stay under.
After a few more moments of shouting and tugging between all four of the friends, Sam concluded that enough was enough. She unexpectedly released her harsh grip on all her bedding causing Scott, Allison, and Stiles to tumble off the side of her bed as an idea crossed her mind. Sam brought two fingers from each hand into her mouth and sharply whistled. Almost immediately, the sound of little paws scraping against wooden tiles and clinking from a certain collar was suddenly heard and continued to get louder with every second that passed. Kota soon appeared by the doorway and rapidly began scanning the area just as Sam's friends began to get up off the floor. The husky's icy blue eyes quickly zeroed in on Stiles once he saw that he was in the room. A low growl came from deep within the dog.
Once Stiles had gotten up and saw that Sam's dog was staring him down, looking as if he was ready to tear him apart, Stiles gulped. "G-guys?!" he called out to Scott and Allison.
The pair had just finished untangling themselves from Sam's bed sheets just as they saw Stiles slowly backing away from Kota who was instead proceeding forward. It only took a few more barks for Stiles to breakout in full fledge sprint mode around Sam's room as her dog quickly scampered close behind. Sam smirked and chuckled as she saw the boy run, scream, and jump over various objects she had lying around her room.
Allison soon decided to run and call after Kota to get him to stop running after Stiles while Scott remained still in his spot as he tried to think of an alternate idea. He kept looking around his vicinity until his eyes landed on a bag of dog treats sitting on Sam's desk. He rapidly made his way over and briskly grabbed the bag. "Kota!" he called out, though the dog wouldn't listen. He whistled and tried again, this time he shook the bag. "Kota! Hey buddy, you want some of these?!"
Kota snapped his head around at Scott mid-stride and abruptly stopped running. Stiles and Allison both skid to a stop as well while Sam huffed as she saw that Scott's idea was working. The Siberian husky changed his course of direction away from Sam's boyfriend and towards Scott. The werewolf tossed Kota a single treat for complying which the dog jumped and caught directly in his mouth. Scott eyed Allison and then nodded towards Sam's bedroom door. Quickly understanding the rest of Scott's plan, Allison followed Scott who was now leading Kota out of the room and away from Stiles and Sam. Once all three were finally out, Allison shut the door behind her.
"Curse Scott for being the dog-whisperer" Sam said, her arms crossed over her chest again in defeat.
"I'm glad you at least got a laugh out of your failed attempt at my near death experience" Stiles sarcastically stated. He had his hand over his racing heart which was now slowly returning to a more normal and steady rhythm.
"He wasn't really going to hurt you" she said brushing the accusation off.
"I highly doubt that" he replied.
Sam let out a soft chuckle then glanced back down at the few remaining sheets on her bed.
Stiles went back over to sitting on the side of her head. He noticed that she was avoiding making eye contact with him. "Now are you going to tell me why you don't want to go to the carnival?"
Sam continued to keep her head down for a moment longer before glancing up. "I just have a bad feeling about today, or at least the carnival" she confessed. "I don't know why but I have this gut feeling like something horrible is going to happen."
"Well, something horrendously horrible usually does happen whenever more than at least three people decide to hold an event in this town."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Sam asked confused. Even though she still wasn't all there upstairs she knew that what he said wasn't exactly uplifting.
"Sorry. No, that was actually stupid of me to say" he began. "But it was true. I mean we both know that there's bound to be some chaos at this event and any event here. There always is. But we have to go Sam. There's a frightening large number people in this town that have no idea about all the things that we know which means they're at risk. You of all people would gladly volunteer to fight and defend everyone to keep them under safety. That's something I didn't really think I could do before you came around and showed me that anyone essentially could, you know, help. But with that, even if you're still worried, then don't be. I'll be there and I promise I'm not going to leave you at all. Not even for a corn dog, or a head start at the express lane for a ride, or even for the cool, new roller coaster that's rumored to be there at the carvinal today."
Sam had to admit that everything he said was in fact sweet, and honest for that matter. Annoyed, she eyed him once more and considered everything again. Eventually, with a groan and an irritated eye-roll Stiles knew that she'd finally agreed. He gave her an endearing smile and kissed her cheek before getting up.
"Yeah, yeah don't get too excited. I still don't think it's going to be that fun" she stated as she crawled off her bed.
Stiles started walking towards the door. "I still say you should have your final review after you experience how great the day ends up being."
"Whatever" she said and stripped off her shirt.
"Trust me Sam-" he began to say as he turned to glance at her. As he continued walking, Stiles then ungracefully shoulder-checked the wall by Sam's door once he saw that she had chucked her shirt onto her bed and was now in her bra.
Sam smirked and continued walking towards her bathroom to take a quick shower. "You practically saw me half naked at the car wash so this shouldn't be any different right? I told you I'm remembering things."
"Of course you remembered that" he mumbled while rubbing his throbbing arm. Stiles innocently sneaked a quick glance at the girl again.
"Give me twenty minutes and I'll meet you downstairs Stiles" she said and closed her bathroom door, but not before giving him a warning look.
"Yeah" was all he could say as he finally walked out the door so he couldn't get himself into any more trouble.
Another sunny day was being upheld for Beacon Hills which was perfect for those attending the carnival. Scott, Allison, Stiles and Sam had finally arrived at the backlot of the school where the carnival was being held, and found that the turnout was grand. Students, teachers, and numerous residents of Beacon Hills had showed up adding to the already established round of laughter, screams, and excitement of the event.
As the group looked around at the different booths they spotted various members of not only the cheer team taking charge, but the lacrosse team, soccer team, badminton team… the list went on and on. Stiles couldn't deny that the large amount of people in the area also added a certain uneasiness to his already feared preconception that something bad was going to eventually happen, but he continued to walk around confidently. If they got Sam back, then he was sure that they could face anything now.
Sam on the other hand though, was not feeling the slightest bit sure of herself whatsoever. As she passed by the different rides and activities, Sam made sure to keep her fingers intertwined with Stiles'. She hated being clingy but she couldn't help but still feel that looming anxious emotion deeply rooted within her. Holding Stiles' hand, she'd soon found out, eased at least some of her worries away.
They walked around scanning the premises, and after a while, Scott concluded that they were in the clear for now. "Alright, do you guys wanna go on some rides?"
Allison's face lit up as she looked at Scott.
Stiles glanced over at Sam with a hopeful smile. The curly-haired girl nervously tugged at the bottom portion of her light blue romper and replied with a slow "Sure." Stiles knew Sam wasn't really in the spirit to do anything but he was glad that she was making the effort to at least try and have fun. Stiles brought their intertwined hands up and kissed the back of Sam's earning a grin from her as they followed their friends close behind.
Scott and Allison took a few minutes to decide which ride they wanted to go on first as they walked by different booths and snaked their way through the numerous amount of people. The pair ended up leading the group to a ride after they quietly made their decision.
Stiles and Sam both peered up at the sign near the entrance of the ride. They made a similar face towards each other and then simultaneously gave a disapproving look to their friends. "The 'Tunnel of Love', really?" Sam remarked.
"What?" Scott defended. "All the other cool rides are on the opposite side of the lot and this one doesn't have a ginormous long line."
Allison nodded.
"Ever think that maybe there isn't a long line 'cause this ride probably sucks?" Stiles stated.
Sam quietly laughed, agreeing.
"Oh it can't be that bad" Allison said and took Scott's hand in hers and pulled him towards the entrance.
Stiles rolled his eyes as he watched the two head inside.
"I have no idea how you dealt with them alone when they first got together" Sam said as she also watched them leave.
Stiles snickered. "Yeah it was pretty horrible not to mention gross… but I don't know, maybe this ride can't be all that bad. C'mon" he said as he let go over hand and ushered her to follow him.
Curious, Sam trailed behind Stiles and watched him peep through one of the semi-transparent windows of the ride's tent. He then scanned the floor and walked over to the side to pick up two handfuls of pebbles off the ground.
"What're you-"
"Just follow me" he said and shoved the small rocks evenly into both pockets of his pants.
Although still confused Sam joined hands with the boy again and followed him through the entrance. When they met up with Scott and Allison in line, Sam scanned the inside of the tent and saw that Tamara, her fellow cheer mate, was the one in charge of the ride. With each couple that would enter she'd press a button from a station full of switches which would lift the barricade, allowing the riders to freely get on the moving seats. Sam scrunched her face along with Stiles when they saw how gag-worthy the seats were when they realized it resembled two huge kissing swans.
Sam continued to glance around the area some more until her eyes wandered over to Stiles. His boxers were peeking out of his jeans more so than usual due to the many rocks in his pockets weighing down his pants. "Cute underwear babe" Sam slyly told him.
Stiles frowned and looked down. He silently cursed to himself and questioned why he chose today to wear his pair of boxer's with little cartooned UFO's patterned all around them. "Thanks" he muttered and pulled his pants up, his cheeks pink.
Sam chuckled and gave him a quick peck before they moved up along with the rest of the line.
After only a few more minutes of waiting, Scott and Allison finally got into their seats and went off just as Sam and Stiles got into theirs. "Alright, so what's the deal with all the pebbles?" Sam asked.
Stiles took out all the rocks he had from one pocket and handed them to Sam. Their seats began to move along the track, following behind their friends. "I figured you couldn't finish Space Shooter today and you haven't trained with Allison in a while so…" His eyes trailed over to look up ahead at the back of Scott and Allison's seats.
As she understood what he was implying, a mischievous smile spread across Sam's face that quickly matched the boy's. "I like the way you think Stilinski."
"I know" Stiles said proud of himself.
And for the rest of the duration of the ride, Sam and Stiles conspicuously took turns throwing the pebbles, hitting their friends' seats up ahead. Although being pretty secretive about it and immediately stopping whenever Scott or Allison would turn around and scan the area, both Sam and Stiles would sometimes have a hard time internalizing their laughter and keeping quiet. A time had even come when Stiles accidently hit the back of Scott's neck causing the werewolf to instantly whip his head around. Sam had grabbed Stiles and kissed him then, saving them both from looking suspicious and getting caught.
"I hate to say it, but I think you guys were right" Scott began once they'd exited 'Tunnel of Love.' "That ride sucked. Something was wrong with our cart."
"Yeah" Allison agreed. "It's sounded like some screws were loose on our seats or something. Either that or we kept on hitting up against the sides of tunnel I think."
Sam and Stiles pretended to act shocked. "Really, it wasn't too bad for us" Stiles fibbed. Sam nodded.
Allison just shrugged. "Oh okay, well if you guys want to split up and go on other rides-"
"Yes!" Sam said and grabbed Stiles' arm to pull him in the other direction.
"Hold up babe!" Stiles exclaimed as he was being dragged.
"'Babe'?" Scott mocked with a smirk. Allison couldn't hide the grin playing on her lips.
"Zip it you overgrown puppy" Stiles hollered back at his friend before Sam whisked him away.
Sam started to see how fun the carnival could actually be once Stiles led her over to an assortment of really exciting rides, no rocks necessary. The two went on many roller coasters, a drop tower, they even took a swing at bumper cars. Sam felt a little guilty that they'd left Scott and Allison but it wasn't like she didn't like them or anything, it was just their taste in rides that she disliked.
After getting some cotton candy while they took a break from all the rides, Stiles wandered his way over to the strongman/high striker game. Sam walked on over and gave him a look once he got in line. "What?" he asked innocently.
"You know you don't have to prove your strength with some stupid carnival game" she said with a soft smile.
"I know. I still want to try it out though" Stiles replied.
Sam decided against convincing him otherwise again and stood next to him instead. "You know I think Scott wouldn't even be able to win this" she honestly stated.
"Maybe" he shrugged. "But I'm going to get you that bear" he said and pointed above the boy who was in charge of the game.
Sam looked up at the giant brown bear sitting on the highest shelf in the booth. "Okay, but you're significantly raising my expectations Stiles."
Stiles slowly realized what he'd said and gulped. When his turn came around, Stiles managed to make the counter raise half way up but unfortunately the only way you could get a prize was if the counter had hit the top. "Do you want to try?" he suddenly asked Sam.
"Nah" she said and paced over to another booth.
Stiles followed after Sam as she retreated to a tent, this one holding a different game. "Ring toss is child's play Sam."
Sam thanked the girl working at the booth for giving her an assortment of rings in exchange for her cash. She turned to Stiles and raised her eyebrow. "Here then, if you think you can do it" she replied and handed him the tiny objects.
"Is this a challenge? Are you challenging me Sam?" he asked.
"Sure, only if you want it to be" she replied shrugging. Despite the expression she was giving off she felt confident in her abilities.
Stiles wiggled his eyebrows and put his game face on causing Sam to chuckle. He tossed each ring, three in total, all but one getting super close to the green-rimmed bottle signifying that he hadn't quite won. Sam's eyes slanted as she gave him a sideways look while Stiles balled his hands into fists. "Those rings were faulty" he fumed.
Sam bought another round of rings and this time she took a try while Stiles stood back and watched her. After all her tosses, Sam managed to get two out of the three rings around the green winning bottle. She jumped for joy as a loud buzzer went off signaling her victory.
Stiles let the small amount of bitterness he had wash over him until Sam turned around and walked towards him with something in her hands.
"Here" she said, and handed her prize to him. It was a medium-sized Batman plushy.
"Why didn't you pick something for yourself?" he chuckled. "You beat me. You didn't have to get this for me."
"I wanted to" she gladly said. "Plus Kota would have torn apart any stuffed animal I would have brought home."
Stiles accepted the Batman. "It's a good thing I thought about that before actually winning you that giant bear" he stated.
Sam jokingly rolled her eyes while Stiles gave her a kiss to say thank you for his gift.
After walking back to the Jeep to put his plushy away so he wouldn't lose it, Stiles and Sam met up with Scott and Allison again. Judging from their exchanged words, their friends also seemed to be having a great time too which was good.
The group talked some more as they circled the perimeter and weaved through the carnival a second time. Scott and Allison had said that they hadn't seen any sign of Derek or Marcus or even Jackson for that matter which was the same case for Stiles and Sam. Altogether, the four had also played almost every game and had went to each tent or booth at the carnival solidifying their concluding suspicions that their enemies weren't there after all.
"Hey we didn't go into the House of Mirrors yet!" Stiles exclaimed as they walked up to the unfamiliar booth.
Sam looked on over at the black structured tent and realized that Danny was the one managing this activity. She saw him allowing people in one at a time about a minute after each other.
"Looks cool" Scott said as he followed them alongside Allison.
Danny greeted them when they'd reached the front of the line and it was their turn to enter. "Hey, I thought I'd be seeing you guys soon."
Sam peered past the lacrosse player and looked down into the dark hallway that glinted as sunlight from each side of the tent reflected off the first few mirrors by the entrance. The rest of the mirrors further back didn't look as shiny though.
"So who's going first?" Danny asked.
They glanced around between each other and Scott volunteered. He walked up, separating himself from his friends and waited for the 'okay' from Danny and then walked in. Allison followed him soon after.
"Wanna go next?" Stiles asked Sam.
"…Okay." She let go of Stiles' hand and followed Scott and Allison's previous actions and walked over to Danny. She realized that this was one of the few, if not only, activity's that she was going at alone. As she waited by the entrance she heard shrill screams, along with laughter as the people who went ahead of her were probably scaring one another inside. She thought she heard Allison scream and Scott laugh not too far away and turned back to look at Stiles with a nervous chuckle.
"Alright, you can head on in Sam" Danny said.
Sam twirled a piece of her hair around her finger and casually entered the dim hallway. After a few paces, Sam stopped when she saw that the flexible tent-like material that previously made up the walls was now a hard and sturdier texture. She kept on walking and realized that despite the giggles and short bursts of screams up ahead, the hallways were mostly quiet. The walls must have been used inside for sound-proofing, she concluded. That way the players couldn't just reach the exit based off the cheers of excitement the previous players let out as they finally found the exit.
"Boo!" someone hollered behind her.
Sam jumped and punched Stiles' arm once she saw that it was him. "Jesus Stiles!"
The boy laughed and quickly marched passed her. "I thought you would have figured this maze out by now" he teased. "C'mon I bet you could still beat me!" he said and disappeared down another hallway.
Sam huffed and laughed at how jumpy she'd gotten. She peered in the direction that Stiles had headed towards and quickly began following him.
The mirrors glinted as she sped through different corridors now, following the sound of Stiles' footsteps and giggles. Sam kept on running as she weaved her way passed various people also inside the maze. Streams of sunlight poked its way through the tent's makeshift roof hitting the grassy floor below Sam's feet while a few rays continued to reflect against the surfaces surrounding Sam. She grumbled while slowing her running into a light jog once she became aware of the fact that she'd lost Stiles. At this point, Sam was deep in labyrinth and there was no sign or sound of anyone nearby. "Fantastic" she said aloud. The girl placed her hands on her hips and turned around in a circle as she decided whether or not she'd already been in the section she was currently standing in.
Coming to the conclusion that there was no way she could really tell if anything looked familiar, Sam randomly picked a direction and ran off to discover where that path would eventually lead her. As continued on running, Sam saw different reflections of herself through her peripheral vision as every other mirror along the wall was distorted. It resembled something like a fun house where one mirror made her look wider, while another stretched her out making her a lot taller than she really was. Something then suddenly caught her attention, or rather someone.
Sam turned her head as she ran and saw the reflection of a boy's leg also running off. Now I've got you, she thought as her eyes honed in on Stiles' figure as he continued to speed by across the rows of mirrors ahead. Sprinting after him now, Sam made a mental note to tell him how much more surprisingly faster Stiles was than what he'd usually give himself credit for. It must have been due to the fact they'd all had to run for their lives at least once in the past couple of months. Their bodies had to have gotten used to the extensive cardio by now.
All of sudden then, Sam smacked right into a wall causing her body to ricochet backwards and fall to the floor. She groaned rubbing the side of her head as she sluggishly turned her head up to see the boy looming over her. Even though her vision was blurry, it occurred to her that she'd run right into, not a wall, but him. "Jeez Stiles, and all I was trying to do was catch up to you" she chuckled and sat up. Sam focused her eyes on the ground so she could try and get back to her twenty-twenty vision again. She shook her head to try and get rid of the few blind spots she was still experiencing and peered up.
Marcus.
If hearts really did stop for a split second whenever people got scared, Sam was sure hers did. Sammy scrambled off the floor and backed up instantly only to have her backside hit against an actual wall this time.
"Oh sweetheart, seems like you actually did end up 'falling' for me."
"S-Stiles?!"
"That's cute" he chuckled as he slowly stalked towards her. "You're calling your knight in shining armor to come and save you? What happened to strong and courageous Sam, huh? The one who never needed to depend on anyone else to get her out of trouble. The wolfsbane must've really taken a toll on you."
"STILES!"
"It's actually kind of funny… you really think he'd come back for you? What makes you think he hasn't left yet after he completed this maze way before you?"
Sam instinctively pushed passed the werewolf and went off sprinting down another corridor. "STILES!... STILES!..." she kept on screaming as she twisted and turned down any which way her legs took her. She didn't really have a plan as to where she was going, considering she'd just been frightened half to death. All she knew was that she had to get away from Marcus.
She ran and ran and ran some more only to have herself realize that there wasn't anyone in the maze along with her, let alone Stiles. The patter of Marcus' feet weren't even anywhere to be heard. Sam continued to fly by hallways, petrified of having to run into the werewolf again.
And her luck had turned around in that Marcus wasn't seen again… but that didn't mean that she was in the clear necessarily. As Sam used her sleeve to wipe away some tears that had escaped her eyes, she used her other hand to feel against the wall and guide her at least towards civilization. It seemed like a good idea until she felt something warm underneath her palm. She screamed right at Derek once she could comprehend that it was him and retracted her hand as fast as she could away from his arm so she could sprint away in the opposite direction.
A few more minutes passed of Sam's frantic escape until she absentmindedly led herself to the heart of the maze. She stumbled around and blinked to continuously get rid of her tears which had been annoyingly blurring up her vision. After being somewhat more composed, she turned and saw that mirrors had now generously covered almost every dark surface along the walls unlike the other areas of the maze. She reluctantly walked up to one of the less fragmented and distorted mirrors and wiped away the last remnants of her tears. She had to get out of here, she thought. And she could. It was just that the past two jump scares had diverted her further away from any possible exit.
Just then, as if she'd thought that she'd experienced all the shocking scenarios that were in store for her today, a figure began to form amidst all the reflective surfaces surrounding her. She stepped back, hyperaware and cautious now of anything that could potentially pop out at her. She thought she should pick up and run away again like she had with the last incidences but something was telling her not to, oddly enough. Sam could make out that the figure was a man. A cloudy, grey mist appeared around him along all the mirrors that he was appearing on and they seemed to quickly disappear making the image of the him more and more clear. This time, Sam instinctively recognized who it was that she was facing. She didn't scream this time though, she actually did quite the opposite… she fell dangerously silent.
"Daddy?..." she managed to utter.
The man didn't move for a few more seconds and then finally the softest of smiles appeared on his face.
Sam let out a sharp exhale and simply stared at him. Just like that, Sam instantly became a little twelve-year old girl again. "Why-What- How are you here?"
He smiled again and spoke this time. "You've grown up so fast" he simply said. "You look so much like your mother and well, me."
Sam just stood there, her mouth hanging open though she couldn't formulate words to say to him because she ultimately wanted to say everything to him.
"It didn't have to be like this, you know?" he suddenly said.
"…What?" she asked. If she thought she was lost before, now she was in a completely different world.
"Me, stuck here, dead."
Sam winced as he said the last word in that sentence.
"I could be alive. I should be alive… if it wasn't for you."
Sam's face fell dark and her insides began to form incessant knots. "What? Dad what are you saying?"
"Sammy, sweetheart, I'm saying that you're the reason I'm dead" he said still smiling. "Can't you see that this is all your fault?"
The girl continued to stand there taken aback with what the man stated. For a long time, Sam had thought that what he'd said was true. Sam had believed that she'd indirectly been the one to kill her father because she couldn't save him. It was the reason why she was the way that she was, always feverish to lend a helping hand to any next person in need. But, never in a thousand, or even a million years did Sam think that those words would ever be reconsolidated by her own father.
"This isn't real" she quietly whispered, only loud enough for herself to hear.
"Of course this is real" Mr. Cameron suddenly said. "And what I said was the truth."
"N-No" Sam reluctantly rebuked.
"No? I love you, don't you remember? Why would I lie to you?"
"This isn't real" Sam repeated, this time a little louder.
"Yes, it is!" her father pressed again. His voice now boomed all along the walls and also against the inside of Sam's skull.
Sam held her hands over her ears and dropped to her knees. "This isn't real!" she screamed to herself. She was realizing that she had to have been hallucinating from the start.
"YOU KILLED ME! BECAUSE OF YOU I'M DEAD!" he roared.
"STOP!" she screamed back over and over again. "JUST PLEASE STOP!" Sam put her head down onto the floor and continued to scream and cry and bellow out in hysteria. The commotion though didn't stop. Her father's accusing calls continued to ring through her head as she tightly smashed her hands to her ears as an attempt to have only her thoughts run through her head.
She jolted up when she felt a rough hand shake her arm. It was Scott. His eyes were wide as they shifted back to a dark brown from the glowing yellow his werewolf form suitably changed them to. "Sam! You okay?!"
"STILES!" she immediately screamed. "I NEED HIM! I NEED STILES!"
Scott easily helped her off the floor and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "Sam! Breathe!"
"STILES!" she screamed as a continuous stream of tears rolled down her face.
Scott ignored his attempt on trying to calm his friend down and instead took ahold of her hand. He also began to call out to his best friend as he guided Sam through an array of turns down certain hallways and paths. It began to get lighter and not as eerily dark until finally Sam and Scott made it outside and back under the sunlight.
"Sam!" Allison cried. She knelt down and joined them just as Sam fell to the grass once again.
"She won't listen to me" Scott nervously told Allison. "Either that or she can't hear me. She keeps calling for Stiles!"
Almost as if on cue, Stiles bursted through the maze's exit and ran over to the isolated area where his friends had congregated. "Is she okay?! Is she hurt?!"
"I don't know?!" Scott replied. "She won't answer us!"
"Sam, Stiles is here!" Allison called.
Stiles got down and gave her body a once over just to make sure she wasn't harmed. He rubbed her arms and tried to get her attention though her whole body was uncontrollably shaking. "Sam? Hey, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
"He's dead! He can't be alive" she muttered.
"Sam, hey!"
"Stiles, I think-I think she's having a panic attack" Scott realized.
"Wha-"
"Her breathing, her heart rate. Everything. She looks like what you look like when you have one" Scott stressed.
Sam's hands were clenched into fist and her skin was both on fire and ice-cold and the same time somehow. The river of tears hadn't stopped and she was mumbling something else now while her chest rose and then quickly went back down over and over again. "But Marcus was even there!" she blurted out. "And Derek!"
"She was yelling about something about her dad when I found her" Scott stated. "It was like she was talking to him."
"Sam, look at me" Stiles demanded. He held her face in his hands. "Whatever you saw in there, it wasn't real. What's happening now, this is real. I'm real and I'm here right now. Can you try breathing and repeating after me?"
"…It… It's… It.. wasn't r-real" she slowly repeated.
A small pitiful smile played across his lips as he nodded. "It wasn't real."
"My dad's dead, he wasn't in there" she suddenly stated. "He's dead. It wasn't real."
Stiles' eyes widened a bit, a little in shock at how grim this all must've been for Sam but he nodded again.
"It wasn't real" Allison repeated this time for Sam while Stiles slowly got over what she'd just said.
"It all wasn't real" Sam said again as her breathing slowly began to stagger back down to normal.
"You're okay Sam" Scott replied with a sympathetic smile.
"I'm okay. It wasn't real" she finally said and looked dead into Stiles' eyes.
The boy saw the little wrinkles in her face relax just as he felt her body under his hands also do the same. He saw a flash of colour dance across her eyes and then vanish as she blinked. Her face slowly went blank as she looked past the boy she loved and all around her surroundings to double check that all was good.
Sam reached over and buried herself into Stiles' open arms, allowing her body to mold into his. She let herself sob against his chest even though she finally knew she was alright now. It had been a long and tiring day though she finally felt like she'd won the internal battle of control inside her mind.