Thanks for the reviews! You guys are awesome! I definitely missed you all. I hope this chapter lives up to the hype. I'll try to get another chapter out before I head off to school, but no promises lol. I do not own anything in this chapter, besides Laci, everything else belongs to their rightful owners

Chapter 1

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Her head felt heavy, she was so tired. She wanted to open her eyes, but they refused to do so. She felt so cold. The ground under her fingers was wet, dewy. Her fingers twitched, trying to get a better feel of it. It was grass. She was outside. She wanted to open her eyes, but she was still so tired. What was going on? What had happened to her?

Forcing her eyes open, her vision was blurry. All she saw were colors. Blinking a few times, her vision started to clear. Lifting her head, she tried to lay up. It was so bright, too bright. It made her head hurt, she wasn't use to the sunlight yet.

Squinting her eyes, she looked around. Where was she? It was so familiar. She knew this place, it meant something to her. Looking up, she saw an angel statue. She was in a graveyard. A gust of wind hit her and she shivered. Looking down, she noticed she was in a dirt covered sun dress. She was filthy.

Jumping, she was startled by a loud noise. Looking up, she realized it was some guy yelling at her. Her eyes were wide in fear, not understanding what was going on. She wanted to tell him she needed help, but no sound came out. Her throat felt so raw, dry, she was still healing from whatever she'd gone through.

He as coming at her with a shovel, yelling at her to leave. Panic set in as she scrambled to her feet. Her legs were shaky, not ready to fulling hold her weight. She stumbled away, leaving before she got herself into more trouble.

She wondered into the woods, her feet crunching over sticks. Her feet were sore, probably all cut up from the hard ground. She held onto trees as she passed them, wanting to put as much distance between her and that man.

Her senses were in over drive, her hearing picking up every noise. Her head turned left to right with every noise that startled her. It was all too much. There was too much noise in her head. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stumbled into a clearing, falling to her knees. Her entire body was shaking. What was going on? Her body was sore, and she was so tired.

"You look like you could use a hand."

The girl jumped, falling back onto her butt. Her head lifted, her eyes frightened as she took in the sight of the new stranger. He looked so familiar, but different. Did she know him? A part of her said she did, but then again she didn't even know who she was. "Wh-who are you? Do I kn-know you?" Her voice sounded raw, having not used it in so long.

The boy looked her over, taking in the gruesome sight of her. "I'm Theo. We use to be friends before I moved."

Her head was still in a fog, he realized. She didn't know who she was, much less who he was. Crouching down, he brushed back a wild curl from her face. She'd grown up since the last time he'd seen her. Granted, they were just kids back then. "Let's get you cleaned up. Can you walk?" He asked, looking her over for any obvious injuries.

Swallowing, she shook her head. Nothing was broken. Her head hurt, but there was nothing he could do to help that. He helped her to her feet before he lifted her up. As much as she wanted to protest, say she could walk on her own, she didn't. She was tired, her feet hurt from being bare walking in the woods, and she felt . . . safe? Was that it? She couldn't be sure.

Theo carried her to a lake. Her body shivered, just knowing it was going to be cold. He carefully put her down just at the edge of the water. Reaching out her foot, she made a face as the water made contact with her big toe. "It'll only be cold for a minute. Just jump right in." Theo explained, encouraging her to go in. She knew he was right, she'd feel better after she washes this filth off.

Looking down at her dress, she knew she needed to take it off. It would do her no good later if it was soaking wet. Her eyes lifted to Theo, shooting him a look to turn around. He chuckled, getting the message loud and clear. Holding up his hands, he turned around. "I'm going. I'm going." He chuckled.

Once she was sure he wasn't going to sneak a peek, she turned away from him and slipped off her dress. With her back turned to him, Theo chanced a glance over his shoulder and took her in. She was beautiful. Her dark hair had grown, falling to the curve of her spine. Her skin tone had lost some of the olive coloring it'd had the last time he'd seen her, but he knew with sometime in the sun would get that back.

She looked over her shoulder, their eyes locking. He didn't even look embarrassed from being caught peeking a look at her. If anything, he looked smug with his little grin. Blushing, she looked away and walked toward the water. A low hiss left her lips when she realized just how cold it was. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before diving under. Her entire body felt like she was being pricked, but she could already feel the dirt leaving her.

Coming back to the surface, she gasped for air before the chill set in. She tried not to think about it as she washed herself, her fingers tracing ever curve and cut on her skin. Her fingers traced over a scar on her stomach. Curiously, she looked down, trying to remember where she'd gotten this one. Pressing her fingers against it, she felt herself pulled into a memory.

'Before she could think twice about it, her feet pushed forward and suddenly she was stand in between Derek and the sword that had been going for the kill shot. A strained gasp left her lips as she felt the cold metal of the sword push through her body.

Her body spasm as the pain ran through her body. Laci's doe eyes widened in pain, her arms spread out at her sides. Derek was kneeling behind her, staring up at him with wide eyes, not believing what he was seeing. He shot up to his feet as the Oni pulled their sword out of her body, much like they had done to Allison only hours ago. He didn't notice Chris shot the Oni with an arrow, he didn't care. All he cared about was the girl who was standing in front of him, blood dripping in between her feet.

Her white dress was quickly turning red as it became soaked with blood around where she was stabbed. Derek didn't notice the rest of the fight coming to an end, Aiden coming out with a similar fatal blow that Laci had. His eyes were on her, taking in every movement she made. She stood there in shock, her fingers shaking as they touched her bleeding stomach. Turning her head to the side, her scared eyes locked with his horrified ones. "D-Derek?" she asked out, her voice scared and confused at what had just happened.

Her knees gave out as she fell back into Derek's arms. He didn't know what to do as he held onto her. It was like the moment with Boyd in his loft all over again, only this time it was Laci. This was the girl he made love to just the night before. This was the girl who opened his heart again and made him rethink everything. She was the girl who made him eat ice cream since she couldn't. She was the girl who helped him when he didn't deserve it. She was the girl who saw the worst and best sides of him, and still cared about him. She was the girl who always smiled at him.

Even when she was bleeding in his arms, she still managed to smile at him.

Her breathing was shallow, her eyes fighting to stay open. He needed to do something, he needed to save her. He saved Cora before, he could save her. He just needed more time, yeah, he just needed more time. His eyes jerked up when she touched his cheek. "I-I saved you this time," she breathed out, her voice staining to be heard as she smiled. He couldn't help but crack a smile. She always worried about being the damsel in distress, and here she was, saving him. "D-don't you forget it," she teased, trying to keep her smile on her face even though it hurt so much.'

Laci took a big gasp of air as she came back from her memory flash. Looking down at her scare, she was stunned. She'd been stabbed, that really happened. It wasn't just a bad dream she was finally waking up from. "You coming out before you freeze, princess?" Theo called out from the grass. Taking a deep breath, she gave him a weak smile and nodded before swimming back.

"Turn around while I come out." She called back.

She wasn't about to go any further before he was looking the other way. He might have saved her, but she still didn't know who he was. Even if she did remember, she wasn't about to flash him. Once he was turned around she came out. Her whole was shaking as she took the dress from him and slid it over her head. "Do you remember in third grade when we had Valentine's Day? You held my hand all through recess and declared yourself my girlfriend." He said, chuckling at the memory.

Her head was still foggy, but the memory did sound familiar. Maybe once she had a chance to really unclouded her mind, she'd remember him. "It rings a bell. Did we ever really date?" She asked, shivering behind him as she adjusted the dress. "You can turn around now." She said once she was ready.

He turned around, his eyes shamelessly looking her over. No, they hadn't dated, he'd left town before he'd gotten to the point where he liked girls. He'd crushed on her for years, but he'd been too shy to ever tell her. Now here she stood, dripping wet and vulnerable. "No, we didn't date. I left town before I realized girls didn't have cooties." He chuckled, brushing her hair out of her face. He noticed her still shivering and slipped off his jacket, putting it on her shoulders.

"Thanks." She said softly, giving him a small smile.

He returned the smile with a nod. Looking past her, he saw the reason he was even in the woods this late. Glancing back at Laci, he clears his throat. "Hey, you mind making one more pit stop before I bring you home?" He asked, glancing at the old bridge again.

She hesitated, but nodded none the less. If he was going to hurt her, he would have done it a long time ago. Besides, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice. "Sure, okay." She said before following him back through the woods.

He grabbed a box from his bag he'd dropped when he'd found her and the two headed to the old bridge overlooking the creek. Laci stood back and watched him for a moment. This creek, something bad happened here. Her eyes flickered between the water and Theo and it dawned on her. She remembered who Theo was now, and why this spot was important to him.

His sister had died here.

She watched silently as he took a flower out of the box he'd taken out of his bag. Looking away, she let him have his moment of grief for his sister. He dropped the flower into the cold water below with a heavy sigh. Reaching forward, she squeezed his hand. Looking up, he gave her a small smile and placed his hand over hers in thanks.

Theo's head whipped around at a noise. He motioned her to be quiet before pulling her with him. She wasn't sure where they were going or what was wrong. He suddenly stopped and hid her behind a tree. "Stay here." He whispered to her before he climbed up a tree.

She tried to keep track of him, but she'd lost sight of him in the shadows. Looking forward, she saw two boys hurrying away. They'd been watching them at the bridge, she realized. She tried to squint her eyes to get a better look at them, but she couldn't see them from where she was hiding.

A gasp left her lips when Theo jumped down from one of the trees. "What are you guys doing?"

She couldn't hear everything that was going on, but it didn't look good. He'd told her to stay put though, she couldn't get any closer. She watched as one of the two boys held up two pieces of paper to Theo. She could even see him tense for a moment before folding up the papers and pocketing them. "You know, Stiles, I came back for Scott, but I . . . I came back here for you too. Someone like you. Someone who's willing to walk into the woods in the middle of the night to protect his friends. I don't have anyone like that, Scott does." He started to say, looking between them. "I know I'm in the right place. I'm meant to be here. So is she." He said, looking over his shoulder.

Their eyes connected before he motioned for her to come. Taking a shaky breath, she nodded and came out of her hiding place. As she crept closer, one of the faces stuck out to her. She knew him. It was Stiles, he was Stiles! She froze where she stood, not knowing what to say to him.

Stiles stood in shock. There was no way that was her. There was no way that was Laci, but looking her over? There was no denying it was her. Brown hair, brown eyes, button nose. This was Laci McCall, his best friend. His, up until now, dead best friend.

"How-how is this possible? What did you do? This isn't possible. Did you do some mind trick on me? I saw Laci, you, die. I went to your funeral. Oh, my . . . I swear if this is some kind of trick, it's cruel. If Scott was here-"

"Stiles, I'm real. I-I'm alive."

His body shook, knowing this had to be a dream. This was too good to be true. Tears burned in his eyes. He rubbed them furiously, his legs screaming at him to move. "You died. We all saw it happen." He said, trying to make sense of this. There had to be an explanation, but there wasn't one. For the past year, Laci had been dead and buried. He'd visited her grave every week.

Now she was suddenly standing in front of him. Running a hand through his hair, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how this was possible. Laci was just as confused. She wasn't sure what had happened, how she was here. "I-I'm just as-as confused as you are, Stiles. I don't know how I-I'm here, but I am. I'm here, Stiles." She said, tearing up herself.

Stiles didn't waste another moment before he closed the space between them and pulled her into his arms. Both cried as they held onto each other. Liam stood there amazed, not believing what was going on. He didn't fully understand it, but this was big. His eyes flickered to Theo and something was off. He look almost smug. There'd be time to worry about that later though, right now Stiles needed a minute with his old friend.

Laci McCall was alive, she was coming home.