Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad to see some people are still interested in the story lol It's what keeps me writing! I definitely have some things planned after that finale and can't wait to get going and get through this season. I do not own anything in this chapter, besides Laci, everyone else belongs to their rightful owners.
Chapter 9
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Morning had come much too early for Laci's liking, and probably the others' liking too. The only one who looked rested was Theo. Laci was upstairs in her room, standing in front of her mirror staring at her reflection. Something was different about her, and she was desperate to know what it was. The dreams, the memory loss, she hated it all.
Dark circles rested under her eyes, her cheeks were hollowed almost, like she was still recovering from death. Her once olive colored skin was as pale as it's ever been before. She was skinner than she knew was healthy. Her baggy shirts couldn't cover that forever. Considering she'd been already almost killed after coming back from the dead once, she knew she could look a lot worse. Still, this girl wasn't who she remembered being.
The girl she remembered had life lighting up her eyes, something they no longer did. She looked healthier than this. She felt healthier than this. She used to laugh more, smile more too. That Laci McCall was someone she missed. This new version of her, wasn't someone she wanted to be. She didn't know how to fix herself though. She wasn't even sure she could fix herself. There was no going back in time, no warning herself to be more careful.
She died with regrets, and that scared her more than anything. She didn't get to say goodbye to her parents before she took her last breath. She didn't get to tell her dad she really forgave him and she loved him. Her mom didn't get to know she was her hero in every sense of the word. She regretted not telling Derek she loved him sooner and getting more time to be with him. They fought their attraction for each other for long and it just felt like wasted time.
Laci would never regret a moment she spent with Isaac, she did love him. She thought they had the rest of their lives to figure out everything. She thought she had the rest of her life to do that. If her and Isaac were meant to be, she thought somewhere down the line they'd find each other again, and it was the same if she and Derek were meant to be. She didn't realize that time would be cut short before she had the chance to really know. She didn't have the chance to live life and grow into who she was supposed to be.
She'd never be the dancer she dreamed of being. She'd never have a normal life after all of this was finally over. She'd always be that girl who came back from the dead.
Laci jumped, startled, when her phone vibrated against her dresser. With a quick glance, she saw unknown caller flash across the screen. Her breathe caught in her throat. It wasn't a new thing to see a strange number pop up on her phone. While her number had stayed the same, other people had changed theirs.
Her fingers hovered over the phone, debating if she should answer or not.
"Lace?"
Laci jumped, her head turning to see Scott waiting for her in her doorway. They were going to be late to school if they didn't get a move on. Hesitating, she glanced at the now silent phone before clearing her throat. She'd missed the call, though it was still to be determined if she'd regret not answering or not. "I-I'm almost ready." She said, giving him a forced smile.
He didn't look convinced by her smile, but didn't question it. Scott simply nodding and headed back down to wait with the others.
Laci's eyes flickered to her phone when it lit up again, telling her she had a voice mail. Whoever it was that called her had left a message and she was too nervous to listen to it. Her hand shook as she picked it up. She swiped the message away before pocketing it. She'd just listen to it later, she said to herself though she wasn't sure how much she believed it. The thought of who that message could be from just scared her, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it.
Grabbing her bag, she hurried out of her room and downstairs to meet the others. Scott gave her a worried look, but she purposely ignored it as she walked outside with the others. Lydia, Malia, and Theo had all gone home earlier to get ready for school. They were going to meet them there. She and Kira climbed into the back of Stiles' jeep as Scott and Stiles climbed into the front. Soon enough the four of them were off.
The foursome pushed their way through the school doors. Scott and Stiles lead the way in as Kira and Laci followed behind them. The entire ride over they were trying to figure out why the others hadn't had the same reactions to reading the book as Malia and Laci had. So far, they hadn't come up with anything reliable. "What if we need some kind of trigger? Wasn't Malia driving when she remembered the crash?" Scott asked, glancing between the three.
"But I wasn't trapped in a box when I had mine." Laci pointed out.
Scott glanced back, guilt playing in his eyes. She hadn't meant to make him feel guilty for not being able to save her. As quick as he let slip the emotion, it disappeared just as fast. "But how were you feeling when it happened? What were you thinking about?" He asked her, his eyes glancing around before settling back on her.
What had she been thinking about?
"I was, um, I was trying to do some make up work. I couldn't focus. There was too much noise. It felt like . . . it felt like I was trapped. Everything felt ten times louder than it was and I couldn't get away from it no matter how hard I tried to focus on what I was doing." She explained, her body tensed as she remembered the terrifying moment.
"So, it triggered the last time you felt like that. You said it yourself, you felt trapped. Maybe it's triggered by our emotions?" He said, his eyes moving between the three.
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to trigger a memory we don't remember? Laci's was on accident. She wasn't purposely feeling that way." Stiles pointed out.
They couldn't plan for something when they had no idea how to trigger the memories. Laci's just happened. They didn't have time for their memories to be spontaneous and surprise them.
"Maybe it's a delayed thing. Laci and Malia both read the book at the same time, but their memories happened at different times. Maybe you have to wait a couple of hours to see what happens." Scott continued, pausing as the flickered above them.
The four all froze, not liking the look of that. Flickering lights always lead to something horrific in scary movies. Laci knew from experience it was a proven fact flickering lights meant something bad was going to happen. Scott and Stiles' both turned their heads to Kira though, as if she was responsible for it. Laci had forgotten that while she, Theo, and Malia were out driving, Kira had reacted badly to Eichen house and let the dread doctors into the building. She had short fused the special defenses they had up to keep them out.
Kira looked as startled to see their questioning gazes settle on her. "That wasn't me. I swear."
Unfortunately, she didn't sound as convincing as Laci wished she would. Scott glanced between the three of them, worry in his eyes. He had no idea how this day was going to go, and that absolutely scared him. "We keep an eye on each other today, okay?"
"Yes, and keep an eye out for eight other potentially homicidal Chimeras." Stiles added in, earning a glare from Laci.
"And keep an eye out for the dread doctors." Kira said, sending both boys and Laci a nervous look.
With that, the four broke up. Scott lead Kira away as they headed to their Bio class together, while Laci stayed with Stiles. They had math, and she for one was not rushing to get there. "Starting to see the appeal of the third eye." Stiles said out before sharing a look with his remaining friend. Laci gave him a small smile as she patted his arm and headed to class. Stiles wasn't far behind her.
Laci was on her way to find Scott when she saw the commotion. She knew he was thinking about dropping his biology class. As much as he needed it, he couldn't give it the focus he needed to with everything else going on. "I got it!" Liam yelled as he rounded the corner.
"Liam? Liam, what's going on?" She asked, her worry getting worse when she realized what he had in his hand as he hurried down the hall. An inhaler.
"It's Scott." Was all he said as he got to her. Her eyes widened fearfully before she and Liam pushed their way into the crowd. "I've got the inhaler!" He shouted, holding it up as he and Laci got into the classroom.
Scott was on the floor, his back against the desk as he struggled to breathe. Laci knew he was having a memory flashback and felt her heart sink. It was bad enough to give him an asthma attack, she could only imagine what he was seeing. Laci took the inhaler from Liam as the teacher stepped back, giving her room to kneel beside her twin. "Hey, Scotty. It's me. I'm here." She said, touching his cheek in attempt to get him to look at her. "Scott, please." She said as she put the inhaler in his hand, her eyes pleading with him to just move.
When it wasn't working, Liam knelt at his other side. "Scott, come on."
His eyes flickered to Laci, who looked as terrified as he felt. He could only imagine what was going on in her head right now. He had to do something. Leaning in so he was directly in front of Scott, Liam flashed his golden eyes, barring his teeth as he squeezed his shoulder. "Scott." He growled lowly.
It seemed to do the trick as Scott snapped out of it. His eyes focused on Liam, flickering to Laci, before dropping to the inhaler in his hand. His heart was racing, struggling to find his breath. Shakenly, he hurried to inhale a puff of air from it, and his heart slowly went back to normal as soon as he did. Panting, he seemed to gain control over himself again, his eyes flickering to Liam. "Thanks." He said before turning his attention to his sister. "Lace, I'm-" He was cut off when she threw her arms around him in an embrace.
Scott wrapped his free arm around her, his eyes meeting Liam's over her shoulder. Liam gave him a quick nod before looking around. The teacher was moving people out of the doorway, telling them all to go back to class. Laci pulled back after another minute, her eyes worried as she scanned his face. "What did you remember?" She asked, keeping her voice low so no one overheard.
His face scrunched up in confusion over his memory. "Roxy. I remembered when Roxy got attacked and mom brought me to the hospital. She-she didn't make it."
Laci looked surprised, not expecting that to be what Scott remembered. Roxy had been their dog when they were little kids. Well, she was more Scott's dog than hers. She followed Scott everywhere and loved him so much. He was her person. When she'd been killed by the other dog, it broke all their hearts. "Oh, Scott." She said, sadness in her eyes as she slipped her hand in his. She was here for him, just like he was there for her. Like they'd always be for the other.
"At the risk of asking a stupid question, who's Roxy?" Liam spoke up, looking between them confused.
"Roxy was our dog." Laci filled him in.
Liam nodded, as if it now made sense to him even though it didn't. Scott moved to get up and both Laci and Liam quickly moved to help him. Scott winced as he rose to his feet. He could see how worried his twin was and felt guilty to scaring her. "I'm fine, Lace. I promise." He said, trying to give her a reassuring smile even though she was anything but reassured.
Still, she nodded as if she believed what he was saying. He was just hoping the asthma attack was a one-time fluke, but he wasn't about to worry her with that. "Go check in on Lydia and Stiles. She fainted earlier when she remembered her memory. See if you can check on Kira too. I'll find you later." He said, squeezing her hand before sharing a look with Liam, telling him he could leave too. Both were hesitant, but nodded and went on their way.
After talking to Stiles on the phone, Laci discovered he and Lydia had already left school in hopes of unlocking her memory about the dread doctors. As she was on her way to find Scott, she ran into Malia who was on her way to meet Scott. They two hurried down the stairs toward the alpha in question and Theo. Laci couldn't help but notice how Malia tensed up upon seeing him. "Where's Kira?" He said, looking between the two brunettes.
"Still at the library." Malia said, sparing a quick glance to Theo before focusing on Scott.
Laci was the only one to see the glance and couldn't help but find it weird. Something was going on there, and it had been since Malia's memory attack. "Stiles and Lydia are at the hospital." She said, looking between the three of them.
"Doing what?"
"Lydia's trying to figure out what happened to her while I was in surgery." She said, falling in step with Theo as the four continued down the hallway.
"How long are they gonna be there?"
Laci shrugged, giving her brother an apologetic look. "They said they're just waiting for the power to come back on."
The two boys shared a knowing look before hurrying off ahead. Malia and Laci both looked confused. "What just happened?" Malia asked, picking up her pace.
Laci shook her head, trying to catch up to the boys. "No idea."
Whatever it was, this couldn't be good.
Scott and Theo both filled the girls in on what they needed to know on the car ride to the hospital. The four of them moved quickly as soon as they got to the hospital. Laci's eyes immediately scanned the room for any sign of their friends or her mom. "You guys go find Stiles and Lydia. I'm gonna go find my mom." Scott said quickly, turning his head to look at them.
"Scott!" Laci called out when he started to leave.
She didn't want him to go alone. If he had another attack, no one would be there to help him. Scott quickly shook his head, stopping her from following him. "Stay with them. I'll be back with mom soon!" He called back before rushing off.
Laci linger for only a moment before Theo tugged on her arm. Hesitating for a moment longer, she nodded and hurried to catch up with him and Malia. Theo stopped just short of the elevator doors and listened. "Stiles is on the roof. I'll go get him." Theo said, motioning for the girls to go on.
Laci shared a look with Malia before hurrying after him. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and it was telling her to get to Stiles. "I'm coming with you." She said over, straining to keep up with him.
He didn't seem to be happy she was going with him, but said nothing as they made their way to the roof. As they rushed through the open door, Laci saw another boy standing over Stiles, swiping his claws at him. "Stiles!" She called out, panicked as she saw him fall back.
Theo morphed as he came up behind the other boy and grabbed his wrist, keeping him from slashing Stiles open. He tossed the other Chimera away before pouncing. Laci didn't hesitate before hurrying over to Stiles' side, her hands quickly checking him for wounds. He was shaken up, but alright. The two watched as Theo fought the Chimera.
Stiles kept an arm out in front of her, shielding her in case anything should come their way. Both winced as Theo was slammed in to the ground, the Chimera stomping his foot down on his wrist. Theo growled in pain, but was able to get back to his feet, shoving the Chimera away. Stiles and Laci looked on in shock as Theo ripped the teen's throat out. His body fell back onto the cement, his eyes blank as took his final breath.
Laci's eyes were focused, horrified, on the Chimera blood dropping from Theo's hand. Stiles helped her to her feet as he rose. His eyes were stuck on the dead teen just a few feet away from him. His mind was reeling, both from the attack, but from his memory of his mother. "Stiles . . . Laci . . ." Theo said, tensing as he saw both their expressions. "Neither of you can say anything. Please, don't say anything." He pleaded with them.
"Why not?" Stiles asked, knowing in his gut he had to tell Scott.
He knew something was wrong, he could feel it. From the look on Laci's face, he could tell she felt it too. She believed him when he said something felt off about Theo.
"Because I never said anything about Donovan."
Stiles' eyes widened in panic upon hearing the name. Laci felt how he straightened up, his body going tense. Her nightmare of Stiles being attacked came back to her. How he winced every time he moved his shoulder, the blood Malia had said she could smell. He lied to her before, twice. From the look of fear on his expression, she knew he'd been hiding something and apparently Theo knew about it. "I know what happened to Donovan. I know everything . . ." He said, his eyes never wavering from Stiles.
"Stiles, what's he talking about? Who's Donovan?" Laci asked, looking between them.
It was like he didn't hear her. His focus didn't leave Theo, his expression still one of surprise upon hearing what he had to say. Suddenly he was moving forward, grabbing Theo as he shoved him back into the fence surrounding the sparking generator.
"Stiles!" Laci gasped.
"You don't know anything." He said, not believing for a second Theo was telling the truth. There was just no way.
Laci jumped when Theo turned them around, pushing Stiles into the fence. He grunted in pain as Theo pinned him against the metal. Moving forward, she tried to tug them apart, but Theo wasn't loosening his grip. "I was there. I was at the library. Malia found the book. She was texting us to see where you were. She said she left you at the library. I told her I was close. When I got there, I heard the scaffoldings come down." Theo explained, glancing between the two of them.
Laci paused, confused as she looked from Theo to Stiles. Stiles looked guilty, no doubt playing over what he'd seen and done that night in his head. "You saw him?" He asked, fighting back tears as he remembered the other boy's body just hanging there limp as he took his last breath.
"Just the body." Theo said.
Laci felt her body relax as the two let go of the other. She was still confused about what had happened and what Stiles hadn't told her. She knew something had to have happened, something bad. "I watched you come out. I was gonna say something, but then I saw the cop car." Theo paused, lowering his eyes. "And the body was gone." Theo glanced at Laci briefly, not knowing what she was making of this. "I don't know who took him. I only saw what you saw, and I didn't say anything because you didn't."
The three tensed upon hearing the police sirens. Stiles' dad would no doubt be here soon. It was just a matter of would he find a boy's body and his killer, or would they help Theo. The wolf in question glanced over his shoulder, his body tense at the realization. "That's not an ambulance, is it?" He asked, his eyes moving back to Stiles.
Stiles shook his head, moving away from the fence. "No."
Laci watched as he looked over the ledge, wondering how this would end. A part of her wished she could run to find Scott, but would she be leaving Stiles to fend for himself? No, she didn't think she could do that. Stiles would stand by her no matter what she'd done, and she'd do the same.
"We should get out of here." Theo said out, glancing between the two of them.
"We can't just leave him." Stiles said over, looking at him with disgust.
This was a person, someone's kid, they couldn't just leave him here. He hadn't wanted to leave Donovan's body. He called the cops, though he hid when they got there. He couldn't go through with confessing to what he'd done. That didn't mean he didn't feel remorse and guilt for his part. He could see Laci hated the idea of leaving the corpse behind as much as he did.
"Fine. Alright, let's take him."
"Are you serious?" Laci asked, looking at his with disbelief.
His eyes flickered to her, noticing the disgust in her eyes as she stared at him. It wasn't the best plan, but he wasn't about to let himself be arrested for saving Stiles and Laci. He knew all he needed to do was convince one of them to help him and then the other would comply. "Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right?" He said, glancing between them. "Here's our chance to find out who." He said, looking panicked when they still weren't convinced. "Stiles, Laci, come on. We gotta do something."
"You killed him." Stiles said, still in shock over how quick it had happened.
"In self-defense." He growled, his fists clenching. "He was going to kill me, you, and Laci. If we stay, we're either going to have to tell the truth, or we're going to need a pretty convincing story." He said, his body tensing up as he looked between them before focusing his attention on Stiles. He could see Stiles was the one he had to convince. "It's your choice." He said, his voice softening. "I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad."
Stiles looked conflicted, but he knew what he should do and what he could do. He couldn't risk anyone else knowing what he'd done. It was bad enough Laci now knew. He'd have to convince her to not tell her brother somehow, or at least give him time to figure out how to tell him himself. If he was going to have a chance to do that though, he'd have to keep Theo from opening his mouth to anyone else. "Don't worry, I've had plenty of practice." He said, his voice defeated as he refused to meet Laci's eyes. He crouched down and got ready to lift the body. Theo looked pleased with his decision before he moved forward and went to help him.
Laci didn't know what to say, but she was felt disappointed in Stiles' decision. She hesitated, watching them move to the get the body. This didn't sit right with her. She knew if she helped them, she was agreeing to keep this from Scott. How could she betray Stiles though? He was her brother in every sense of the word. He might not be blood, but he was as much her brother as Scott was. How could she choose between them? She couldn't, but she had to.
With a heavy sigh, she nodded and moved to help them.