Riddled Part One:

I gently scraped the charcoal across the paper in front of me as I bit my lower lip gently in concentration and I heard Aiden sighed on the other side of the room as I rolled my eyes at him for the hundredth time that night. I was wearing a Skater Dress and Red High Heel Sandals with my long brunette out in loose waves cascading down my back.

"I said hold still." I scolded him lightly with a quirked eyebrow as I glanced around the canvas at him and saw him dropping his knuckles from underneath his chin as he rolled his stiff neck out of the pose I had set for him.

"Are we even allowed to be here this late? What if security catches us?" Aiden asked me curiously as I went back to sketching his profile onto the paper and I scoffed out a small laugh as I tilted my head to the side.

"There is no security. The number of homicides in this school has seen to it that no sane person will ever take a night job here again. Plus, we're werewolves. What exactly are you scared of?"

"So we're all alone?" he asked me suggestively with a smirk as he ignored my last comment and I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow as he turned his whole body to face me.

"You're losing the pose again." I stated calmly with a smirk on my lips as I turned back to my drawing and he chuckled lowly in a seductive tone as I bit the inside of my cheek.

"You know, when you said you wanted me to model for you, this wasn't what I thought you had in mind."

"Oh, really?" I asked him innocently as I continued to sketch absently with a blank expression and I peeked around the easel at him taking his shirt off over his head before he resumed his pose. "If you're thinking nude modelling, it's usually done without the pants." I remarked drily as I gestured with my pencil at his jeans before turning back to my drawing and I heard him unzipping his pants as I pressed my lips together to hide a smile. "Aiden, I'm going to fail this class if you keep going."

"Fine, fine." he muttered to himself quietly as he sat back down in his underwear and positioned his fist back underneath his chin with his elbow balanced on his knee as he stared off into the distance.

"Okay, I'll tell you what…" I trailed off coyly as I stood up from the stool I was sitting on and walked over to my purse where I had dropped it when we'd first came into the art room as he watched me. I smirked to myself as I pulled out a Polaroid camera and turned around to face my boyfriend with a quirked eyebrow as he blinked at me in surprise. "Since you've been such an excellent model for me, I'll be one for you."

"You're going to model for me?" Aiden asked me huskily as his chocolate brown eyes swept down my body, making my skin buzz with electricity with just a look and I nodded slightly in answer to his question as I strolled towards him. I placed the camera down on the desk next to Aiden's chair as I bit down on my lower lip gently and his eyes immediately shot down on my lips as I smirked internally. My hands found the edge of my dress as I slowly lifted it up over my head and dropped it onto the floor at my feet so that I was in nothing but my black lace matching underwear set. I reached up to shake out my loose brunette curls so that they fell down my back and I placed my hands on my hips with a small smile on my lips.

"What do you think? Camera ready?" I asked him cheekily as I pursed my lips together jokingly and turned my body slightly to the side as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Hmm. Let's find out." He said teasingly as he picked up the Polaroid camera from the desk without taking his eyes off of me and I giggled softly as I stepped back a step as ruffled my hair slightly so that it was messy. "What about your eyes? Won't they flash in the picture?"

"This is a polaroid camera, so no."

"How do you know so much about this?" he asked me suspiciously as he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully and I rolled my eyes at the obvious jealousy displayed on his handsome face.

"I sent some pictures of me in a bra to an army guy stationed in Iraq. I was feeling patriotic." I explained with a shrug of my shoulders as I rested my hands on my hips and he chuckled in amusement at my comment as he held the camera up to his face with a grin. I smiled seductively towards him as he took the photo of me and he grabbed the picture as it came out.

"Gorgeous." He commented sincerely as he smiled at the photograph and I huffed disbelievingly as I strolled over to stand behind him. I wrapped my arm around his neck from behind as I rested my chin on his shoulder and he showed me the photo as I hummed positively at how well the photo came out.

"Give me the camera." I ordered quietly as I held my hand out for the camera and he handed it over with a confused frown on his lips. I pressed a small kiss to the side of his neck as I clicked a photograph of us together and he chuckled lowly in the back of his throat as he grabbed the photograph from the camera. "How does it look?"

"We make a very attractive couple."

"Please. Any couple with me in it is going to be attractive."

"Someone is a little conceited." He murmured jokingly as he turned his head to look at me with a small smile and I smirked back at him as I grazed my lips along his jaw line teasingly.

"Confidence isn't arrogance." I denied softly as I placed a row of small kisses up to his ear and gently took his earlobe in between my teeth as he growled in the back of his throat. I let out a startled yelp as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me down onto his lap with a laugh as I giggled in surprise. His hand rested on my bare thigh as he tightened his hold on my waist and I draped an arm around his shoulders as I cupped his face with my other hand. I grinned happily as he pressed his lips firmly against mine and my eyes fluttered closed as I opened my mouth to allow him access so our tongues tangled together in a fight of dominance. I wove my fingers into his light brown hair as I reluctantly removed my lips from his with a small moan and I smiled happily as I looked into his chocolate brown eyes that were darkened with lust.

"I think I like your way of thanking me, kitten."

"Don't call me kitten!"

"I think you secretly like it. Kitten." Aiden taunted me quietly with a grin as he squeezed my waist affectionately and my playful scowl faded into a smile as I pressed a lingering kiss to his lips instead of answering him.

"I hate it." I whispered quietly with a smile with my lips only an inch away from him and he chuckled lowly as he shook his head at me playfully.

"You love it."

"Hate it."

"Love it."

"I hate it. And I hate you."

"No, you don't." he whispered softly with a serious look on his handsome face as he gently caressed my cheek and I licked my lips nervously as butterflies that were on fire erupted in the pit of my stomach.

"No, I don't." I agreed in the same quiet voice as I looked into his warm brown eyes for any sign of deceit but I couldn't see anything other than affection. His eyes seemed to light up slightly at my admission as he cupped my cheek gently with his hand and I leaned into his touch as my eyes drifted shut for a split second with a small smile on my lips.

"For the record, I don't hate you either."

"Oh, I know."

"Someone's a little conceited." He repeated his earlier words with a grin as he leaned forward slightly and I threw my head back with a laugh as I nodded eagerly in agreement with his comment. Aiden tangled his hands into my long brunette hair as he pulled me down to meet his lips and I responded to his kiss enthusiastically as I rested one hand on his muscular bare chest with the other woven in his light brown hair. We were interrupted from going any further by the sound of my cell phone ringing from my purse on the other side of the room and I pulled back from Aiden reluctantly as he sighed in defeat. He lifted me up in his arms as he stood up from the seat we were in and I let out a startled yelp as I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck with a laugh. He set me back down on the stool as he pressed a kiss to my forehead and I watched with a faint smile as he walked over to grab my phone out of my purse for me.

"Who is it?" I asked breathlessly as I wiped my lower lip with my thumb and he frowned slightly in concern as he read the caller ID.

"It's Lydia." He answered me as he handed the phone over to me, knowing that I would never rejected a call from my best friend and my smiled widened because he knew my well enough to know that as I accepted the phone.

"Lyds? What's up?" I greeted my friend cheerfully as I stood up from the stool so that Aiden could sit back down and I climbed onto his lap as he wrapped his arms around my waist with his chin balanced on my shoulder.

"Sophie? I-I don't know exactly what happened. I was in my car, going to the store and suddenly the radio stopped playing. There was just static, and then I heard it." Lydia explained vaguely in a terrified voice as I frowned in concern for my friend and I heard her let out a shuddering breath on the other end of the phone line.

"Okay, Lydia, I need you to tell me exactly what you heard. What did you hear?"

"I heard Stiles."

"You heard Stiles?"

"Yes. Yes, I heard Stiles' voice over the radio. He said, 'come find me'. Sophie, he sounded terrified." She told me quietly as her voice wavered slightly at the end of her sentence and I closed my eyes tightly for a second as Aiden rubbed comforting circles on my back.

"Here's what we're going to do. Lydia, you're going to meet Aiden and me at Stiles' house, alright? There might be something there. I'm going to call to Scott. I'm going to call Allison. I'm even going to call Derek. Hell, if I get desperate enough, I'm going to call Peter, okay? We're going to find Stiles." I assured her in a firm voice as I stood up from Aiden's lap with a purposeful stride and I picked my dress up off of the ground as Aiden followed my lead.

"Okay." Lydia said in a meek voice on the other side of the phone line and I heard her clear her throat gently as she pulled herself together. "Okay. I'll meet you at Stiles' house."

"Lydia?"

"Yeah?"

"He's going to be fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to him if I can help it." I said determinedly as I balanced the cell phone on my shoulder and slipped my dress on over my head expertly as Aiden did the same across the room.

"The 'if I can help it' part of that sentence is what's bothering me." she remarked drily in her normal snippy tone of voice as I smiled slightly to myself and I gestured for Aiden to follow me out of the room after I grabbed my purse from the floor.

"I'll see you soon. The spare key is under the garden gnome near the front door if you get there before me. Bye." I told her with a hint of amusement in my voice as I shook my head slightly and hung up the phone as I grabbed my purse from the floor.

"Do you want me to drive while you call Scott?" Aiden asked me pointedly as we exited the art room together and I scoffed at him in disbelief as I peeked at him out the corner of my eye.

"No way in hell would I let you drive my car. I've seen you drive."

"How you going to call Scott and drive without crashing? That's just going to damage your car more than I could."

"Urgh! Fine. When did you become so rational?" I asked him jokingly as I handed him the keys to my Camaro with a pout and he laughed at my comment as he slid into the driver seat. I sighed slightly as I speed dialled Scott's phone number and climbed into the passenger side of the car as Aiden turned on the engine.

"You've reached Scott McCall. I can't come to the phone right – What? No! Go away, Stiles! Sorry about that. Please leave a message at the beep." I heard Scott's voice say as I rolled my eyes at my brother's voicemail message and I hung up the phone with a groan in the back of my throat before dialling Isaac's number instead.

"Hey, Sophie. I was just about to call you." Isaac said in greeting as he answered the phone and I sighed in relief as I leaned back against the passenger seat.

"About Stiles? Yeah, I know. What's going on?" I asked him quickly as I ran a frustrated hand through my loose hair and Aiden placed one hand on my thigh without taking his eyes off of the road in front of us.

"Stiles called Scott and all he said was that he didn't know where he was."

"Meet us at Stiles' house." I ordered him sternly as I hung up the phone without waiting for an answer and Aiden parked the car in the Stilinski's driveway behind Lydia's car as I climbed out before he had even stopped.

"Sophie, you can't just jump out of moving cars!" Aiden called out after me as I ran towards the house and I rolled my eyes at him as I scoffed at his overprotective attitude.

"Well, thank god for supernatural healing!" I shouted back at him over my shoulder as I opened up the door and we walked up the stairs quickly as he growled in the back his throat behind me. I headed straight towards Stiles bedroom where the door was open slightly with the light shining out from the crack and I pushed open the door to see Lydia standing in the middle of the room surrounded by red strings. Different picture and articles were covering almost all of the walls around the room and red threads of yarn were stretched from the walls to the handles of a pair of scissors which had been impaled in the centre of his mattress. The overall impression was that of a spider's web radiating out from the centre of Stiles' bed and my eyes widened in shock as I took in the normally clean bedroom.

"It was like this when I got here." Lydia told me in a small voice as she turned to look at me with wide green eyes and I scanned the room the room silently with a frown as I moved to her side protectively.

"Tell me what happened."

"I was – I was heading to the store, I had the music playing over the radio and then it suddenly just stopped. There was silence for a few seconds before it became all static-y and then I heard Stiles' voice saying 'come find me' over and over again on a loop. Sophie, he sounded terrified. Kind of like he was crying." She informed me sadly as she shook her head slightly with a frown etched on her lips and I placed a comforting hand on her arm as I licked my lips nervously with a pit of dread filling my stomach. "After I hung with you, I drove straight here and found this."

"It's kind of creepy." Aiden murmured to himself as he looked around the room in confusion and I turned my head to glare at him at the same time that Lydia scoffed indignantly.

"Aiden, sweetie, shut up." I ordered him in a false sweet voice as I offered him a tight smile and he held up his hands in mock surrender as he rolled his chocolate brown eyes at me with a smirk on his lips. I heard footsteps running up the stairs as I turned to face the bedroom door and I immediately pulled Lydia behind me as Aiden stepped in front of me protectively in case the intruder was a threat. I sighed in relief when the door swung up to reveal Scott and Isaac on the other side and Lydia sighed audibly as her whole relaxed next to me.

"How did you know? Did he call you too?" Scott asked us in a rush as he stopped in the doorway with frantic dark brown eyes and I shook my head in answer as Lydia stepped forward so that she was right next to me.

"I heard it." she explained simply with wide green eyes as she gripped my arm in her hand tightly and I offered her a small reassuring smile as I placed my hand on top of hers because I knew that she was still getting used to her banshee abilities.

"Don't ask. It gets more confusing when you ask." Aiden warned them calmly when he saw their confused expression and Isaac mouthed the word 'okay' as he blinked once owlishly.

"Not as confusing as this." I muttered quietly as I turned around to look at the tangled web of red strings and I bit the corner of my lower lip as everyone followed my line of sight to the mess of thread.

"He uses red for unsolved cases." Lydia told us pointedly as she licked her lips nervously with a concerned frown and I wrapped an arm around her waist as she leaned into me slightly with a small appreciative smile.

"Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case?" Aiden suggested unsurely as he scratched his chin thoughtfully and I hummed in consideration as I squinted at the photographs on the wall for any clue.

"Or is an unsolved case." Isaac added quietly as he frowned at the scene in front of him and I drew my eyebrows together as I spun around abruptly face him and Scott.

"Hold on. Is he still out there? You don't know where he is?" Lydia asked them in outrage as she planted her hands on her hips and they both took a step back from her as they glanced at each other unsurely.

"He said he was in an industrial basement somewhere. We came here to get a better scent." Scott told us in a soft voice filled with worry as he shrugged helplessly and I wrapped my arms around my stomach as I took a shuddering breath with anxiety clawing at the inside of my chest.

"What else did he say?"

"Something's wrong with his leg. It's bleeding. And he's freezing."

"Tonight's the coldest night of the year. It's going to drop into the 20s." Aiden exclaimed pointedly as I held back a groan and ran a frustrated hand through my hair as I turned away from all of them so that they wouldn't see the distressed expression on my face.

"What did his dad say?" I asked them in a small voice as I reached up to grip my hair with both hands and I turned around to face them with an expectant quirk of my eyebrow.

"We kind of - We didn't tell him yet." Scott admitted sheepishly as he glanced down at the ground and I dropped my hands to my sides limply as my mouth fell open in shock.

"Stiles is bleeding and freezing and you didn't call his dad?" Lydia asked him irritably as she stepped forward with her green eyes flashing menacingly and I pursed my lips together in annoyance as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"He made me promise not to. We can find him by scent. If he was sleepwalking he couldn't have gotten far, right?"

"You didn't notice his Jeep is gone, did you?" Aiden asked them gently as he placed a calming hand on my back and I closed my eyes momentarily to compose myself as I took a deep, steadying breath.

"You promised you wouldn't call his dad. I didn't." Lydia said firmly as she fished her cell phone out of her coat pocket with her lips pressed in a straight line.

"Wait, Lydia, hold on. I can get more help. I can call Derek, Allison -." Scott started to tell her in a rush as he held out a hand to stop her from dialling and I shook my head at him as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Everyone except for the cops. Great idea." Lydia interrupted him harshly as she snapped her head up to glare at him and she immediately softened when she saw the hurt look on Scott's face as she sighed slightly. "Look, Sophie's already told me that she's going to call in all the reinforcements she has access to and I do mean all the reinforcements she has access to, but that doesn't mean the Sheriff doesn't deserve to know what's going on with his son."

"You guys remember she gets these feelings when someone's about to die, right?" Aiden reminded them pointedly as I wrapped my arm around Lydia's waist in an effort to comfort her because she was practically shaking with anxiety.

"You don't have to call his dad. It's five minutes to the station." Scott said in a solemn tone of voice after a minute of completely tense silence and I felt some of the tension melt form my body as I nodded in agreement with my brother's decision.

"We'll catch up." Lydia declared firmly as she held out her arm to stop me from following the other's towards the bedroom door and I glanced at her with a frown as I quirked an eyebrow in question.

"What? Why?"

"There's something here."

"Yeah. Evidence of total insanity." Isaac murmured to himself as he glanced around the room quickly and I shot him an unamused look as he shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"We can figure out what's wrong with him after we find a way to keep him from freezing to death." Scott interjected sharply in a firm tone as he pursed his lips together and I could see that he was trying to hide how scared he actually was from the others but I could see between the lines.

"Go. We'll be right behind you. I'll watch over Lydia and call the other's while you go to the police station." I told Scott softly as I nodded my towards the open bedroom door and he studied my expression for a second before nodding once as he pulled Isaac out of the room with him. I sighed to myself as I pulled my cell phone out of my purse on the floor and I dialled Derek's phone number as I held the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" Derek's tired voice greeted me through the phone line as I watched Lydia slowly approach the threads and Aiden leaned against the doorframe out of the way because he knew there was nothing he could do to help at the moment. "Sophie? Either something is really wrong or you and Aiden broke up."

"Stiles is missing. Get your lazy ass out of bed and call Scott to ask him where to meet."

"I'm up. Where are you?"

"I'm with Lydia at Stiles' house, trying to find something."

"Lydia can sense something?" he asked in a worried tone as I heard him moving around on the other end of the phone call and I shrugged my shoulders helplessly even though he couldn't see me.

"She heard his voice over the car radio. That's how I knew something was wrong, she rang me. Apparently, Stiles called Scott and told him that he was in an industrial sized basement, that he was freezing and that's leg was bleeding. It's the coldest night of the year, Derek. Scott and Isaac were heading to the police station to tell the Sheriff what's going on."

"I'll find Scott and Isaac. Call if you figure something out." Derek told me gently before hanging up and I immediately started dialling Allison's phone number as I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Hi, you've reached Allison Argent. Please leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Allison's voice chirped happily as the call went through to voicemail and I groaned in the back of my throat as I hung up the phone.

"Damn it, Allie." I whispered to myself as I quickly typed out a text to Scott to let him know that Allison wasn't answering her phone and then slipped it back into my purse.

"I don't know how to do this." Lydia stated in a defeated voice as she shook her head to herself and glanced around at the red threads as though they held the answers to the universe.

"Lydia, hey, look at me." I urged her gently as I walked over to stand in front of her and took her hands in mine as I looked into her green eyes with a serious expression. "You can do this. But you're new, alright? You haven't learned everything yet."

"All I know about banshee is what I've read on the internet! Half of it doesn't even make sense! Am I meant to be screaming? Is that the only way to know the answer?"

"The scream is simply a means to an end, it drowns out all other sounds so that you can focus on the voices only banshee's can hear. It's kind of like being connected to some supernatural network that broadcasts messages. Just concentrate, okay? Take a deep breath and relax." I instructed her softly as I offered her a small smile and she breathed in deeply through her nose as she nodded jerkily in agreement.

"Didn't you draw this?" Aiden asked from the other side of the room as I released Lydia's hand with a smile and we both turned around to see him holding up a framed sketch of the Nemeton Lydia had drawn. "It's yours, right?"

"It's one of them." Lydia admitted almost sheepishly as she walked over to the side of the room so that she could study the photos and I could hear her heartbeat accelerate slightly as she bit her lower lip. "And put that back."

"He likes you a lot, doesn't he?" he asked her teasingly with a smirk on his lips as he held up the picture and I shook my head at him in amusement as I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe he likes the drawing a lot."

"'For Lydia.'" He recited mockingly as he turned the frame around for us to see the card on the back and the strawberry blonde turned to face him with an unamused expression as I snatched the frame out of his hands.

"Okay. I have one of her drawing in my room too. It's a good drawing." I defended my friend as I placed the frame back down on the crowded desk and I froze in my movements when I caught sight of a photograph of Stiles, Scott and me taken at the beginning of sophomore year lying in the middle of the desk. My fingers hovered of the front of the picture as is studied our smiling faces and a faint smile spread across my lips as Stiles' grinning face staring back at me. the sound of my phone beeping with a text message snapped me out of my thoughts as I hurried over to my purse and crouched down as I pulled my phone out quickly in the hope that someone had good news.

"Who is it?"

"'Nothing at hospital. Derek headed to high school. Isaac going to find Allison.' I read out loud with a sigh as I sat down on the floor and I looked up at them both as my face fell slightly. "And Scott's with the Sheriff."

"And we're standing in a bedroom staring at the walls." Aiden said sarcastically as he rolled his chocolate brown eyes and held out his hand to help me up off of the ground as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"It's not exactly the reason I want to spend any length of time staring at bedroom walls."

"God, you're classy." He teased me playfully as he pulled me to my feet in front of him with a smirk and I giggled a little as I nodded my head with a mock serious expression. He leaned down to kiss my lips gently as he moved a strand of hair off of my forehead and I smiled against his lips as he pulled away from me with a smirk. I pushed his muscular stomach with a pout as he laughed at me silently and walked over to the side of the room as I strolled over to where Lydia was studying the different pictures on the wall. Aiden idly plucked at one of the red strings connected to the wall with a bored expression and the string twanged with tension as I turned to give him a disapproving look.

"What did you just do? Did you touch one of the strings?" Lydia asked him firmly as she looked over at him with wide green eyes and I frowned in confusion as I raised an eyebrow at the urgency in her voice.

"Maybe." He admitted guiltily as he slowly backed away from the string with his hand outstretch in front of him and I tilted my head to the side with a small doubtful smile as I placed my hands on my hips. He shrugged innocently as he placed his hands in his pockets with a smirk and I rolled my eyes at him with a smile as I watched Lydia slowly approach the strings. She cautiously plucked one of the strings with a shaky hand as I crossed my arms over my chest and it twanged with tension as she frowned thoughtfully

"What did that sound like to you?"

"Like a string being pulled." Aiden told her bluntly as he frowned at her in confusion and I offered him a tight, sarcastic smile as Lydia stared blankly at the red string in front of her.

"You didn't hear people whispering?"

"I definitely did not hear people whispering." I answered her softly with a slight scoff in my tone as Aiden wrapped his arm around my waist from behind and I leaned back into his chest as I covered his hands with mine. Lydia glanced at me with wide green eyes as she licked her lips nervously and I gave her a reassuring smile as she leaned her ear closer to the string before plucking it with her fingers.

"You didn't hear that?" she asked us in a small voice with fear in her eyes as she looked over at me for an answer and I gave her a sympathetic smile as I shook my head sadly.

"Lydia, I'm not sure anyone hears what you hear. It's a part of being a banshee. You're connected to a different frequency that we can't hear."

"They're whispering. Something about a house."

"What house?" Aiden asked her calmly as he let go of my waist and we watched as Lydia plucked the same string with a determined expression on her face. she closed her eyes in concentration for a second before turned her head to the side towards the wall and she stood up straight as she walked in a trancelike state towards the wall.

"That one." She stated firmly under her breath as she stared a photograph of an old mansion and I followed her over to the side of the room with Aiden as he frowned at the photo in confusion.

"What's Eichen House?"

"A mental health centre. It's where William Barrow, the shrapnel bomber, was committed." I explained calmly with a frown on my lips as I stared at the photo and I turned my head to look at my strawberry blonde friend with a hopeful expression. "Is that it?"

"That's where he is. That's where Stiles is." Lydia declared firmly in a clear voice as she turned to look at me with a determined glint in her green eyes and I nodded at her in understanding as I squeezed her hand gently with a small smile.

It only took fifteen minutes for it all to happen after I made the call to sheriff Stilinski and now Aiden, Lydia, Scott, John, a few deputies and I were standing at the front gate of Eichen house.

"Lydia, I don't want to say 'Are you sure about this' but…" The Sheriff trailed off unsurely as he glanced at the strawberry blonde next to him with undeniable hope in his eyes and I squeezed her hand gentle as she pursed her lips into a firm line.

"No, he's here. I swear to God he's here." Lydia said vehemently as she looked up at him with wide green eyes and he sighed heavily as he turned to face the mental health centre with a wary frown. With one nod from the sheriff, deputy pushed open the heavy metal gate and we all rushed inside to the reception area of the clinic.

"I need access to all basement rooms in this facility." John demanded sternly to the reception nurse as he slammed his hands down on the counter and she jumped slightly as she looked up with wide startled eyes before nodding hastily at the sight of his badge.

"He has to be here." I heard Lydia mutter under her breath to herself as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and I soothed her hair down gently as she sent me a small grateful smile.

"Girls, come on!"

"Let's go, hon." I urged the strawberry blonde as she quickly started practically running towards the door to the basement and I chased after her as she lead the way down the stairs determinedly.

"It's here. It's right here!" Lydia declared firmly as she hurried down a dimly lit corridor on the basement level of Eichen House and we all followed her towards the heavy closed door at the end of the hallway. The sheriff pulled out his gun silently as he opened the door and we all trailed in after him as we frantically looked around for any sign of Stiles.

"Stiles?" I called out loudly in a desperate voice as everybody spread out to all corners of the dark basement and Aiden grabbed my hand tightly in silent reassurance as we discreetly used our werewolf vision to check for any other body heat signals. I sighed in defeat when I couldn't see anything in the damp basement and everyone else muttered that they hadn't been able to find him either as we huddled together near the door.

"Lydia?" Scott asked the banshee almost pleadingly as he glanced her with wide dark brown eyes and she blinked once owlishly as she shook her head frantically in denial.

"I don't get it. This has to be it." Lydia replied uneasily in a small voice as she looked around the room as though someone was playing a horrible joke on her.

"Then where is he, huh? Where is he? Where is he?" The Sheriff asked her angrily as he stepped towards her slightly with a slightly dazed expression and I immediately wrapped my arm around her thin waist as she stared at him with green eyes filled with unshed tears. "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand." she whimpered with her lower lip trembling slightly as she nodded to herself in acceptance that it was her fault and I squeezed her hip gently as she looked over at me apologetically but I just offered her a small smile that didn't reach my eyes. the sound of the Sheriff's cell phone ringing throughout the cavernous basement interrupted the tense silence that had filled the room and John sighed heavily as he slipped it out of his pocket before walking a few steps away from us all.

"Lydia, this isn't your fault." I told her soothingly as I grasped one of her hands in mine and looked earnestly into her green eyes.

"I'm the one who lead you here. I gave Stiles' dad hope that he was here and he wasn't. it's my fault, Sophie. It's my fault."

"No. I believe that there's something here, okay? It may not have anything to do with Stiles but your powers aren't controllable, Lydia. This isn't your fault!"

"They found him!" John shouted loudly in a teary voice as he walked over to us with a massive smile and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief as we headed for the stairs in a rush to see our friend.

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