A/N:
I know I'd originally decided that this series will only be a trilogy but I decided I really wanted to write the season 5 plot, but we'll see how it all goes and how inspired I am and all that. I'm still writing season 4 and honestly, I'm having some trouble. Anyhow, Hi! I'm still alive, obviously. Time flew so fast I hardly noticed it'd been almost 20 days since I posted but here I am, and here's a new chapter! Enjoy!
The cold woke Eva up.
Eva felt the shivers shake her back to consciousness – it was almost too hard to open her eyes in this low temperature. Eva could no longer feel the night air or its light breeze brushing against her skin every now and then, and she knew that she wasn't in the reserve anymore.
Eva could barely recall what happened before she found herself catapulted into darkness. It was almost as if she was prying the memories from the deepest pits of her mind – she could see them, flashes and pieces, but it wasn't all very clear. Eva ventured to open her eyes slowly, deciding that where ever she was at the moment could possibly help her remember what happened.
But when Eva opened her eyes, all she could see was a dull, almost rusty metal wall. She breathed out slowly, watching her breath rise above her head in the darkness, or at least its silhouette. Eva could barely see anything but the silhouette of her hand moving slowly to trace along the metal wall. Her other hand moved, her arm barely stretched to its full length before Eva felt another wall much like the one by her other side. Eva gulped and closed her eyes – she was inside something. A box?
Just the thought made Eva's heart begin to beat faster, her chest tightening and her throat close up. She hated closed off spaces, she despised them. And it wasn't even because of being locked inside something when she was kid, no. It was right after her aunt had died, and sitting inside four walls was too hard for her to handle. Now it was just worse, with no light to show her exactly where she was or what she was in.
Eva closed her eyes and tried to hum, the lullaby leaving her lips in shaking notes as she curled her hands into fists. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Stiles, telling him to distract himself while he was inside the machine. But that was to help him ignore the noise and the feeling. There was no noise where Eva was. Not even a sound.
Eva let out a soft whimper as her hands moved down to her pockets, in hope that maybe she still had her phone on her. When Eva felt the bulge of her iphone inside her jeans she quickly pulled it out, her eyes drifting down to the screen before she felt her heart sink when she saw the no signal blinking where the network strength should have been displayed. She swallowed down thickly – if she wasn't going to be able to call someone and ask them for help then she was going to help herself.
Eva turned on the flashlight to illuminate the space she was in, and a scream got caught in her throat when she saw someone propelled on the wall just opposite from hers. It took Eva a minute to realize that it was a body…because she was staring at the still form of a man, his entire upper body wrapped in bandages, and clad only in pants. Eva tried to regulate her breathing as she stared at it, pressing herself back into the metal wall behind her as her lower lip trembled with fear and cold as well.
She shifted, trying to curl up away from the body, huddle into the wall, when she felt her foot move something. She frowned and reached forward, struggling until she got onto her knees, and she reached out to feel whatever she'd accidentally kicked. She shut her eyes tightly when all she could see was the body propelled in front of her until her hand curled around something, and she quickly pushed herself back into the wall again. She stared down at what she was holding – a sword's sheath, with the sword still in it. Eva frowned as she grabbed the hilt and pulled it out, expecting a long sword, a katana to reveal itself, but only saw a small part of it. Eva tilted the sword's sheath with shaking hands towards the ground, and watched the pieces of the katana trickle to the ground.
A shattered katana.
Eva's lips fell slack as she realized whose body that was. She couldn't dare to look up, not because she knew, because out of the corner of her eyes she saw its legs move. "You know who I am…" The voice echoed in the small space, and it sounded almost like death. So gruff and low that Eva flinched and pressed herself back against the wall.
Eva's lips trembled as she stared down at the pieces of the katana, her eyes wide and filled with tears. She didn't move or shake her head; a dead body just moved and talked to her.
"Let me help you," He whispered again, "What gets bigger the more you take away from it?"
Eva blinked slowly, letting the tears roll down her face as she pulled her brows into a frown, "How is that-"
"Play along, Eva." The voice taunted, dropping to menacing tone, lower than the one it was already at that caused Eva to shut her eyes tightly. She almost let out a small whimper when she felt the rough bandage cross against her jawline, "It's cold, Eva. You know it's too cold. You stopped shivering. You know that's a bad sign."
Eva opened her eyes slowly, her gaze drifting to her hands still clutching the sword's sheath and hilt. But they weren't shaking anymore. Eva recalled clearly going through Stiles' old school report's, the one he'd made in fifth grade being the one that caught her attention: Hypothermia. She'd read it thoroughly, occasionally calling him a little geek since day one, and they ended up making out.
The memory seemed so far out of reach when it dawned upon her. "Body's conserving energy." She whispered, her eyes still shut tightly, "Good girl. Now. What gets bigger the more you take away from it?"
Eva shut her eyes tightly as she shook her head, "I don't know…I don't know any riddles.." Eva breathed out through her teeth, trying to get a grip of herself as she slowly opened her eyes. Her phone was propped somewhere, illuminating just enough to see him crouching in front of her, one arm resting over his knee as his other hand traced over her jawline lightly, "Are you the infamous nogitsune?" She asked, finding no eyes to stare into, she stared at the bloodied cut into his bandaged head where his mouth should be.
"Now you're just not playing fair." He complained as he tilted his head, and Eva pulled her brows together into a frown, sniffling every now and then. She felt her mind begin to fog up, her thoughts melting away with the lack of clarity.
"What gets bigger the more you take away from it?" He asked again and Eva shut her eyes tightly, "I don't…" She whispered as she shook her head furiously, "I don't know, I don't know!" She screamed.
"Work that little head of yours, Eva, before the deep confusion makes you lose yourself." He pressed as he brushed her hair behind her ear, "I'm trying to help you, trust me."
Eva grit her teeth as she opened her eyes again, peering through her lashed at his bandaged face before she chanted the riddle over and over, "..A..a..hole. A hole gets bigger the more you take away from it." Eva whispered, and could feel the flicker of hope inside her chest when her heart skipped a beat as he nodded, "What gets wetter the more it dries?"
"A to-towel." Eva answered almost immediately, having read that on the back of a cereal box.
"When is a door not a door?" Eva frowned as she tilted her head upwards, surprised at the riddle and overwhelmed by the memories it brought back, "Why are you asking that?" She whispered, shaking her head slowly.
"Because it's an answer to one of your many questions, Eva. I'm trying to help you." He insisted, the back of his hand moving over her cheek. Eva resisted the urge to move away from him, her eyes moving to the darkness above her, the ceiling being too far to be seen. "When is a door not a door?"
"When..it's..ajar." Eva whispered, feeling her lips begin to lose sensation.
"I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky," He went on, but Eva didn't pay attention. She heard something, someone, talking through the wall she was pressed against. Eva slowly shifted away from him, from Rhys, or at least Rhys's body and pressed her ear against the wall.
"I don't get it…she's supposed to be here"
"Lydia…" Eva whispered as she tried to bring her body to move, ignoring Rhys who kept chanting on and on the riddles that haunted Eva for the past few days. "Shut up, shut up, shut up…" Eva whispered as she shut her eyes tightly.
"Where is she, Lydia?! Where the hell is she?!" Stiles exclaimed.
"I'm here…" Eva whispered as she lifted her hand to attempt to slam it against the wall, "I'm here…"
"Everyone has it but no one can lose it Eva, what is it?" Rhys whispered and Eva shook her head, "I don't know!" Eva's voice began getting louder as she felt herself regain more strength and more clarity.
"I'm sorry…I really thought she was here…"
"Let's go look somewhere else. She has to be somewhere."
"No, no, no…" Eva muttered as she sat up on her knees, feeling them scrap against the rough ground as she tried to scream, "I'm here! I'm here! Don't go!" Eva cried, her voice beginning to shake as the sobs thickened it, "Everyone has it but no one can lose it, what is it?!" Rhys was yelling behind her now, and Eva pressed her forehead against the metal, "I don't know, I don't know!" She screamed over and over again, "I don't kno-"
That's when the words got caught in her throat when it hit her. Eva blinked away her tears slowly as she turned back to Rhys, their faces barely inches away from each other as she breathed out, "A shadow."
Eva gasped as her eyes snapped wide open, momentarily blinded by the light above her head. Her eyes frantically moved across the room as her chest rose and fell quickly. She felt chained – she tried to move her arms but it was like someone had glued her arms to her side. Eva let out a wail for help as she wriggled, trying to free herself as her eyes adjusted to light above her.
"Eva…Eva—it's okay! Calm down, it's okay!"
Eva felt hands moved to her shoulders to hold her down, and she had to force herself to swallow down her panic as her eyes finally focused, and she saw Stiles hovering above her, a concerned expression on his face. Eva looked down at herself, her eyes registering the blankets she was wrapped up in. "Get me out of those…" She whispered and Stiles nodded hurriedly as he started to untangle and unwrap the blankets from around her. Eva pushed herself up and looked down at the IV in her arm, her eyes tracing the tube to the solution hanging above her head. It took her a long minute to realize that she was in the hospital. "What am I doing here?" She whispered as she looked up at Stiles who curled up the blankets and tossed them away on the seat behind him. He stepped closer to sit at the edge of the bed she was sitting on, "You don't remember?" He asked, frowning, and Eva shook her head.
Stiles heaved a sigh and glanced back when he saw the door swing open to see Scott's mom peering through before she sighed, relieved, "Thank God you're awake." She whispered as she glanced back, "I forced your father to go get something to eat just a few minutes ago. Do you want me to call him?"
"No," Eva shook her head slowly as she turned to Stiles, "I want to know what happened."
"You don't remember?" Melissa whispered as she frowned, and Eva let out a small sigh as she shook her head. "After you guys found Malia, you wandered into the woods. Then Scott heard you scream and when they found you, you were passed out on the floor, colder than ice." Stiles explained quietly, and Eva blinked slowly as her eyes drifted to the ground. "How long was I out?" Eva asked quietly.
"A day." Melissa answered, "It took us almost four hours to get your body temperature back to normal." Melissa stepped towards the bed, "Sweetie, are you sure you don't remember what happened?" Melissa asked, and Eva looked up at her before she turned her gaze to hold Stiles'.
"You remember." Stiles whispered as he narrowed his eyes and pulled his brows into a frown. "Eva, what happened?"
"Give me your phone." Eva whispered as she held her hand out to Stiles, who shook his head in confusion. "Just give it to me."
Stiles handed the phone to Eva quietly and Eva immediately dialed Kira's number, pressing the phone to her ear as she waited for her friend to pick up. "Stiles? Is Eva awake?" Kira immediately answered, "Kira, it's Eva, I'm fine, but I need to talk to your mother."
"What?" Kira asked, and Eva could almost see the confusion on her face just like the one she saw on Stiles, "Kira, please." Eva pleaded, and she heard shifting on the other end before Noshiko took the phone, "Eva?"
"Mrs. Yukimura, what did you do with Rhys's body?" Eva asked hurriedly.
"I…I put it inside the basement air vent in Eichen House, along with the shattered Katana." The woman answered and Eva could hear the confusion in her voice, "Why do you-"
"Just…Tell Kira to get here as fast as possibly could?" Eva whispered before she sighed once, "Thank you." And she hung up, before she turned to Stiles. "There's something I need to tell you. All of you."
Scott, Stiles, and Kira were the last to leave Eva's room – all that she has said making their minds spin. Of course, they had to catch Stiles up on all they had found out, and hear him rant about not letting him help and about leaving Eva to go into the morgue alone then into the woods alone, twice. The three teenagers remained silent, Stiles watching as Morrell talked to Eva's doctor.
That's when they heard Eva scream, and Stiles' eyes widened as he rushed back into her room, his eyes falling on her curled up form at the corner of the room as she cried and shielded her face. Stiles almost stepped forward but Morrell put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head as she hurried past him to crouch beside Eva, "Eva, what's wrong? Look at me, Eva. Do you know who I am?"
"He's there, he's right there…" Eva sobbed as she flinched away from Morrell's outstretched hand. The nurses hovered beside her, before one of them knelt down in attempt to pick Eva up, but she lashed out – flailing her arms into the air frantically, accidentally backhanding the nurse. The other one move quickly to grab her arms while the other recovered and moved around to grab her feet, and they picked her up. Eva's body twisted and thrashed in the air as they set her down on the bed, and Morrell moved towards her, "Eva, look at me." Morrell demanded, "Eva, if you don't look at me, they're going to have to drug you up."
Stiles watched Eva struggle against the nurses, screaming that someone was in the room, someone they couldn't see. He felt his heart ache as he fought every urge to push away the nurses holding her down and take her into his arms. Stiles had been through all of this before with his mother – he'd seen nurses hold her down. He'd seen thrash and scream just like Eva was doing right now. It was all too painful for him, so he turned away and stepped out of the room, pressing his palms against his eyes as if that would force the tears back into their ducts. But it didn't.
Eventually, Eva's screams had ceased – Stiles was the only one lingering outside Eva's room now, Scott and Kira had both disappeared. He waited until Morrell got out to go talk to her father, who too had lingered in the distance like Stiles and held his breath in concern for his daughter. Stiles followed her, keeping a few steps between them, not wanting it to seem like he was eavesdropping before he was.
Morrell stood in front of Eva's doctor and her dad, "She just had an episode that was a result of what I would diagnose as psychosis. Like I said, her body might have gone into shock earlier because she thought she saw something, which is what caused her to fall into that coma like state, the drop of temperature included. All those symptoms amount to a lot of schizo disorders, and reality distortions."
"What are we going to do?" Her father asked, his voice shaking. Eva's doctor turned to him and started, "Dr. Morrell here is a certified psychiatrist and therapist and her suggestion, one that I think would be in Eva's advantage and for her own good, that Eva be admitted involuntarily into a mental facility for evaluation before we proceed into a plan of action."
Her father's face lost color and he looked down, swallowing thickly. "Are there…any places that would be good for her…?" He asked hesitantly, and Morrell immediately answered, "Eichen House is the safest facility close to town. I work there as well. I can have her moved into the facility tonight."
The man looked up at Morrell before he flickered his gaze between her and the doctor, and eventually, he heaved out a sigh of defeat. That was all Stiles needed, and he immediately took off.
He roamed the hallways until he found the room, and he quickly walked in.
"So?" Scott started as he looked up at him, "Did it work?" He asked, and Kira stepped towards Stiles as well, a frown etched on her face.
"It worked." Stiles whispered, "She's being moved to Eichen House tonight.