Six: Trapped, Part Two

It had all happened so fast. One minute she was in the hallway staring at something that looked all too real for her comfort level, the next minute she was just trying to catch her breath sitting on the classroom floor.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Lydia practically screamed at Stiles and Scott, annoyance laced in her words.

"Shhhhh! Lydia, just shhhh!" Stiles said putting his hands up signaling her to stop.

"Don't you 'shhhh' me, Stilinski." She protested, Stiles quickly ran over and placed a hand over her mouth, hoping that would at least quiet her down. She became even more annoyed with the situation. All you could hear was her mumbling coming from under Stiles' hand.

"Listen if you just promise to be keep your voice down I'll let go, but only if you promise to be quiet. Do you promise?" He asked not suddenly becoming all too aware he was touching Lydia. She nodded her head slowly.

"What the hell is going on here?" She asked in her best whisper-yell voice as he uncovered his hand from her mouth. The three looked at each other, unsure of what to say or even if they did, how to say it. "Spit it out. Please just tell me." She whispered in frustration, eyes beginning to fill with the slightest bit of salty tears. She intended on fake crying if she needed to, but she really had no intention of real tears, like these, coming about. But she let it work to her advantage.

"It's called a Kanima, and it's extremely dangerous." Stiles spilled out without any thought really. Seeing the fear in her face and the tears in her eyes essentially forced him to tell her. She looked up at him from her seat on the ground, in disbelief that he had actually told her something and it sounded like he had plenty more to say.

"What is a…kanima? Wait…no. Is that part of the weird archaic Latin you made me translate?" She said looking towards Allison. She nodded as Lydia tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"And well, the thing is…its Jackson." Stiles breathed out with haste. Lydia grimaced but other than that was fairly unaffected by it, still probably trying to comprehend what she had just heard previously. The three explained the kanima and the werewolf-ness in Beacon Hills as quickly as they could in seven and a half minutes, before a large bang came from outside of the door. Lydia hustled off of the floor and positioned herself close to Stiles. For some reason he made her feel safe and protected. She really liked it, she denied it on many occasions, but right now she didn't care. There was no reason to put up her walls, and maybe this was the time to explore and act on those feelings. But she didn't have time to analyze the situation really because the next thing she knew she was following Scott and Allison out of a side classroom door, Stiles following closely behind.

They ran into the nearest door that they could break into, which just so happened to be the library where a previous Kanima attack had taken place. The girls ran to the middle of the room while Scott and Stiles barricaded the entrance. Scott ran over to a shelf of books, when footsteps could be heard outside of the door. He began throwing all of the books off and motioned for the group to come towards him.

"Where is your car at?" Scott asked in desperation.

"In the front parking lot."

"Damn it!" Scott hissed in frustration realizing they were in the library, a location completely opposite from the front entrance. "Alright come-on, we need to get out of this room, he has us trapped." Scott said, scaling the now empty bookshelf, he had no idea what had set off Jackson this time, but he wasn't sticking around to find out how the plan would play out.

"What?! By hiding in the ceiling? You're crazy." Lydia said, not quite yet getting a grasp on what all of the new information she had learned meant.

"I'm sorry Lydia but we have to do this and at least now you understand why." Scott explained, Lydia huffed and tears began to fall in anxiousness and the seriousness of the situation that was currently unfolding.

"Seriously Lydia, we'll be fine. His plans might be questionable, but he's saved me from peril plenty of times." Stiles joked hoping to lighten the mood as best as possible. Lydia began to quiver as Scott lifted a ceiling tile, realizing she would, in fact, have to crawl in a ceiling. Without realizing it, she gravitated towards Stiles.

"I don't think I can do this." She whispered, just loud enough for Stiles to hear, her voice cracked in terror.

"You can, one hundred percent, I promise you." He hoped he sounded convincing enough. "Here you go next, get it over with." He motioned as Scott lifted Allison up, and then held his hand out for Lydia. She took a deep breath and made her way up the shelving unit. "I'll make sure you don't fall." Stiles stated, right behind her, meaning every part of it. Physically now, and metaphorically in general as well. Stiles was the last to go, and they placed the tile back just as the library doors were penetrated. They all stifled a deep breath, staring at each other in the dark. Lydia, still terrified, grabbed Stiles hand for comfort. She couldn't even help it, it was like instinct. Something she knew she should listen to, she even scooted closer to him and lay her head in his shoulder. Luckily no one could see his cheesy smile of satisfaction.

The four stayed in the cold ceiling for a good twenty minutes before the noises died down. They were able to get down and escape the building, running to their cars. Without even realizing it, Scott had gotten into Allison's car out of habit. Lydia however went into Stiles' car intentionally. After that night she had seen him differently, she realized how much she needed him. He was always there for her, comforting her, making her feel safe. Her embarrassing crush grew into something more that night. From then on it was always them together. Drives to the movies, video game teams at Scott's house, cheering for him at lacrosse games, hikes with Allison and the two of them several steps behind giggling flirtatiously. It became the most normal and adorable thing either of them had ever experienced, all thanks to being trapped by a supernatural creature in Beacon Hills High.