little mccall || stiles stilinski

With You I Fall Down

"What's going on?" I pick up my laptop and go into the hall so I can hear her. I look at the blurry screen. The background looks familiar. Is that a classroom? What is she doing at the school?

"Bella, I know this is a bad time," She says urgently.

Yeah, it's not ideal, but I'm through not listening to her. Tessa is my best friend. She should always come first.

"It's fine," I assure her "And I'm so sorry for not believing you earlier."

"As long as you're okay, we're good." She smiles, a genuine and nearly nurturing smile. "But I think I need to tell you everything. Now. Things are getting too dangerous."

"More than normal?" I cringe.

"Yes."

"Okay, tell me," I take a deep breath "I'm ready."

"The past few weeks I've been watching Scott and his friends. Quietly, and from a distance. That led me to people like the Hale's, Scott's boss, and Miss Morell." She explains.

"Bella, I've seen things I never thought I'd see," She starts "Heard things that I didn't understand, but when I threw away my preconceived notions of how the world works, it couldn't have been more clear."

I almost get it. I almost see where she's coming from. There were lots of instances where I brushed things to the side because they didn't make sense, but if I wasn't so stubborn maybe I would know what's going on. But it's too late for that.

"What are you saying?" I ask, eager for her to get the point.

"I'm saying that Scott—" Tessa starts to explain, but she's suddenly cut off. At first I'm confused as to why she stops taking, or why her eyes suddenly go out of focus, because I'm doing what I always do, what Tessa warned me against. I'm only seeing part of the picture. I'm only paying attention to what I find comfortable. But I need to know what's right in front of me.

I take a deep breath, and let go. I close my eyes in preparation for what I might see, what might be happening. I open my eyes again and see.

My stomach drops. My heart shatters. My life implodes. All of the expressions in the world couldn't come close to describing the gut wrenching feeling this image produced. There is no way this can be happening. I can't wrap my mind around it. It's only been a few seconds since she tried telling me about Scott's secret. If I try hard enough, I can go back. Rewrite the narrative. Only a few seconds.

But I can't deny what's right in front of me. No longer am I able to ignorantly float through life in my soft and warm bubble, because the most important part of that bubble has popped. Now, I'm thrusted into reality, staring at an image so jarring I can't even begin to describe it. There's a dark, crimson liquid trailing a blade that's being dragged across my best friend's neck. She doesn't cry out it pain, but I do.

I try to scream for help. I try to do something, anything, but all that comes out is a scratchy, elongated breath. My throat is closing up, preventing me from doing anything to help.

This can't be happening. I must be seeing things wrong, but when I look back at the screen, the damage is done and I break down.

I can't—

The screen suddenly starts to move and I start to breath again. Maybe this was some sick prank, or maybe the cut wasn't as deep as it looks. The screen focuses on a face that isn't Tessa's. It's Ms. Blake. Tessa was right. I didn't listen. I should have listened. Maybe if I had put my fucking pride aside— But it wasn't pride. It was fear. That's what's been controlling the story all along. That's what ended her's.