hold me closer

51

"Stiles, don't stop. I can see you," Lydia called out. "Don't stop! Keep going. I can see you, Stiles."

Then, the light faded away.

"Lydia... " I trailed off, unsure how to handle the situation.

"Where is he?" She turned to us. "It was working. You saw him, right?" Lydia asked.

"We didn't see anyone," Malia told her sadly.

"No," she said. "He was here. I know it. Stiles was here."

"I don't understand," Scott said as we talked alone. "It should have worked. We all remember. Why couldn't we see him?"

"Depends on the connection maybe?" I suggested, looking at Lydia. "He has had a crush on her for years, right? And she's realizing her feelings now."

There were heavy footsteps. I grabbed my dagger, then threw it as I saw their head. He dodged it, then came inside.

I let out a breath of relief seeing blonde hair. "Liam."

"There's something you need to see," he told Scott.

"You're still here," he stated.

"But everyone else is gone. All of them - they're all gone," he said. "Look, you have to come with me."

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can't explain it. I have to show you," he said.

"Uh... All right," he said, a bit hesitant to follow. "You guys stay here. Just in case."

"In case Stiles comes back?" Malia questioned.

"If there's any hope, you need to keep trying."

:::

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked as Malia walked towards the front door.

"We're gonna go find Stiles," she said.

"Scott told us to stay in case he shows up here," I said.

"Stiles isn't coming here," Malia reasoned. "If he was, he would've, and he hasn't, so he's not. You still think it worked, right?"

"I know I saw him," Lydia said.

"And you're never wrong about these things," Malia added.

"I wouldn't say never," Lydia commented.

"But right now?" I asked.

"Right now, I'm not wrong," she said. "Stiles is out there. I can feel it."

"Then what are we doing standing here?" she said, then we followed her.

Malia followed a scent. We landed right back at the school. There was no jeep in the parking lot. It was there a couple of hours ago though. Malia bent down, looking at the tire tracks. I looked towards the school, furrowing my eyebrows when I saw something strange.

"This looks fresh," said Malia after analyzing the tracks. "It's from Stiles's jeep. It must have just left."

"Without his keys?" Lydia doubted.

"Well, half the time, he got it started with a screwdriver," Malia told her.

"Then he's here," she said. "We have to tell Scott."

"Then we should probably tell Scott about that, too," I said, pointing out what I saw.

We walked past the sign, nearing the train tracks on the ground. We glanced at each other and followed the tracks around the school and into the library. Inside were benches with many people sitting down.