𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑━︎━︎I. Lahey ✓︎

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE:
COULD HAVE KILLED HIM

WHEN ALLISON HAD SHOWN HER the weird messages she'd received on her phone, Gwen couldn't help but wonder where they'd come from. Which was why the next day Allison, Gwen, and Isaac went to Mr. Yukimura, played the message for him and asked him to translate it.

     "You're right. It's Japanese." He nodded. "Who left this on your phone?"

     "I don't know." Allison answered. "All of the messages are the same and they all say Blocked ID."

     "Can you translate is?" Isaac asked.

     "Mostly." Mr. Yukimura nodded. "The man speaking is giving instructions actually. The first line is, 'All evacuees are required to stay at least ten feet back from outside fences.'"

     Gwen frowned, glancing at the other two before looking back towards her teacher. "What does that mean? What fences?"

     "The fences surrounding a Japanese internment camp during World War II. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were rounded up and put in camps. This man is reading instructions to prisoners upon their arrival." He stopped the recording before handing Allison her phone back.

     Allison accepted it. "Well, where does something like this come from?"

     He shook his head. "I have no idea. Because it's fake." They all looked at him with confusion. "It mentions the name of the internment camp as 'Oak Creek'. There was no internment camp named Oak Creek in California."

When 6:00 hit, Gwen had been quick to meet Scott at the hospital. Stiles was getting tests done all day and the duo wanted to be there for him. Meeting Scott at the entrance, he offered her a small smile before she reached for his hand as they made their way towards Stiles' location. When they found him, they were quick to enter, standing by him as the doctor talked with Noah and Melissa.

     The doctor turned towards them. "Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through the metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."

     Stiles shook his head. "Oh, no, no, I don't need anything."

     Noah looked at his son. "Hey, we're just on the other side of that window. Okay?"

     "Okay," Stiles whispered, patting his father's shoulder before Noah, Melissa and the doctor all walked out. "You know what they're looking for right?" Tears immediately sprang to Gwen's eyes. She hated seeing him like this. "It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure."

     Scott wiped away the tear that had escaped his eye. "Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something." He paused and looked at Stiles. "I'll do something." Stiles looked at him for a moment before nodding his head. The two exchanged hugs before Scott walked out and Gwen looked at Stiles.