𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 | 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 [1]

finally over

—

Ryder watched her younger self dig through her jacket pocket until a small box made contact with her hand. She hummed in satisfaction as she pulled out her carton of cigarettes, soon following up with a groan of annoyance as she came to realize that she had few left.

She let the stick hang on her pink lips as she pulled out a black lighter, flicking at the wheel until a spark was heard and a small flame erupted.

The girl blew the smoke from her mouth as she walked absentmindedly through the woods. Blonde Ryder vividly remembered how her mind was focused on how her first day of school would go tomorrow. Obviously, she would need to deal with Lydia Martin and her clique, but that was a normal thing.

Ryder stumbled over her footsteps, nearly falling face first if it wasn't for the feeling of someone holding her up.

Looking down, her eyes grew wide at the sight of a rather large tree stump sitting in the middle of the woods.

•••

Austin's knee bounced frantically as he stared at Ryder's unconscious body. He picked at the skin that surround his nails, or what was left of his nails, Isaac was convinced he bit them all off.

The Lahey was nearly as nervous as Austin was, having just watched someone he considered a sister and his new found crush go under for nearly sixteen hours.

Ramona and Josie hadn't said a word.

Lydia did what she could to keep everyone calm and at peace, but her words of 'encouragement' only angered Josie the more she listened to the strawberry blonde talk. Ramona, on the other hand, was only silent because she spent the entire sixteen hours listening to see when her daughters heartbeat would pick up again.

Any conversation that was happening around her fell dead to her ears as the sound of gasping and choked out coughs filled the air.

"I saw it. I know where it is." Scott said as soon as he jumped up.

"We passed it. There's-- There's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big." Stiles rambled.

Austin ignored their words, running over to help Ryder out the tub. The water that soaked her got all over his shirt as he tugged her against him, but he could care less. His main focus was making sure she was out.

Josie passed him a towel, the couple thanked her, Ryder shivering as Austin rubbed his hands on her arms.

"It was the night we were looking for the body."