Monstrous ➳ Dunbar

[ in which we reach the end ]

The van bounced as Braeden pulled onto the dirt road leading down to the abandoned church, causing Sydney to go flying into Liam. The prison van pulled to a stop in front of the dark and eerie building, dust flying in clouds around the vehicle. Beside her, Liam let out a relieved sigh, his head leaning against the wall behind him.
"I can't believe I did it," he said and scoffed lightly. "For a minute there, I thought I was gonna tear the three of you apart."
"That would have made for an awkward ride home." Stiles reached over and rested his hand on the younger boy's shoulder, squeezing it gently with a sympathetic look on his face. "So, thanks."
"All right," Derek pursed his lips and gestured towards the closed doors that shielded the four of them from the outside. "Do you think you can bring the same level of control and strength inside La Iglesia?"
A smirk playing at the corners of his lips, Liam flicked his wrist in a single swift motion, his claws protruding out of his fingers tips as he glanced at the girl beside him.
Stiles' eyes widened, clearly impressed, and nodded slowly. "We might actually be able to do this."
Despite the serious and dangerous situation they were currently in, Sydney found herself laughing lightly. "Of course we can," she agreed with a small smile towards her brother.
Derek's gaze hardened, his light eyes flickering between the three teenagers around him. "Enough talking. Let's go save Scott and Kira."
Almost naturally, Sydney's hand found its way to Liam's, entwining their fingers as Derek moved to open the back doors. The metal doors swung open, only to reveal the large, bony body of a Berserker. The monster grabbed onto Derek, ripping him away from the safety of the van and throwing him against a pile of old ruins.
"Derek!" The name fell from her lips as a scream, moving to run after Derek, though Liam and Stiles held her back. The Berserker approached Derek with a growl, stabbing and slashing at his chest several times until Braeden began firing at it. The sound of gunshots made Sydney's ears ring from where she was huddled into Liam's chest, her body convulsing and her breathing ragged.

The gunshots suddenly stopped, and Sydney opened her eyes just in time to see the Berserker fleeing into the darkness of the church. Ripping herself away from Liam's strong hold, she jumped from the back of the van and ran to Derek's side.
"Derek, no," she whispered as she examined the deep gash in the man's chest. Scarlet blood was seeping from the wound, staining his shirt dark red. Sydney placed her hands over the wound, expecting to feel the energy trickling out of her as it healed, though she felt nothing.
Derek placed his hand over hers, slowly tearing it away from his body. "It won't work, Sydney," he said softly, his words laced with evident pain. "You won't be able to heal me."
"Why?" Sydney sobbed, unable to hold back the tears that streamed down her face. Derek was like a brother to her, and now he was dying.
"Something's happening to you," he told her slowly, his eyes beginning to droop shut. "I don't know what, but it's affecting your powers."
"Derek, don't die on me," Braeden cried as she leaned beside the younger girl, the shotgun still in her hands.
"Go find Scott and Kira," Derek demanded, his gaze glued onto Stiles and Sydney. She shook her head stubbornly, her hands still pressed against the bloody wound in his chest. "Go."
She felt strong arms wrap around her small frame, pulling her to her feet. She let herself melt into Liam's arm, sobs shaking her shoulders as she buried her face into his chest. No matter how much she wanted to stay behind with Derek, she allowed Liam to pull her into the darkness of the abandoned temple. Sniffling, she pulled away from him, wiping a tear from her cheek and grabbing his hand in hers. The group walked through the shadows in an unnerving silence, Peter leading the way through the hallways littered with fallen rocks.
An all-too familiar, low growl met Sydney's ears as they entered yet another small room. Her eyebrows furrowed, she moved to turn her head, though she didn't get a chance to, as Malia wrapped her arms around her and Liam and forced them to the ground.
"Duck!" The werecoyote's voice echoed through the dark room as a bony fist met with the wall in which their heads had been only moments before. A Berserker stood behind them, its dark and haunting eyes staring around the ground as if it were choosing who to attack first.
"Get back! Run!" A rough hand grabbed onto Sydney's shirt, pulling her to her feet once more. Peter began tugging her and Malia down the dark tunnel, leading them away from the Berserker and its homicidal tendencies. "Go!"
The group was pushed into a large, moonlit room, the Berserker following them with grunts and growls falling from its invisible mouth. Liam immediately stepped in front of Sydney, pushing her backwards into the wall and growling towards the bony monster that approached them.
Malia, with Kira's katana in her hand, turned to Stiles. "Go find Scott and Kira!" she ordered, throwing the sword towards the boy. Stiles glanced at his baby sister, who had now pushed her way to stand beside Liam.
She gave her brother a small, reassuring smile, waving her arm in a gesture for him to go on. "Go, Stiles! We'll be fine."
With one last, hesitant look towards the girl, Stiles disappeared into the shadows, katana in hand. Pursing her lips, Sydney turned away from the hallway in which he had gone down as a growl sounded from behind her. Her claws protruding from her fingertips, she readied herself to begin fighting, though as she turned around, it was too late. She came face to face with the dark, haunting eyes on the Berserker, and pain filled her chest as it stabbed it's long, claw-like dagger into her skin. A choking sound falling from her lips, Sydney stumbled, expecting for her head to come in contact with the hard ground, though instead she was caught in Liam's arms.
"Syd..." he breathed out, laying the girl gently on the floor before him. His eyes were wide as he stared at the wound in her chest, crimson blood leaking from the hole. "Sydney-"
"It's okay," she insisted with a cough, reaching up and resting her hand on his cheek. "I'll heal. Just go help them." Liam looked hesitant, his eyebrows pulled together as he ran his hand through her hair. Sydney forced herself to smile through the pain, her vision becoming a bit distorted. "Please, Liam. Go help them."
Liam leaned down and pressed his lips against hers for a mere second before pulling away and doing the same to her forehead. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, he slowly stood up, abandoning the girl on the cold ground and rushing to help his friends.
To Sydney, it was all a blur. Her eyes were closed- or maybe they were wide open, but the pain she had felt in her chest causing her vision to become blurry and distorted. She heard several grunts and growls, and rocks crumbling around her. She felt her head being lifted into a lap, and the familiar, soft voice met her ears told her that Stiles had returned.
"I'm right here, Sydney. It's okay."
Another ten minutes of blindness and excruciating pain passed- or maybe it had only been a few minutes. Again, she wasn't so sure. The growling died down, along with the sounds of fighting. She felt the presence of several people around her, and her hand being slipped into the familiar warmth of Liam's. Realizing that her eyes were, in fact, closed, she allowed them to flutter open. She was now resting in Liam's lap, her eyes locked on the sorrowful face of the boy who she had grown such strong feelings for. Without thinking, she reached up and placed a bloody hand on his cheek, blinking once and allowing herself to be sucked into the world of memories.

She was sitting in the bleachers on the lacrosse field, in between Malia and Kira, as she was on the day of the first lacrosse practice of the semester. Her eyes were glued onto the field- on a player who was currently at the goal. Balls were being thrown at him left and right, though none of them managed to get past him. He caught every single one of them in his net, throwing them on the ground beside him before another ball was pelted towards him. Sydney found herself smiling, impressed by the skill of this unknown goalie, and she leaned forward to get a better look at him as he slipped the helmet off of his head. It was Liam- with the familiar spiky brown hair, that was stuck to his forehead with sweat, and the bright, baby blue eyes shining in the sunlight. It was at that moment, that morning on the lacrosse field, when she knew her life was going to change.

Sydney was sucked back into reality as Liam's soft voice spoke into her ear. He was staring at her with wide eyes, and she knew that he had just experienced the same memory as she had.
"What was that?"
"It was the first memory I have of you," she answered quietly, her voice hoarse and her throat burning from the blood that threatened to fall from her lips. "It was a power I was given, along with the power of healing."
"Your powers..." Liam's eyebrows pulled together as his gaze drifted down to the wound on her chest once more, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Syd, why aren't you healing?"
Sydney avoided answering the question because, well, she didn't exactly know why either. She couldn't feel herself even beginning to heal, and she slowly began to feel lightheaded at the amount of blood loss. "Do you know why Kate stopped Lydia from coming with us? Because she's a banshee, and she knew someone was going to die tonight."
"You're not going to die, Sydney. You can't," Liam protested with a stubborn shake of his head, causing a single tear to fall from his glossy eyes. Sydney reached up and weakly wiped the tear away, a small smile pulling onto her lips.
"Banshees predict death, Liam. And if there's one thing that I have learned over the past year, it's to always trust the word of a banshee..." she cut herself off with a cough, blood leaking from her mouth and into her hand as she did so. She leaned her head against Liam's shaky chest with a sigh of exhaustion. "Because they know."
"Sydney," Stiles' voice spoke from beside her and she felt his hand running through her damp hair. "Don't do this to us. You can't leave us, not now. Not after everything we've been through together."
Sydney found herself smiling at the memories of her brother that flashed before her eyes. "Stiles, thank you," she whispered, tearing her gaze from Liam and looking at him instead.
"For- for what?" Stiles questioned slowly, his eyebrows pulling together.
"For being here for me, especially through the hard times." Sydney coughed again, causing Liam to flinch against her. "Over the past nine years that I have been with your family, you have grown to be an actual brother to me. And I'm thankful for that."
A choked sob fell from her Stiles' lips, though he was lost for words. His sister relaxed against Liam's chest, feeling her eyes begin to droop and suck her into the darkness that longed for her. Her heartbeat, in which she had been listening to the whole time, was gradually beginning to slow. She was shaken back into consciousness as Liam's panicked voice spoke once more.
"No, you can't leave me, Syd. Please don't leave me..." The boy leaned down and kissed her gently, savoring one of his favorite feelings in the whole world- the racing of his heart; the feeling of heat in the pit of his stomach; the way his head grew fuzzy whenever he felt her lips against his. He pulled back a moment later, tears blurring his vision from the girl who lay before him. "Sydney, please. I-I love you..."
"It's okay," Sydney breathed, her wounded chest swelling at his words and a weak smile spreading across her face as she placed a hand on his tear-stained cheek. "I love you, Liam Dunbar."
Those were the last words that fell from Sydney Stilinski's lips before her eyes fell shut and her heart beat once for the final time, feeling herself slip into the darkness of oblivion.

the end