REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

xxxii.

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xxxii. NOTHING TO FEAR

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WHEN CARTER AND Malia made it out of the school, Scott and Theo were already waiting for them next to Theo's truck.

    "Where's Kira and Logan?" Scott asked them as they jogged down the stairs to meet them.

    "Kira's still at the library and Logan's going to meet-up with Liam at Sinema." Carter informed, rushing. She pulled out her phone to make sure that she hadn't missed any calls or texts from Malakai, fear creeping into her bloodstream. She sighed, shoving her phone back into her pocket. "And I haven't heard anything from Malakai since this morning. Why are Stiles and Lydia at the hospital? Does it have something do with what she saw earlier?"

    Scott licked his dry lips. "Lydia's trying to figure out what happened during her surgery. She believes that's when the Dread Doctors did something to her."

    "How long are they gonna be there?"

    "They're just waiting for the power to come back on." Malia said and Carter nodded.

    The ride to the hospital was unbearably silent, the only sound being the hum of the engine. Carter's knee bounced restlessly as stared out the window, trying her hardest to keep her mind from conjuring up the worst possible scenarios. As soon as Carter stepped inside the hospital, a strong feeling of dread consumed her. She really hated that place.

    Once they were standing in the lobby, Scott turned to look at them. "You three split up and look for Stiles and Lydia while I go look for my mom."

    After Scott disappeared down the hallway, the three of them decided who was going to look where. Malia would search the second floor and the ER, Theo would search the third floor and the Operating Room, and that left Carter with the fourth floor. And they all agreed that if they didn't find anything, they would all meet back in the lobby.

    Carter turned in the opposite direction of Malia and Theo, deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Once she made it up to the fourth floor, the stairwell door slammed shut behind her with a curiously final sound. She nodded to herself, looking up and down the big empty hallway. She immediately began checking all the unoccupied rooms and kept her eye out for anyone looking vaguely suspicious—or anyone who had a three-foot Kanima tail.   

    Things were going smoothly and she was able to keep her mind occupied until the overhead lights begun to flicker. Her steps instantly faltered, cautioning her to move slower. "It's so fucking spooky in here," said Carter quietly. And there was something disturbing about being in the seemingly never ending hallway.

    The air was suddenly heavy and silent and still. She continued to move down the hallway, her footsteps echoing hollowly. Stiles. Lydia. You're trying to save your friends from a Chimera, she thought. She tried to shake off her feeling of uneasiness, telling herself that it was ridiculous to feel unsettled when Scott, Malia, and Theo were all within supernatural earshot. For some reason, she suddenly remembered that night in the cemetery, that night when she had sent them all running from something none of them could see.

    Carter's head swirled when the lights flickered and gone down to half power. "Oh, no," Carter said, exasperated. The lights flickered again, went out, and returned dimly once more.

    Well, this was a fine mess. Carter moved to the next room and peered inside. In this light she could see only the outline of the bed and of the television mounted on the wall. There was no sound at all but her own breathing and the sounds she made. She was alone in the huge, dim hallway—