FORGOTTEN SOULS || Isaac Lahey [1]

six.

She honestly wasn't sure how, but her brother and his friends had managed to get the keys to the local skating rink. There was a double date happening, with Scott and Allison as well as Stiles and Lydia, though Dani knew full well that Lydia didn't consider it a date.

For whatever reason, she'd been invited along too.

She was honestly guessing it had something to do with Stiles finding her in the hallway the previous day at school and her holding onto him the way a baby would their mother. At first she'd declined but Hayes knew her too well, being six months younger than she was and practically being her twin growing up, and convinced her to give it a shot.

After nearly an hour, anyway. He'd begged her to go so he wouldn't have to fifth wheel everything going on because it would be too awkward for him to back out now. She had told him it would be even more weird if they, as siblings, went with two other couples on a 'date' but he assured her that all he wanted was company. That Stiles wanted her to join them for some fun after whatever had happened in the school hallway earlier.

Hayes eventually explained that he had seen just how unwell she was becoming again, just how seriously unhealthy, and said he was worried. All he wanted was to see his sister living her life happily and for a while he had seen that. Her therapy had helped her and she was doing well, but now all he saw was her fading into herself.

She wasn't eating, was sleeping at odd hours, and was constantly spacing out. He didn't want to see her disappear again the way she had when their mothers left.

That had made her cry, of course. She had held her brother and promised she wasn't intentionally going down that path again, only that she was trying to work through things she didn't understand yet.

In the end, she went with them. It started off with her joining Allison and Lydia at the former's house where they would then sneak out and have Allison drive them out to the rink.

It was admittedly a good time, watching Scott and Allison's happiness as well as Lydia's impatience with Stiles, who had brought a shirt for her that her friend deemed unwearable due to the pattern. She skated around and talked with Hayes, something they hadn't been able to do in ages, and begrudgingly told him about her dreams. Not that the line between fiction and reality was blurring, just that they were strange and really scaring her.

He listened with utter sincerity, and looked genuinely worried for her.

Overall, it had been a wonderful time until Lydia had collapsed to the ice on her knees, screaming in terror about the man's face beneath the surface and blue flower petals on the ice.

From there, things became awkward and ended quickly.

Her and Stiles had held Lydia on the ice until she was able to see things clearly enough to shake them off and stalk back out to the bleachers, where she took off her skates. Scott and Allison hadn't been able to understand what had happened as they had been taking photos in the nearby photo booth, and Dani left Stiles to explain it to them.

From there they took everyone home, but when they reached her home she was cornered. The other two followed her and her brother out of the car, and the three boys moved to stand between her and the stairs going up to the front door. Stiles started the conversation by saying she obviously wasn't okay, that she needed to talk to them, and that she needed to do it now.

Slowly, in both disbelief and amazement at his sheer audacity, her brows rose. "I don't have to tell you anything," Dani shook her head.

Scott groaned quietly to himself. "You definitely don't have to," he promised her, hands outstretched slightly as if he were surrendering. "But I think it would be really good for all of us if you do, we might be able to help."