ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ, ʜᴏᴘᴇ ᴍɪᴋᴀᴇʟꜱᴏɴ.

12.| ᴀɴᴄʜᴏʀꜱ [1]

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   .CHAPTER TWELVE.
   [12]. Anchors.
   [PART ONE]
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❝  ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ'ꜱ ᴀ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ. ❞
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IT'S BEEN FOUR MONTHS since Hope and Lucas reunited. Four months? Wasn't she supposed to see him again a few days after? Yes, she was. But in the note Lucas left her, he let her know that there was no more family dinner. But that was a lie, that was just an excuse Lucas used for Hope to finally let go and move on.

And of course, his planned work. Because now Hope and Stiles had been getting closer than ever. She trusted the boy with her life, just as he did with his.

"And you couldn't wake up?" Hope questions.

Stiles shakes his head. "Nope, and it was beyond terrifying. You ever hear of sleep paralysis?"

Hope shakes her head. "No... but do I want to?"

"Have you ever had a dream where you feel like you're about to wake up but you can't move or talk?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I've had that."

Stiles sighs. "It happens because during REM sleep your body is basically paralyzed. It's called muscle atonia. That way if you start dreaming about running, you don't actually start running in your bed."

Hope nods as they walk. "That makes sense."

"But sometimes your mind can wake up before your body does," Stiles explains. "So for this split second, you're actually aware that your body is paralyzed."

"And that's the terrifying part."

Stiles shrugs a bit. "It turns your dream into a nightmare. You can feel like you're falling, like you're being strangled, or, in my case, like you're at the center of a grove of magical trees where human sacrifices took place."

"You think it means something?"

"What if what we did that night what if it's still affecting us?" Stiles questions, he opens the door for the girl.

Hope's brows furrow. "Post-traumatic stress?"

Stiles shrugs. "Or something. But you want to know what scares me the most?" Hope turns to face him with a questioning look. "I'm not even sure this is real."