Alone • Liam Dunbar

Twenty-Five

By the time the final bell sounded, the school hallways were already packed. Everyone hurried to get home, wanting to salvage what was left of their Monday afternoon. I matched their speedy pace, but not for the same reasons. My path took me to the campus library rather than the parking lot. Scott had asked Stiles and I to meet him there, wanting to discuss the plan he came up with to keep Hayden out of the Dread Doctors' clutches. They would come for her, sooner than later, and we needed to be ready.

When I enter the library, I search the immediate area for my senior companions, though I only end up finding one. Stiles sits by himself at one of the large tables on the bottom floor, staring off into space.

I expect him to turn my way when I get closer, as his peripheral vision should allow him to see my figure, but he remains still.

His attention is trained on a particular spot ahead in an open area near the bookshelves. The scaffolding used to be there up until a few days ago, but it was recently cleaned out due to the fact that construction on the library's interior was done. I tried to search for something worth staring at in the empty space that was left, but there was nothing. I then thought perhaps Stiles was daydreaming, as he always preferred the company of his own thoughts to that of others, but he wasn't. His eyes aren't distant, they're focused. Troubled.

"Stiles?" He jumps lightly when I speak at his side, clueless to my presence.

"Hey, I didn't see you come in." He wipes his face tiredly with trembling hands, drawing attention to the darkened circles under his eyes. My concern only grows at his appearance, because even though Stiles already ran off of limited hours of sleep, so he never looked fully rested, he appeared now as if he hadn't slept for centuries.

"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly.

His lips twitch as he attempts to get his head to catch up with his mouth. He doesn't have to actually say anything for me to know he's attempting to come up with a plausible lie.

"Stiles?" I press impatiently, unsure of why such a simple question needed evading.

His eyes pass over my shoulder and relief floods his expression. I understand his reaction a second later as Scott comes over to us, his presence enough of an excuse for my question to go unanswered for the time being.

"Sorry, I had to grab our old map." Scott apologizes for his mild tardiness, laying out a map of our town on the table before us. There were multiple colored marker strokes across the page that I immediately recognized, as some of them were drawn by my own hands months ago when we studied the habits of the Darach.

"We're back to telluric currents?" Stiles stands from his seat, his gaze aimed downward.

"If the Dread Doctors didn't like coming into Eichen House because of them, maybe we can use that to protect Hayden," Scott suggests.

"But they ended up getting in when Kira short-circuited everything," I remind him, already wary of where his plan was headed.

I wanted to be supportive of Kira, but her uncontrollable foxfire didn't leave much room for positivity when faced with the reality of terrible outcomes. Unlike Scott, I didn't want to have to haul her body around as she became a conduit for electricity and burnt me to a crisp.

Scott winces, but wipes his face clean of it quickly. "She's doing better."

I simply shake my head at his words as they don't inspire much confidence.

"Okay, besides Eichen, where's the strongest convergence?" Stiles inquires, crossing his arms over his chest. It does nothing to hide the way his hands continue to tremble uncontrollably.