today i saw the whole world, teen wolf

𝟎𝟑𝟔 home is where the heart is.

home is where the heart is

___

THE HALLS WERE EERILY QUIET as Paxton made her way through them. The silence bounced from the walls to the metal lockers lining them, ringing with a noise similar to waves crashing from a distance. Though she'd love to bask in the tranquility of it, her endless stream of thoughts have other plans.

Stiles waits for her further inside, but even his stretched comfort doesn't help her. She still feels secluded and alone. There's not a soul in sight. It brought a chill to her skin; the idea that if anyone had followed her—anyone like her mother—that she might die alone in the quiet and still air of the school.

She stretches her neck to alleviate the soreness of constantly keeping her chin pressed to her collarbone. Her soft skin rubs against the fragile bruise surfaced around her throat. It reminded her why she had been staring at her feet for so long, and why her spine aches because of it. It was done with the purpose of ignoring her reflection. Afraid of what she might see staring back at her. Even now, comforted with the unnerving silence suffocating the halls, she keeps her wandering eyes away from any glass that might reflect the horror of her appearance.

The music room is buried deep within the building, hidden in the furthest corner away from the entrance, and tucked behind the locker rooms and coaches offices. A place only band members go, or the students who simply needed an art credit. Some consider it 'No Man's Land' as most students refuse to venture that far—or that close to the entrance of the basement. Some say the basement is haunted, that a creature or demon call the foggy underbelly of the school its home. The story came about after the attack that occurred months ago, and though it's just an innocent rumor, Paxton always mumbled a string of angered incoherent words for those who talked of the subject near her. The students' silly story might've been just that; a story, but Paxton still wears an irreversible scar on her leg to prove that it rings with an unspoken truth.

The lights were off throughout the school, adding to the fright of the stories spread about the lonely music hall. The only light to seep into the darkness comes from a faraway exit behind Paxton. A dim orange light of the setting sun flares through the panel of glass cut into the door, reluctantly guiding Paxton to the place Stiles said she'd find him in.

He left little to no details in his texts, just a simple, 'come quick,' and, 'found massive discovery.' There was a long pause after his last text before he sent, 'hope you're safe and the reason you're not responding isn't because derek killed you.'

How sweet.

Her wary gaze examines the hall he said he'd be in. When he's nowhere to be seen, she calls for him with a careful whisper. He doesn't respond—and passes up the chance to jump out and surprise her with a heart attack—so she lets out a muffled sigh to cover up her slight worry, and disregarded frustration, before walking further toward the music room's door.

"Can I get a copy of this?" a voice said, shocking her from behind the door. But not just any voice, it belonged to Deaton—a man she had never seen stray from the front desk of the vet clinic.

It caught her by surprise, not because she's never seen him out and about, but because the concern she had suddenly became more apparent as it tangles around the 'massive discovery' Stiles had texted her about. The discovery must be connected to the sacrifices and that meant whatever it is, is frightening enough to warrant Deaton following Stiles to the school.

"Hey, Doc? Any help would be, uh, you know, helpful," Stiles said, lifting his head up from the drawers his focused eyes had been searching.