Black Webs

Anchors

When the leaves are gone,
and the beating sun
brings the war bang drums,
tell me you, will hold me
in the golden afterlife,
yeah, you,
you don't have to die alone tonight.

xxxxx

when she tells you she loves you,
hang on to every syllable like the monkey bars you climbed as a child, swim in the oceans of her eyes, breathe into the dreams she might've had about you.

when she tells you she loves you,
watch the way her mouth moves, for rain often falls from her lips & you will be the one to taste it now, write this moment down on crinkled paper, for it will be the story you recall when you ruin cities together.

and most importantly,
when she tells you she loves you,
make sure to say it back with every fire that ignites inside of you, with all the demons that ate you on dark world days, with every summer song that reminds you of her.

- J.R (when she tells you she loves you.)

xxxxx

e i g h t e e n:

L y d i a

She kept drifting in and out of consciousness.

It was a strange state she seemed to be stuck in, between the awake and the dreaming. There were flashes of fluorescent lights, the sickening yet ever-present smell of blood, warm hands slipping into her limp, cold ones, a chime of nervous, chirpy voices, the soft sense of nostalgia inching up her spine at the hum of a familiar lullaby, the one her mother used to sing to her when she was only a baby girl, the ghosting of breath over her forehead, needles digging into her pallid skin, and the strangely comforting eyes of a wolf...

She couldn't comprehend how much time had passed, where she'd been, where she was. She couldn't comprehend anything at all.

The lullaby returned, lifting her senses, filling her ears like warm honey, the waves of sleep pulled her under once more.

Stiles

He was pretty sure he was going to lose every single brain cell he had left.

He was going insane with worry all week with Lydia in the hospital. They told him she'd lost a hell lot of blood and that she was lucky they brought her in when they did, had it been a second or two later... it might've been too late.

They told him it was miraculous she was even alive after all that blood loss, they told him that she was a fighter and not to lose hope. The days were a blur, the nights endless, he had to remind himself he still had a duty to the city, that he wasn't just allowed to quit and give up on his world, even if he was coming close to it.

Scott and Allison had been amazing. The first two days, only family was allowed in Lydia's hospital room, yet he convinced her mom - who thought this was all a result of some brutal kidnapping, to let him see her and spent the nights at the hospital with her. Scott and Allison would bring him breakfast every morning, and warm blankets every evening.

Stiles felt like a walking corpse with Lydia's life on the line.

He had to keep reminding his mind not to go to that dark place he'd avoided for so long. When he wasn't thinking about Lydia, he was thinking about his mother and that terrible dream Stern's sidekick had shown him, still fresh and vivid in his mind like it had just happened.

Other times, he found his mind wandering to the ticking clock on his bedroom wall, reminding him how time was trickling past like water and that he had a decision to make - and soon. Stern was a lot of revolting things, but he was also a man of his word. Stiles believed that.