*ARCHIVED* Truth Or Dare (Sciles | Dark Descent, Book 1)

Chapter 9

FEBRUARY 13, 2016
SUNDAY
10:11 P.M.

    After a moment of silence, Scott and Stiles returned to the bedroom. A tall female officer stood at the foot of the bed with her back to them, talking with Lydia. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a severe bun. As they opened the door, she turned, greeted them with a big smile. She was pretty, Stiles thought, the kind of girl Lydia would hang out with if she were the same age as them. Her eyes were almost as large and round as Lydia's, but they were brown instead of green. There was a certain excitement in them as she took them in.

    "Hey! You must be Scott and Stiles. I'm Sabrina, Max's...replacement." The bright eagerness in her tone faltered slightly at the last word, but she continued speaking, fast, as if she couldn't get the words out fast enough. She reminded Stiles of a young child, trying to make some new friends. "I just thought I should introduce myself since we're going to be seeing a lot of each other."

    Stiles offered up a weak smile. He couldn't bring himself to fake nice right now, as much as he wanted to. Him and Scott returned to the bed, crawling in beside Lydia. Her eyes followed them curiously. Sabrina nodded, hands on her hips.

    "I understand if you're not in a very talkative mood," she said. Her pale face tightened now, all business. A stony determination invaded her features. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I will do anything I can to protect you. To get your friend back. I promise you that."

    Stiles felt badly for brushing her off now. He felt it in the force of her words that she meant them. She was nice, he decided.

    "I'm sorry for your loss, too," Stiles said. Sabrina's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in surprise. "Max," he clarified. "When you said his name, I could tell..."

    Sabrina nodded sadly. "Thank you. We were close. He's a...He was a good guy." Her face hardened again. "Derek Hale is going to pay for what he did. To Max, to all of you, to anyone he's ever hurt. He'll pay." Her face softened and she smiled brightly at them once more. "Well, I'd better get back to my spot before the boss has my head."

    They all echoed goodbyes as she turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

    "I'm hungry," Scott said a few seconds later. "We never really got the chance to eat dinner..."

    "I'm hungry too," Lydia agreed.

    Right on cue, Stiles's stomach rumbled with hunger. He mumbled an agreement and the three of them went down to the kitchen. A blast of cold air hit Stiles in the face as they entered the kitchen. The back door was open a crack. Stiles shivered and closed it. One of the officers must not have closed it all the way, he assumed. When he turned around, Scott was already rifling through the fridge and Lydia was getting three glasses down from the cupboard. "Hey, can you guys get the salad out? I'm just going to heat up the burgers and we can have those."

    "And grab the Dr. Pepper," Lydia said over her shoulder.

    There was a crash behind Stiles. He whirled around as the back door slammed into the wall and Sabrina threw herself inside, stumbling and nearly falling to the floor. She shut the door and locked it, backing away. She raised her gun as she did so, throwing a glance back at the three of them. She was covered in blood. A long gash ran across her cheek. Blood from a split lip covered her mouth and chin. Half of the hair in her bun had fallen out, a tangled mess.

    "Stay back!" she yelled at them. "He's here."

    In unison, they reached for a weapon. Stiles grabbed the griddle from the counter and brandished it like it was some sort of deadly weapon. It would have been funny, he thought, in different circumstances. Lydia grabbed the bottle of whiskey and did the same. Scott darted across the kitchen and snatched up a long knife from the knife block, throwing them a look that said, "Seriously? Those are your weapons?"