Outcasts [Book 1]

Twenty Three

I'm an atom in a sea of nothing

Looking for another to combine

Maybe we could be the start of something

Be together at the start of time

- Start of Time, Gabrielle Aplin

---

Lydia finds herself in the middle of a crowd. Pop music fills her ears. It's so loud that its as if they're trying to shake the whole school with their speakers. She winces, already knowing its a dream. She wouldn't come to the mascaraed ball without Stiles, and Stiles is gone, for now.

She hears giggles to her left and turns to see Allison and Scott dancing. They look happy. Not the fake happy that they all try to pass off at school, but the real type of happy. Their smiles are bigger than Texas and their eyes are lit up.

Scott and Allison sway, jump, and twist to the song, laughing in-between whispers. A pair of hands snake around her waist from behind and then her eyes are covered. "Guess who." She can barely recognize the voice with all the music.

"Uh... I hope Ryan Gosling. Those are always good dreams." Lydia replies, making the person chuckle. What? She deserves a good dream once in a while. It's not fair that in all of her dreams someone dies, that's just plain sad.

"I'm offended. You love him more than me." The hands are removed and Stiles is there, grinning in all his Stiles-like glory. Lydia carefully inspects him. His skin isn't pale, his eyes are honey, and his smile is awkward and too big for his face.

Stiles chuckles at her expression and takes her hand, spinning her. He wraps his arms around her waist. She's surprised to feel that he's warm instead of ice cold. "How's the stitches?" Stiles asks, creasing an eyebrow in concern.

Maybe this is her good dream. Or the calm before the storm. It doesn't matter, she'll take it.

Lydia puts her hands on the back of his neck."Okay.. I guess?" Lydia responds uncertainly. Stiles sighs and kisses her forehead. "You didn't have to do that, you know. What if your suspicions were wrong and you bled out?"

Despite what he's talking about, his tone is light. Playful even. Merely another whisper that she hears but she's hearing it loud and clear. "Better me than anyone else." She doesn't have to think twice about her answer.

Recent experiences and Scott has made her this way. Lydia's okay with dying, she's accepted it. It's a sad thought, but she doesn't think she's going to change her mind anytime soon. Stiles' lips purse at her response.

"See thats the problem. You don't care about getting hurt. But you know how I'll feel? I'll be devastated. And if you die, I'll literally go out of my freaking mind."

The words are sweet if you think about it, but the way he says it is menacing. When she looks back up at him, his eyes are black again. Everyone else fades away but her and Void. "If anyones going to kill you, its going to be me. And only me."

Just one good dream. Thats all she wants. Damn Banshee-ness.

Void disappears into mid-air, leaving black smoke behind him. Lydia spins around multiple times, but no one is in the gym anymore. Allison appears in front of her, an already bloody sword through her stomach like the time when she almost died.

"We can finish the job together, Lyds." His voice is like a weapon, it hurts her both mentally and physically to hear the words. Lydia looks down and sees her hand grasped around the handle on the sword, Void's hand placed over hers.

Lydia wakes up in a cold sweat, sitting up right in her bed quickly. Blood is on her hand like a second skin, like it was normal for it to be there. She looks at Allison who's curled into the pillow next to her and blows out a sigh of relief.

It was just a dream.

She looks back at her hand, seeing its just her stitches. Lydia shakes her head to rid herself from the dream and gets up to go fix it.

---

Lydia runs a hand through her hair, looking at herself in the mirror. Turns out her mom has pretty good taste, the sparkling gold dress fits her perfectly, and the matching gold mask is adding to it in the best way possible. The dress looks great on her, and she can't even appreciate it.

This is it. It seems so cheesy, having a 'show down' on Halloween night. The plan is simple. Lydia distracts Void, Isaac injects him with venom, and the rest of the pack makes sure that everyone else - everyone else being 90% of the town - is safe.

Lydia's putting her faith in the fact that she could still see Stiles behind Void's eyes. He was alive. At least she hopes he is, last time she saw Void he smelled like death. It's not that bad. Things we'll be fine, Lydia thinks, there always fine.

She could almost laugh at her life now, as the younger version of her would've killed to go to the ball, even if it is with her possessed boyfriend. Okay, maybe it won't be fine. Headlights shine through the window, alerting that the limo - if they're going to do this, they're going to do it in style - is here.

She sighs and leaves her room, taking her mask with her. Lydia passes her mom without her asking her if her stitches are okay, so she calls that a win. Lydia finds Scott, Isaac, and Jackson on her front porch.

Jackson has his fist up as if he was about to knock, Scott is fixing his hair, and Isaac is playing with his scarf.

They're all dressed to the nines. Scott is wearing a tux, Jackson is wearing a suit, and Isaac looks like a christmas tree in dark brown pants, a green button-down shirt and a golden scarf. "You didn't have to come to the door." Lydia comments.

Scott shrugs a shoulder while Isaac leans on him, trying to look calm. "It was the gentlemanly thing to do." Jackson responds, surprising Isaac so much he almost falls over. They kind of expected Jackson to shut up and look pretty instead of talking.

She fake gasps. "Jackson Whittemore? A gentleman? Has hell frozen over?" Lydia questions, pushing past the boys and towards the stretch limo. Jackson rolls his eyes and walks down the driveway with his hands in his pockets, the other boys following along.

A/N

To be honest I finished writing this during the summer, I'm just a dumbass that forgets to publish it...