human // teen wolf

51. fireplace

When Riley arrived at her house after school with Olivia, the two bolted up the stairs and into the library. Riley took the key from the leg and showed Olivia.

"This is where I got that key from." She explained, and Olivia stared at her.

"Okay, you want to find out what it unlocks?" She asked, and she nodded. The key was rusted and looked like an antique, so whatever it unlocked, the lock had to be the same.

"We need to look for something that looks very old." She instructed, and Olivia sighed but nodded. She was so tired of the supernatural already, even thought she only knew about for about a month now.

The two girls searched around the room, looking under the rugs, behind paintings and in between the books on the bookshelves.

"I don't know where to look. Everything in this house is old!" Olivia whined after 10 minutes. Riley was stuck as well; maybe the lock wasn't in the same room as the key was. That would just be stupid. She had to put two heads together and really think about it. Hopefully, the other mind was willing to help.

"We'll split up. We don't have long until my parents come back from the bowling club." She hurriedly replied, and Olivia left the room. Riley sighed loudly, looking at the ceiling.

She quickly walked over to the door and shut it, being quiet so Olivia wouldn't hear her talk. She felt awkward talking to basically nothing, but she needed help desperately.

"Emma? You're here, aren't you?" She asked quietly, as she looked around the room awkwardly. She suddenly felt the air and her insides warm up, as if something moved closer to her. Riley smiled as she looked into the blank computer monitor at her reflection, seeing the silhouette that is her ancestor. "Good, you're here. Help me look for the lock for this key." She held the key up and looked at it, the shield staring down at it as well.

Emma Beacon did not answer, but instead pointed to the ground. Riley looked at her feet, then opted to rush out of the room and down the stairs to the living room. Olivia sat on the couch, scrolling through her phone. She jumped up in shock as she saw Riley burst in and hid her phone.

"Jesus, Riley you scared me!" She exclaimed, a hand cradling her chest. Riley looked at her disapprovingly and caught sight of the fireplace that sat underneath the TV. Riley's eyes trailed over to the side of it as she walked over, placing her hand on it and feeling the grooves of the ancient walls. She came across a circular bump at the bottom of the side of the fireplace, where she crouched down and looked at it. It had carvings all over it and and had a small hole in the middle of it that resembled a key hole.

"I found it." She whispered, surprising herself. She needed to stop being so surprised; Emma sometimes acted through her without her knowing it. She placed the key into the hole which fit very nicely, and turned it, hearing the familiar sound of a click. It was music to her ears.

The fireplace started to move backwards, and Riley quickly took the key out so it wouldn't break as the fireplace moved into the wall. Riley wondered if this was even possible,  but just decided to go with it. Good thing the fire wasn't lit.

It continued to move back with various creaks until it stopped, revealing a staircase that lead into darkness. Riley and Olivia looked at each other, both with shock and excitement on their faces.

With phone torches in hand, Riley and Olivia held hands as they slowly went down the staircase. Riley had a sense of familiarity, which didn't shock her; Emma Beacon must have been down here one too many times. The two girls kept going down, wondering if it would ever end. When they were halfway down, they heard the fireplace moving and shutting. They both looked up, the light that was behind them disappearing. It was dead silent.