1: The Return

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"Home is where you go to find solace from the ever changing chaos, to find love within the confines of a heartless world, and to be reminded that no matter how far you wander, there will always be something waiting when you return."
-Unknown

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"Dad, stop looking at me like that." I sigh, glancing over at him. "Watch the road."
He chuckles, shaking his head in amusement before doing as I asked and turning his attention back to the road.

"I'm just worried about you." He admits, sneaking a quick glance over.

"I'm fine." I state, sighing stubbornly and looking out the window as the scenery rushes by.
Fog was rolling off the hills like a waterfall, hovering over the trees, and telephone poles flew past my window as the car journeyed down the well travelled road beneath it's rubber tires.

It felt good to be home.

The Welcome to Beacon Hills sign greets us on the right, awakening the butterflies of anxiety in my stomach.
As we near our neighborhood the butterflies grow bigger, fluttering their way into my lungs until I felt like I could no longer breathe.
The car hums to a stop in the driveway, and I inhale sharply, memories flooding back into my mental cavern.
The fresh air nips my skin, urging me to step into it fully, and I comply, opening my door and letting it wash over me.

I survived.

I take a deep breath in, a soft smile playing on my lips, and skip towards the front door, steadying myself before slowly opening it and peering inside.

"I hope you don't mind, but I bought pizza for dinner." My father smiles happily, placing a calloused hand on my shoulder. I breathe in, my smile growing with every step I take, the familiarity of the place showering around me.
I nod calmly, looking towards him.

"I don't mind; vegetarian?" I ask, peaking into one of the boxes hopefully.

"Sure thing kiddo." He grins, happy to have his daughter back. "Welcome home."

I nodded distractedly, looking around in confusion.
"Where's Stiles?"

"At the hospital." He replies cautiously, watching me deflate out of the corner of his pale blue eyes. I run a hand through my chocolate curls, looking at the floor in dismay.
Of course he forgot.

"Hey cheer up sweetheart. I didn't tell him you were coming, I thought maybe you could surprise him." The Sheriff adds, instantly cheering me up. I nod feverishly and grab a coat off the coat hook, turning towards my father with eyebrows raised.

"Well...what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

*

"Wish me luck." I mumble quickly, fighting with the seatbelt to let me go before opening the door. I trip in my rush to escape but catch myself before I hit the ground, dusting myself off awkwardly before shutting the door to the police car. I walk through the hospital doors nervously, stopping at the front desk.

"How can I help you?" The familiar lady asks kindly, searching through a decent sized pile of unorganized papers.

"Oh nothing." I hum, causing her to look up in confusion. "Just stopping by for a visit."

Melissa jumps up from her chair and rushes around the counter, enveloping me into a big bear hug, squeezing in excitement before pulling back to look at me.

"Katelyn honey you're back!" She squeals, beaming from ear to ear with motherly love.

I grin, taking in her excitement with love.

"I missed you too much so I came home early." I shrug shyly.

"Oh sweety I'm glad to have you back." She smiles softly, squeazing my shoulder. "Have you seen the boys yet?" I shake my head no, sending her a small smile.

"No-no, I just arrived." I explain, clearing my throat so that my weak voice could be heard clearly.

"I'll take you to Stiles." She offers with an understanding smile, ushering me down the hallway. I follow the nurse, standing on my tip toes every so often to look over her shoulder, excited to see my twin after what felt like so long.

"Here we are." She states in a hushed voice.  I nod in thanks, looking over at a couple I recognize as Lydia's parents. Their daughter had recently been attacked by a mountain lion and was recouperating at Beacon Hill's hospital until she was well enough to return home, which was soon. All this was explained to me by phone, by none other than my brother Stiles, who's had a crush on her since the third grade.

"He's been here all night?" Lydia's father questions, having just emerged from the girl's room, looking over at my brother curiously as he snoozes on the waiting room chairs.
Looks comfortable, I muse, scrunching my nose.

"He's been here all weekend." Mrs. McCall replies, raising her eyebrows at the sleeping boy, which causes me to burst into silent laughter. Of course he has.
The sleeping boy mumbles something inherently, causing the custodian to give him a strange look. I sigh and plop myself down infront of him, booping his nose in a repetitive manner. Stiles groans, swiping my hand away and sits up, eyes widening in disbelief as he spots me.

"Katie?" He questions tiredly, rubbing his eyes in confusion. "You-you're? Here!! But-what?" He rushes out, stumbling over his words.

"Dad picked me up a from the airport a couple of hours ago you nerd." I snort, grinning at his face of disgust.

"I'm not a nerd." He grumbles, giving me a tired yet amused glare. "You're a nerd."

"Good one." I scoff, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow." He hisses, pushing me away before sending me a devilish smirk.

Before he can do whatever horrible things he was planning, his stomach growls, loudly.

"Agreed." I nod, rubbing my tummy with a pout.

"There's a vending machine." He states, making me raise an eyebrow in disgust.

"It has Reece's."

Those three words were all it took to convince me and he grabs my arm, pulling me over to the sketchy looking machine. I lean against the hospital wall, the jet lag of flying halfway across the world finally catching up to me as I watch Stiles fish change out of his pocket and plunk it into the vender.

"I don't trust these things." I state, crossing my arms as he presses some buttons, waiting excitedly for our beloved peanut butter cup.

I groan as it gets stuck, giving Stiles a pointed look.

"I told you."

He bangs on the machine, mind churning with possibilities on how to get our delicious snack out.

"We can lean it over." I shrug.

He agrees, hope gleaming in both his hazel eyes as he puts his muscles to the test.

The plan worked, just not the way I wanted it to.

We successfully leaned the machine, watching our peanut butter cup fall. We were then quick to realize that the machine weighed much more than the lanky twins under it.

We flash eachother identical looks of horror as the machine tips over, along with our snack.

I gape at the machine, Stiles grabbing my arm and quickly tugging me down the hallway and around the corner.

"Dad's gonna kill us."

Suddenly a bone chilling scream peirces the air and Stiles darts worriedly into Lydia's room, me following close on his tail, expecting to see something horrible.

Instead there's nothing. And I mean literally nothing, including no Lydia.

Mrs. McCall looks around in confusion, turning off the still running shower.

Where the hell was Lydia?

Caged // Isaac LaheyWhere stories live. Discover now