The Outbreak

Chapter 8

Stiles POV

*Dream*

I slowly walk through the dark and quiet house, trying to find Dad, Scott, Lydia and the others. They told me that they would be here for some unknown reason. They've been secretive all day. I haven't seen them around, which is strange. "Hello?" I call out as I walk down the dark hallway. I see a white door at the end of the hallway. Something is drawing me to it, but I don't know what. I make my way towards the creepy door anyway. I can hear raspy whispering from all around me. I can't understand what the voices are saying or whose voices they are. Slowly, I reach my hand out to the handle, my heart starting to speed up. The whispering around me gets louder and more frantic. I close my hand around the handle of the door. The whispering gets even louder, almost as if it is trying to shatter through my brain. I take a deep breath, trying to block out the voices, and quickly turn the door handle and push the door open. I stumble into the room without even looking inside. As I enter the room, the voices immediately stop. I look around me in confusion to see myself in the living room, but there are mirrors instead of walls.

Suddenly, people jump out from behind the furniture, shouting "Surprise!", making me jump two feet in the air and shrieking in fright. It takes me a few seconds to calm down and actually figure out who these people are. They are giggling at my reaction. I can see Scott, Dad, Lydia, Malia, Kira, Liam, Mason, Corey, Hayden, Derek, Deaton and Argent all walking towards me. My dad is holding a birthday cake with many candles alight on top of it. I allow myself to grin in relief. For a moment there, I thought I was going to die, but it's only a surprise party. "Happy birthday, kiddo." My dad tells me as he walks forward with a smile.

"May all your wishes come true." Scott adds with a smile of his own.

"Let's sing happy birthday!" Lydia cheers before I can even get a word in. I look around the room as all my friends and family start to get closer and closer to me. Warily, I take a couple steps back towards one of the mirrored walls, unsure how I feel about this. It doesn't take long for everyone to start singing.

"Happy birthday to you..." They all sing in harmony. However, as they do so, I start to feel strange. My whole body seems to start itching and I feel a lot heavier, but stronger than usual.

"Happy birthday to you..." Everyone continues singing. The room seems to darken a bit and my breathing starts to become ragged as my heartbeat starts to go up. My left shoulder throbs painfully, but no one seems to notice these changes. I start to panic, wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

"Happy birthday dear Stiles." The group sing cheerfully to me. I feel like I am being boxed in on all sides. I can suddenly smell the lovely fresh meat from all around me. It makes my mouth water slightly. Soon, anger and rage start to consume me as I look around at each of my friends and my dad.

"Happy birthday to you!" My friends and family finish singing. My body starts twitching and shaking uncontrollably. I start to make choking noises as I struggle. I can hear Scott and a few others asking desperately if I'm okay. I think Mason yells for someone to call 911. Scott rushes over to stand right in front of me. "Stiles! Stiles, can you hear me? It's Scott!" My best friend yells frantically. He sounds far away. I'm losing grip on reality. Anger and rage continue to flow through me. Scott gasps in horror and takes a step back from me. "W-what are you? What's wrong with you?" I faintly hear him ask in fear. From the corner of my eye, I see my reflection in the mirror. I don't look like myself anymore. My eyes are pitch black, there are huge bags under my eyes, my cheeks are sunken in, my skin is deathly pale and flaky while my body continues to spasm uncontrollably. My teeth feel sharper against my tongue. I glare around at my friends and family again. They are stumbling away from me in horror. I have a sudden urge to rush forward to them and sink my teeth into their flesh. I NEED to sink my teeth into their flesh and tear it apart. My humanity has quickly slipped away and disappeared completely. I let out a strange assortment of groaning, shrieking and clicking sounds before I rush forward and jump onto the nearest person, which happens to be Scott. I barely hear his screaming and protests as I lean down bite deeply into his neck, blood splattering everywhere.

*Dream ends*

I wake up screaming and thrashing around like crazy, burning hot tears pouring down my face. I swear I can still taste the blood. I swear I can hear Scott's own painful screams. I'll never forget my sunken in face or the deadly black eyes I had, which were full of anger. After another 30 seconds, I eventually calm down enough to stop kicking everywhere and screaming. I breathe shakily as I relax my body, tears still running down my cheeks. I lie on my bed, still completely terrified for a few moments. Man, I've had some horrid nightmares in the past, but I have to admit, that was one of the absolute worst. I had become one of the infected. I was a monster. I killed Scott! I was probably going to kill everyone else in that room too. Slowly, I sit up, my breathing still rapid, my stomach feeling queasy. I place a hand to my left shoulder and rub it a little, hoping that it could calm me down more. Surprisingly enough, it works.

I slowly get out of the bed and walk over to the one mirror in the room. From the dim light shining through the blind cracks, I am able to just make out my reflection. I look dreadful. My hair is a mess, there are huge bags under my eyes and tears stain my cheeks. I quickly wipe the tears away as my panic and fear from the night start to slowly fade away. I take a deep breath before I pull off my grey pajama t-shirt to have a look at my shoulder. I bend down slightly to have a better look. I twist my body slightly so my left shoulder can face the mirror more. I let my fingers run over the bumpy scarring on my shoulder, shivering slightly at my hand's cold touch. The wound has healed nicely, but the scars definitely show where the creature's teeth bit down into my flesh. Every time I look at this, it is a constant reminder of one of my most painful experiences ever in my life. The fact that I managed to get that thing off me and get away was a miracle. I continue to stare at the bite mark sadly, fearfully and confusedly. Am I infected? Do I have the virus? It's been almost five years since I was bitten, but I have shown no signs of any symptoms. After talking to people and doing my own research, the longest time I know that someone can become infected is 24 hours after the bite, which lines up with Scott's story. There is a big difference between five years and 24 hours. I've tested my blood as well. It's completely normal. It looks like normal human blood, not like the infected's blood. I don't understand what this could mean. I'm scared. My nightmare clearly reflects that. Am I really already dead like Scott said I would be if I had been bitten? Is this just some sort of illusion? Will I start going crazy on everyone? Suddenly, a less worrying and maybe slightly comforting thought pops into my head.

I am immune.

That must be it, right? That would explain why I haven't turned. That would explain why my blood appears normal; my body fought off the virus somehow. Rejected it or something. The only thing that confuses me now is why there doesn't seem to be any other immunes around. Surely news would have gotten around about people being immune to this horrible virus? Could I possibly be the only one? Why am I immune to this disease while others are not? Supernatural creatures like Scott can still turn into zombie-like things if they are infected. What makes me different? Is there something in my blood that could lead to a cure? Or maybe something in my brain? I don't know, I really don't know. I would love to find out, but how? Everyone would go berserk to see that I have been bitten. Especially Scott. I can't do that to him. Not until I know what is really going on with me, at least. I know I have had years to try and figure this out, but I've been too scared to. I've always pushed it to the back of my mind and got on with life, protecting the group. I gaze into my reflection's determined, but scared eyes. I make a decision right here and now. I don't care how long it takes, but I will find answers to this whole virus and immunity business. I have to. Maybe then I could figure out a cure. But for now, I want to focus on finally seeing my father and the pack again.