Transformed (Incomplete)

The Tell, Part V

I meet Stiles outside of his last hour and he pulls out his phone to call Scott. We've both been wondering where he's been. It's not like him to skip school. Maybe before he turned into a werewolf, I wouldn't have worried, but with an Alpha on the loose, I'm afraid something could've happened to him.
"Finally!" Stiles cries. My eyebrows raise in relief when Scott answers. "Have you been getting any of my texts?"
"Yeah, like all nine million of them," I can hear Scott's faint reply.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Stiles asks. I dodge someone walking on the wrong side of the hallway. "Lydia's totally M.I.A., Jackson looks like he's got a time bomb inserted into his face, another random guy's dead, and you have to do something about it!"
I wonder if Derek is the time bomb in question. I don't understand his obsession with Jackson. Sure, he might know about werewolves and Derek, a werewolf, should care, but there are better ways to get information than cornering him in the locker room.
"Like what?" Scott asks.
"Something," Stiles answers. Look whose "something"s aren't very specific now.
My brother says something I can't make out and then hangs up. Stiles looks at me.
"I'm going to Lydia's house," he declares.
"Why?" I walk faster to keep up with him.
"Because Lydia didn't come to school today and she was with Jackson when he got attacked. Maybe she saw something? Maybe, I don't know? Maybe she - Maybe I - Maybe I just want to check in on her?" he raises his eyebrows and throws his arms out.
"Because you like her," I finish for him.
"Do you want to come with me or not?"
"Yeah, I'll come with you," I follow Stiles out to his Jeep and he drives towards Lydia's house. I keep my lips forcefully closed because I made a promise not to tell Stiles about Jackson, but it weighs heavily on my brain.
When we get there, Stiles knocks on Lydia's front door. Her mom answers and Stiles tells her his name and says he's here to see Lydia. I hang back, just following. Mrs. Martin leads us up to Lydia's bedroom, knocking on her door.
"Honey, there's a Stiles here to see you," she tells her daughter.
Lydia is sprawled across her bed, studying her fingernails. Something is off about her, but I can't tell what it is from this angle.
"What the hell is a 'stiles'?" she asks. I furrow my eyebrows. Mrs. Martin catches my look.
"She took a little something to ease her nerves," Lydia's mom explains softly. So that's what's off. Lydia is drugged up. "You can - you can go in."
"Thanks," Stiles says. He walks in, shuffling awkwardly. Lydia's mom offers me a smile and I step inside, too. I look around her room, interested. I've never been here before.
"What are you doing here?" Lydia looks over at us and puts a hand on her hip.
"I was making sure that you were okay," Stiles says. He wrings his hands nervously. I smile to myself, looking down at my hands. Stiles is adorable like this.
"Oh," Lydia licks her lips a couple times, loudly, and looks away. She looks back suddenly. "Why?"
Her words are slurred and I can tell she's not completely here. She pats the bed next to her, staring down Stiles.
"Uh ..." Stiles starts. He lets out the breath he was holding and sits next to Lydia. Suddenly, I can see lights flickering inside a window underneath a glowing sign. It's faint, like it's just a film over Lydia's room. My breathing becomes faster, but I keep quiet. Neither of them notices. Actually, I'm not even sure Lydia knows I'm here. "Because I was worried about you ... today ... How are you feeling?"
Lydia reaches out, feeling Stiles' arm. I cross my arms, leaning against her wall next to her big, red mirror. I furrow my eyebrows. Obviously, it was the video shop where the Alpha killed another guy, but why was I seeing it now? It already happened. And why was it so faded?
"I feel ..." she leans in closer. "Fantastic."
Stiles lets out a maladroit laugh. His eyes wander around and they land on a pill bottle on her nightstand, tucked next to a stuffed giraffe. "Ohh," Stiles leans forward and grabs it. "What?" he reads the label. "Bet you can't say, uh, 'I saw Suzy sitting in a shoeshine shop' ten times fast."
I can't even say that once, but Lydia Martin raises her eyebrow, accepting the challenge. "I saw Schuzy ... uh ... I schaw ..."
Stiles puts the bottle back on Lydia's nightstand and I see a large, dark beast faintly, moving over Lydia's hair. She lays back down.
"Stiles," I say slowly, walking over to the bed.
"I saw ..." Lydia stares off into space. I stop mid-step as I see glass shatter in front of me, still as if it was overlaying what was here. It wasn't like a real vision.
"What? What's happening?" Stiles looks between us wildly. "Are you having a vision?" he asks me.
"They're not - Yes, but they're -" I stammer out.
"I saw ..." Lydia says again.
"Lydia, what did you see?" I ask, hurrying forward.
"Something," Lydia answers slowly.
"Something like ...?" Stiles prods.
I crouch in front of Lydia.
"You saw something," I tell her. "You saw something big, like a giant animal."
Lydia nods and I nod along with her.
"Like a mountain lion?" Stiles leans closer to the both of us.
"A mountain lion," Lydia spaces.
"Are you sure you saw a mountain lion or are you just saying that because that's what the police told you?" Stiles picks at the side of his fingernail.
"It had glowing red eyes," I whisper to Stiles.
"A mountain lion," Lydia says again.
"It wasn't a mountain lion," I tell Stiles quietly, shaking my head. "It was the Alpha."
"Hand me that," he points to the stuffed giraffe. I pass it to him and he holds it out in front of Lydia. "What's this?" he asks loudly. Lydia looks at it.
"A mountain lion," she states confidently.
"Okay," Stiles tosses the giraffe at me. I stand it back up, albeit backwards. "You're so drunk."
Stiles slides off the bed and I stand up. He ticks his chin over towards the other side of Lydia's bedroom and I follow.
"She didn't see a mountain lion, Stiles," I say quietly, looking back at Lydia.
"Yeah, I got that, thanks," Stiles quips and bounces nervously. "She's so out of it, she doesn't - she doesn't even know what she saw!"
"I do," I rush out. "I could see what she saw. It wasn't like ... It wasn't like a real vision. I don't know if it was because it already happened or if it was because it was just - I was seeing what she saw, but I was still here. It was almost like Lydia and I ..." the corners of my mouth turn up, the taunting right on the end of my tongue. "... had an unspoken connection."
"Shut up," Stiles says to me, smirking. He turns to Lydia. "Well, we're gonna ... go," he starts walking towards the door, motioning me to come along. "Uh, we'll let you get back to the whole post-traumatic stress thing."
"Stay," she says after we're on the other side of the door. Stiles whips the door back open again, almost falling over himself with excitement. "Me? Stay? You want me to stay?"
"Mm hmm," Lydia nods, sitting up. She pats the bed again. "Yes, please." Stiles sits down on the purple blankets dutifully. "Stay," Lydia presses her hand to his face. I shift my weight uncomfortably. This is third-wheeling so hard. Lydia puts both of her hands on Stiles' face and he begins breathing weird. "Please, Jackson."
My mouth forms a literal 'o' and I turn away from them, trying not to laugh.
"Aaaand we're done here," I hear Stiles say. I look back when I hear a cell phone chime. It's not mine or Stiles'. "You want me to get that?" Stiles asks Lydia. She's passed out again on the bed and doesn't answer. Stiles grabs it anyway. "It's a text," he tells her. After a moment, he adds, "I don't know how to -" he breaks off, pulling the phone closer to his face.
"What? Stiles, what?" I ask. He hands the phone to me and I look down at the tiny screen. A short video plays of the giant beast from my vision, ending on its snarling face and glowing red eyes. Stiles licks his lips. "That's it. That's the thing from my vision. That's the Alpha."