Faded // A Stiles Stilinski Story.

chapter five.

Why couldn't you remember her? You were missing something, it was so obvious, it was like it was staring you in the face the whole time. Aggravated you flung the covers from your body, barely even feeling the temperature change. Stiles' eyes cracked open as he looked over you in confusion. You'd fallen into a fitful sleep hours before after he had soothed you. He had looked after you, making sure you had fully gotten to sleep before letting himself drift off. His body had been wrapped around you protectively, like if he could guard your body it would stop the monsters in your head. His eyes were glazed and shot with red. You stared at the ceiling, growing more and more agitated. You sprung from the bed as blood rushed through your ears. You threw the nearest clothes on, and you tied your hair away from your neck. Your throat stung but it wasn't as bad as you had thought. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you dropped to the spot you had been the night before.

Grabbing the picture of the smiling girls again your mind blanked. You knew one was Lydia, she was hard to miss with her piercing green eyes and waves of gold. The other girl was a mystery, yet again the feeling that you were missing something swam in your thoughts. Concentrating you looked at her face, but nothing came to mind. Stiles dropped from the bed taking his place at your side once again. He leafed through photos trying to decipher who she was. Your eyes grew heavy, the sunlight straining them causing everything to merge together. Photos of the girl with the wild hair meshed together until she was a mere shape on photographic paper. You blinked back tears that swam and blurred your vision. Droplets landed on the photo, rolling off with ease. You weren't going to give up that easy, you knew someone had to know who she was.

Grabbing your phone from the desk you check for any indication that you knew who she was. More photos filled your camera roll, but she was always just out of shot, her features blurred. Something inside of you snapped and you threw your phone on the bed, it landed softly. Stiles was watching you the whole time, a sympathetic look on his face. "Look babe, why does it matter? She was probably just someone passing through. You know we take strays" He added with a wink. You ran your fingers through your scalp, a habit you'd picked up from him. He stood, taking you in his arms and stroking your hair. You sighed into him, feeling his chest rise and fall set a rhythm for your body to fall into. Almost comically, his stomach growled, reminding you that you hadn't eaten since the previous morning. You trudged down the stairs and headed into the kitchen. Everything was so still, but you felt up in the air. Stiles followed you down, shrugging a tee on as he walked, he felt no need to put trousers on, it was only you two in the house. You searched through the fridge, grasping eggs and bacon in your hands you set to cooking. Stiles came up behind you, taking the food from your hands and practically demanding that he do it. "Babe, you're knackered you need to rest, plus we know that I'm the better cook here" You chuckled knowing fine well that was a lie. The boy could burn cereal, but still you heeded his advice, taking place at the dining table.

As the food cooked your brain worked overtime to figure out what was going on. The girl was so familiar, she was just like the girl from your nightmare, the same wild hair, the same toothy grin. Your glass, dropped to the floor as the room spun. Panic bubbled in your throat the same as the night before, but this time you knew why you wanted to scream. You had forgotten a girl, a whole girl who by the looks of it, you knew so well. Shadows of the girl with no face danced behind your eyelids as your fists clung to the wood of the table. You opened your mouth to scream but nothing came out. Whispers filled your ears, a roaring of sound in the absence of a scream. Your hands clapped to your ears, as you cried. Thrashing against the chair, the room spun more violently. Your stomach churned as the smell of rot filled the room and your lungs. The sun disappeared behind clouds only to be replaced by low hanging moon. The girl with no face appeared before you, her smile manic and the black tar still dripping down her. Her hair was wild, filled with leaves and dirt. She spoke, but it was in tongues and you stared her down. Liquid oozed from her mouth and pooled around her, the moonlight reflecting off it. Her face blank as stone stared at you, seemingly piercing your skin. You gripped the table and willed yourself back to reality. Sounds of tableware clattered around you and Stiles replaced the girl. He was in front of you, his hands gripped around yours as you white knuckled against the table.

His face was ashen and drawn back. His voice came low, the news he told you sickened you to your stomach. Not again. Kira was gone. She hadn't been seen since last night and Scott was terrified. He had been with her and when he had fallen asleep she had gone. Stiles told you in a calm voice. You didn't look back as you streaked out the car, grabbing the keys from the floor where they had dropped. You started your car, it was faster than the jeep. Tearing away from the house in a flurry of dust and desperation you drove to Scotts. Leaping from the car, you slam on his door. Scott was at the door within seconds, you grabbed him into the biggest bear hug you could muster. His tall frame obliterated your smaller one and his head rested on yours with ease. "Something's happening to our friends, there's this girl and I know her but I can't remember her name and what if this happens to Kira, what if I forget her too-" Your words stammered out as you tripped over them. Waves upon waves of tiredness hit you like a tsunami. You knew you couldn't sleep, you'd forget her, whatever was doing this was doing it when you slept. Scotts voice interrupted your train of thought. "What girl?" He pulled you into the house, sitting you down on the couch as you explained exactly what had happened last night.

He nodded his head, his expression weary as he thought of what could be doing this. Knocks at the door stopped your conversation mid flow. Scott stood to answer the door as Stiles walked in regardless. "There you are, you left without telling me where you went. I was going out of my mind looking for you" His lips pressed against your head as his fingers danced across your shoulders. He sat on the floor beside you, his arms resting nonchalantly against your bare skin. Scott sat again and filled Stiles in on what had been said. "It seems like whatever is doing this, it wants to hurt you. How come you can recognize her, but the rest of us have no clue who she is at all? How come all of this comes back to you?" You sat an contemplated, your mind raced and your body felt heavy, like nothing in this world could lift the dread from your chest. "I don't know, I don't know what I did" you said weakly, your voice cracking with sleep. You couldn't focus, everything was blurring again and before you knew it you were out cold.

Laughter chorused around you as the smell of marshmallows and chocolate assaulted your senses. A fire crackled, surrounded by glittering lights that decorated nearby trees. Deck chairs covered with blankets in an array of colours from the brightest of yellow to the deepest blue. The lake house. But as before you couldn't see anyone but music and voices carried through the air like they were right beside you. A shadow played in your peripheral but you ignored it, instead focusing on the flames watching them as they licked the sky and as plumes of smoke rose. Hands touched your bare skin, sending shivers down your spine. Large fingers danced with the beat of a song and lips pressed against your neck. Shadows played closer to you, gusts of wind causing the fire to flame out. Plunged into darkness, you shut your eyes willing this to end. You opened your eyes to not one but two girls. One from before with the wild hair and the wicked grin. The other was smaller, her eyes glowing an orange as bright as flame. Her mouth was gone and her eyes cried tears of black. Her hair fell straight, slicked back and irridescent as oil. Her body was lithe and before you could react her hands were on your wrist.

She pulled you from the landing across jagged rocks. The smell of gasoline and matches hung in the air. Her nails dug into your wrists as she dove into the water. Upon entering the water, it ignited the enitre lake turning to a pool of fire. You crashed into the waves, water filling your lungs. Screeching echoed through the waves as the girl with the burning eyes pulled you further out. Turning to face you her hands let go of your wrists, she floated in front of you. Her eyes stared through you as screams filled the air. Slashing threatened at your wrists and you were pulled under, smoke and water surrounding you. Your eyes closed as the throbbing in your head rose to inexplicable levels.

You awoke on Scott's couch. The sky had darkened and you were alone again. Blankets covered your legs and a pillow had been awkwardly placed behind your head. Voices rang out from upstairs and hugging the blanket to your body you ventured to investigate. Stiles and Scott lay on the floor controllers in hand. Smiles splayed across faces and looks of innocence in their eyes. They had forgotten and now there were two. The girls who were there but not there. Photos of a girl with hair as black as night and eyes of amber were framed next to Scott's bed. Everything was slightly out of focus, like grease was smeared on the lens. You grabbed the frame and stared at it till your eyes felt like they might bleed.

Who was she the girl with the hair as black as night and the eyes as bright as flame?