The Secret Holder

XXV. Deadlock

Once the doors open to the first floor, Scott and Stiles walk over to the check-in desk. I sit down in a chair to wait.

After talking to the person at information, Scott splits off to go back in the elevator.

Stiles walks towards me. "Hey, um," he touches the back of his neck, then his bottom lip. "They told me my dad is on the floor right below the roof..."

"Oh, okay," I say, fidgeting a little with my hands. "Well, I'll be here,"

"Actually...do you want to come with me?"

"Um...sure,"

When we get to the floor, I go and sit in a chair by a window. "Give your father my best,"

"'Course," Stiles answers.

After a few minutes, my thoughts start to get the best of me. You should tell him. You should have told him weeks ago. When he finds out...it will be the end of everything...

"Well, well, well...what have we got here?" a voice asks.

I stand up. "You're supposed to be long gone..."

"I haven't come to fight," the Desert Wolf stands up taller, straightening her tattered, bloody clothing.

"What's going on here?" Stiles asks, clearly confused.

"Like I said, no fighting. I just have a parting gift for this one," she says, referring to Stiles. From her jeans pocket, she pulls out a striking diamond ring.

Stiles looks as if he's frozen over, but he speaks, his voice trembling. "Where—how do you have that?"

"Think about it Stiles. It was buried with her, wasn't it?" she hands him the wedding ring.

He looks at it closely, as if his eyes are betraying him. "You did this just to screw with my head...Just get the hell out of here,"

Stiles starts to walk away, but the Desert Wolf continues to speak. "If you don't believe me, go down to the medical record room on the first floor. Look in Claudia's file. There's something new in it."

"Someone would've told me...you're a liar."

"Like I said, go see for yourself."

"I don't believe you—"

"Stiles, please," I interject. "I'll take care of this,"

"I don't want to leave you alone with her," Stiles's voice leaks with venom.

"Stiles, please just go,"

Stiles, without another word, saunters down the hallway and into an elevator.

"Good. He's gone." Without hesitation, the Desert Wolf punches me squarely in the face, splitting my lip open.

I start to back up so that she can't get to me, but instead she grabs my arm and throws me against the wall headfirst. My surroundings start to spin and I feel like every noise I've ever heard is ringing in my ears.

"Bitch!" I hiss, trying to not lose consciousness. "What happened to no fighting?"

"No fighting with Stiles...I never said no fighting with you. And you're the bitch." She kicks me in the ribs and I can't get back up for the life of me. "You act so high and mighty...but you're just as bad, if not worse than me. At least I can be honest. Your little brain is just teeming with secrets you're keeping from everyone." She laughs derisively. "How can you sleep at night?"

While she talks, I gather up the strength to stand, even if I'm still shaky on my feet. "How can you, Corinne?"

"How dare you use that name!" She punches me in the mouth again, blood running into my mouth. I have to spit out the metallic taste. "You like Stiles, don't you? Well, after he finds out about your little secret...he's going to want nothing to do with you," The Desert Wolf smiles, as if she's won.

"So what if he doesn't want anything to do with me? Keeping the secret about Claudia, at the time, was the only thing I could do to protect him...so I did it."

"Or you just wanted to stay in his good graces...god, Lydia, you're worse than me. Just be honest and reveal your true motives for once!"

"I am nothing like you!" I spit. "You're ruthless, narcissistic...you hurt innocent people...you kill innocent people," Water begins to sting my eyes, and my head throbbing and the pain from my other injuries begin to intensify.

"Oh, is she crying?" the Desert Wolf taunts. "She who is so intelligent...the one to figure it out before anyone else...Lydia, trust me. You're just going to end up alone."

Her words scare me, but not enough. I see a window to my left, at the end of the hall.

She reaches out and cuts off my breath by closing her fingers over my throat. For a second time, things start to go blurry and I feel like this is it. I try and fail to remove her hands on my neck. When that doesn't work, I go to my last resort. I just visualize.

"Any last words?" She squeezes my windpipe further and my breath goes from rasping to nonexistent.

I visualize. I visualize the Desert Wolf's body flying through the window at the end of the hall. I can imagine the glass shattering into a million pieces.

Right as I feel the essence of my soul leaving my body, I summon all the strength I can muster and I detach the Desert Wolf's hands from my throat.

I push the Desert Wolf in front of me and I scream. I scream out every bad feeling, every good one; every nostalgic memory about my mom or Stiles...all of it is channeled and the power of sound washes over the Desert Wolf. It sends her flying through the hard glass window.

My heart stops. As if it's in slow motion, the glass shatters like I visualized, and I hear a frantic shriek. And then, there's a thud.