The Fire Within

Chapter 60

*Third POV*

Later that night, Lydia turns the TV off in the lounge room, tells her mom 'goodnight' and then starts making her way up the stairs to the bathroom, preparing to get ready for bed. It was a draining day, both mentally and physically. Lydia can't wait until she can just get a break from school, and preferably the supernatural too. Unfortunately for Lydia and the rest of the pack, they generally can't have it both ways.

Lydia makes her way into the bathroom, locking the door behind her, and starts rubbing off her makeup with her makeup wipes and then brushes her teeth thoroughly. Once that is done, Lydia walks over to the shower and turns on the water. She quickly strips down and then steps into the shower, sighing in relief as the warm water hits her body, warming her all the way down to her bones. She grabs the soap and starts cleaning herself absent-mindedly, her eyes closed.

She eventually puts the soap down, grabs the shampoo, slathers some into her hands and she starts rubbing it through her hair. Lydia stands directly under the shower head as she lets the shampoo rinse out of her hair, using a hand to comb through her hair and untangle any knots while steam billows around her. Lydia continues this process for a while, feeling relaxed and content, feeling the water slowly drip down her body.

Once the shampoo has been completely rinsed from Lydia's strawberry blonde hair, she starts reaching for the conditioner but freezes when she hears a strange and mysterious whisper all around her. She can't quite make out what the whispering voice is saying, but it continues to build and build, more voices joining in. Suddenly, the shower water feels ice cold and Lydia's breath comes out in a mist. In a way, this coldness reminds Lydia of death, a feeling she is unfortunately all too familiar with by now. Lydia shivers a little and hugs her arms closer to her body, trying to keep in the warmth. Her eyes are wide and her heart is being fast, not knowing what is going on. Lydia knows that it must be some sort of banshee premonition or something, but it doesn't make the experience any less scary when they randomly just happen.

Lydia turns around and reaches a hand out to turn off the shower, still trying to focus on the creepy whispers that seem to be filling her head. As she slowly turns the hot and cold shower control handles back to off, the voices get louder and more panicky. Lydia can start understanding what they are saying as well. It's almost like the shower controls are basically the volume controls for the TV. While the freezing droplets of water run down her body and her breath comes out in mist, Lydia turns the controls even further, listening intently. People are screaming and crying and pleading for mercy, and Lydia can hear the slight crackling of a fire. She also suddenly feels like she has been completely drained of energy like someone is sucking the life force out of her.

"Dying... dying, screaming, crying and dying. They're all going to die." One of the voices rings around in Lydia's head, the tone of voice almost seeming like they are speaking a warning. Lydia's heart drops and goosebumps start to appear on her legs and arms, her blood going as ice cold as the water.

"Who?" Lydia asks weakly. She suddenly feels a sharp pain in her stomach, so she gasps in shock and looks down to see deep claw-shaped wounds in her stomach, and it looks like the claws really dug deep, blood dripping down her body. Lydia feels weak and dizzy, feeling her energy and life force is being drained. She stumbles ever so slightly, but then places a hand over her stomach, trying to ignore the pain.

"Scott!" Lydia hears Stiles' voice scream in pure horror and agony and then she hears an angry and ferocious, but heartbroken roar right after it. Lydia glances down at her stomach again, her hand over the wound shaking slightly, and it is covered in blood as well. Her breathing hitches ever so slightly.

"Stiles, no!" Lydia hears Kira plead desperately, also sounding horrified. Lydia's body suddenly feels like it is burning, her skin sizzling painfully. Lydia cries out for a moment, throwing her head up and scrunching her eyes tight, just hoping and praying this pain goes away. It's unbearable. The screams and cries start building up in Lydia's head again, especially the screams of Scott and Stiles. The burning pain continues across all over her body, and Lydia is surprised that her skin hasn't melted off yet.