War of Hearts ✢ Stilinski | 4

SEVEN

SEVEN 

The next day, Lydia was discharged thankfully. Now, I'm in the halls with Malia and Lydia at school. "The Dread Doctors, by T.R. McCammon." I read allowed as I held the book in front of me. 

"What?" Malia asked as I stared at the book cover. 

"I don't know. There's something about it." I tell them as they followed me down the hallways. "Has anyone actually read it yet?" 

"Just me." Malia said. "And I didn't understand any of it." 

"We should probably all read it." Lydia puts in and I agree. 

"Kira's working on that." Malia explained. "Stiles says he can't find anything on the author. He thinks it's a pen name."

We now lean agaisnt Lydia's locker. Lydia takes the book from my hands and turns the book around. "In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive. Days later, they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors." 

"Sounds vaguely familiar," I recall. "How does it end?"

"It doesn't." Malia shakes her head. "There is suppose to be volume one." 

"Oh, let me guess... there is no volume two?" Lydia asked. 

"I think we're living volume two," Malia explained her theory. 

"Then maybe the real question is, is this a novel or someone's prediction?" Lydia asked.

During class, I was reading the book that Malia had given me, the Dread Doctors. I found something interesting. I found on the acknowledgments page, that book for dedicated to Dr. Grabriel Valack. 

We know Dr. Valack. 

He's currently at the Eichen House, locked up. We need to talk to him, or I need to talk to him about the Dread Doctors. If he knows what they are, he can help us destroy them. 

So right now, I'm at Stiles' trying to convince him to not come with me. Lydia had offered to come, and her being connected to me as a Banshee, it was best if she came with me. 

"Stacey, I'm going with you." Stiles determines. Stiles had called an off day, as in he was sick. I offered to take care of him but he declined. 

"I thought you said you were sick," I say, crossing my arms in disbelief. 

"I'm slightly under the weather," Stiles said. 

"You don't have to come," I say softly. "Malia's not going either. Besides, Lydia's going to be by my side the entire time." 

"Malia's not going because she knows that that place is a nightmare asylum of insanity and death, okay?" Stiles tells me, shrugging on his red jacket. I'm going to steal that jacket. "Let's go." 

I notice him wince, making me cock my head a little. Stiles is in pain? "What was that?" I asked. 

"What was what?" Stiles played dumb, making me slightly upset. He's hiding something from me. 

"You winced." I pointed out. 

He zipped up his jacket. "I have a bad elbow," he answered. 

"It was your shoulder," I caught his lie. 

"Pain radiates. It does that." Stiles rolled his eyes, he tried to make his way out of the door but I sidestepped in front of him. He sighed. "You're not going without me. You remember what happened to Deaton when he talked to Valack?" 

"Scott, Kira, and Lydia are going to be there." I remind him. 

"Okay. I'm not letting you go to a place where one of the orderlies almost killed Lydia." Stiles said. 

"He almost killed you, too," I exclaimed. 

"And we're both still alive, see? Teamwork!" Stiles sarcastically said making me growl under my breath. "Stacey, I'm doing this because I love you and I don't want to see you get hurt by Valack." 

"I love you too!" I sighed, running a hand through my hair. 

"Great! Then I'm coming with," Stiles said, on his way past he kissed my forehead and walked out the door. 

✢

I pressed the buzzer that was on the all next to the creepy gates at Eichen. "Hello?" I asked, hoping someone would answer. "Anyone there?" 

I waited for a few moments for someone to answer. I ran a hand through my short hair, I had completely forgotten that I had short hair. I paused, I glanced over at the boys who were having a conversation near Stiles' Jeep.