Dark Side of the World // S.S. [Book Two]

Chapter 40

Malia is sitting on Theo's chest, pounding his face over and over. "It's okay," Theo says. "You don't have to stop."

"Trust me, I won't." Malia growls.

Scott and Liam pull Malia off as she flicks her claws out. "Malia, enough! Hey."

I frown. "I was hoping she'd keep going."

Theo simply smirks. "I missed that feistiness."

"Yeah, stop flirting with me. It makes me want to puke."

Malia glances to me and I nod. She rushes him once again, growling softly. Scott grabs her and holds her by the waist. "Slow down, okay? Meg, don't encourage her. He's going back in the ground."

Liam shakes his head. "You can't. He remembers Stiles."

I let out perhaps the most sarcastic scoff ever. "What did you say?"

Malia glares at Theo and sneers. "Scott remembers Stiles. Meg, Lydia, and I remember Stiles."

"The Dread Doctors knew all about the Wild Hunt. He can help us." Liam protests.

I glare at Liam. "My cousin Nico knows all about the Wild Hunt. Can we really trust Theo?"

Scott glances to me. "She's right. He could kill us."

I raise my sword. "I'll gladly be the first one to do so."

Scott grabs me by my waist and Liam shakes his head at me. "He's my responsibility." He holds up a sword. "Mrs. Yukimura gave me the sword."

Theo sighs. "It's so awkward when Mom and Dad fight."

"Shut up!" Everyone yells.

Hayden makes herself known and says, "You're both right. If Theo tries anything, we'll send him back to the Skinwalkers. But for right now..."

"He goes back now." Scott says angrily.

"Except Liam's the one with the right sword." Theo replies.

"Shut up!" We yell again.

Scott pinches the bridge of his nose and motions for me and Liam to follow. We head into the kitchen and Scott crosses his arms. Liam frowns and asks, "What, you don't trust me?"

Scott sighs. "I don't trust him. Do you?" Scott asks, looking at me.

"After all the skatá he pulled, no way. But if he actually remembers Stiles, maybe we have to give him the benefit of the doubt, but not too much benefit."

Scott nods and turns to Liam. "Remember who he is. He got into your head and tried to kill me. And when that didn't work, he killed me. And Tracy, and Josh, and his sister."

Liam purses his lips. "But this might be our only chance to get Stiles back."

Scott's eyes narrow. "Can't we just try to find somebody that we at least trust?"

"This might be a mistake. But you don't know that yet. And you made some mistakes when you were learning to be an alpha."

Scott nods. "I made a lot. But we don't have time for mistakes. I can't lose Stiles. Meg can't lose him."

Liam's eyes shine a little brighter. "So we should try anything we can to save him. Right? Even Theo."

"Convince us." Scott answers simply.

We walk back into the living room and Liam immediately heads towards Theo. "I can put you back in the ground at any time."

Theo smirks. "You also need a transformer that can handle five billion joules of electricity. I know where to find one and I can show you how it works. I'll tell you if Malia and Meg promise not to kill me."

Malia lets out a growl and I raise my sword.

"They promise." Liam says.

Malia glares at Scott. "No I don't. We're really gonna do this? Trust him?"

I shake my head. "Mal, we're not gonna trust him. We're gonna use him."

"You got a better idea?" Hayden snaps.

"I've got an idea. It may not be better. But at least it's not him." Malia retorts before walking off.

I see a message from Sheriff telling me to come over. "Scott?"

He nods to me. "Go. We'll take it from here. You can take my bike."

I walk out front and slip on the helmet. I bike to the Stilinski household and walk inside. I make my way to a ragged hole in the wall that I somehow know to be Stiles' room. Sheriff looks at me and Sheriff asks, "You knew about this, didn't you?" I shrug and see his curiosity piquing as he looks around. "God, it was on the blueprints. It was here when we moved in. That was 18 years ago."

I hear a voice say, "I need to get back to my friends. They're worried about me. My girlfriend is worried about me. Scott. Liam. All of them."

"Megara?" Sheriff asks. "What is it?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. I thought I heard a voice is all."

He nods and then frowns. "I don't understand how you knew this was here. If you want to discuss the possibility that I had a son...I'm listening."

I close the door and explain the whole thing with Lenore. Lydia had explained it to me.

"So, wait a sec. So, this woman "Lenore", she conjured up her dead son?" Sheriff asked.

I nod. "She was the only one left. She had to fill a void. So she filled it with her dead son."

"And you saw this kid?" He asks with a disbelieving look.

"We all did. He was real. He was there. But..."

"But what?"

"She was there when everybody was taken. Lydia told me she saw it happen. But she didn't wanna believe it. She wanted to believe in her son."

Sheriff's eyes narrow. "What are you trying to say? You think Claudia is not real? You think I made up a phantom wife?"

As gently as I can, I say, "You're afraid to remember him."

He purses his lips. "She's a flesh and blood woman. She's real. Everything else here is just...Is just speculation. Conjecture. It's just, it's a theory based on a...On a ghost town."

When Sheriff finishes, I make my way to the door. On the way to the door a lacrosse jersey and helmet catches my eye. Number 24. I pick it up, inhaling the comforting scent and press it to me. Sheriff is looking at me, incredibly confused. "You don't see anything?" I ask.

"I see a deeply disturbed young woman."

I frown slightly and say, "You're afraid to remember him because you're afraid of what it means."

"Why do you care so much I remember him?"

"Because you loved him." I say simply, tossing the jersey to him.

His hand automatically reaches up and he catches it, staring at me with curiosity and amazement. From the look he's giving me, I know he's remembering his son.