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"By order of the Sheriff, a county-wide curfew goes into effect tonight at sundown." A voice spoke from the loudspeaker, catching all the student's attentions. "All after-school activities are cancelled until further notice. Students should go directly home at the end of the school day."
Alex and Scott frowned as they shared a gaze, their attentions being drawn to the hallway ahead of them as two police officers walked down it with guns in their hands.
Alex immediately texted her brother, letting him know the news of the lockdown as her and Scott approached Stiles, who was talking to one police officer.
"You don't think this is a bit much in terms of firepower...for a high school?" Stiles frowned.
"Your dad's the one who issued us these things, and he wouldn't officially say why." The officer responded with a shrug.
"Did he say anything unofficially?" Scott frowned.
"No, but everyone's got a theory." The officer glanced at Scott.
"And yours is?" Alex raised her eyebrows, the officer glancing at her at the words.
"I shouldn't be talking to you guys, don't you have class?" The officer furrowed his eyebrows.
"Come on, Strauss, what's your theory?" Stiles questioned, trying to get an answer from the officer.
Strauss glanced at the other officers for a brief moment before leaning closer to the three, his voice low. "Do you guys believe in the supernatural?"
"The supernatural?" Alex raised her eyebrows, the girl glancing at him incredulously.
Stiles and Scott shared a glance, the two going along with Alex's words.
"Like, fairies and elves?" Stiles added, Officer Strauss frowning.
"Like...vampires and werewolves." The officer responded.
Scott blew out a breath as he let out a little laugh. "Yeah, sure. Werewolves."
••••
Alex blew out a breath as she sat on a chair by Lydia's bed in Eichen House. "Hey, Lyds."
Lydia was fully immobile, her expression blank as she stared at the roof.
"I miss you." Alex continued, the girl huffing a small chuckle. "We all do."
"Uh, Lucas would've come, but he didn't wanna see you like this." She added. "He's gonna kill me for this, but he really likes you. I mean, you can probably already tell because you're the smartest person I know."
After a brief moment of silence, Alex spoke up again, the girl's gaze never wavering from Lydia. "Some of our teachers have told me to hold onto your work for you. It's easy, don't worry. The Riemann Hypothesis. Nontrivial zeros, zeta functions, piece of cake."
Another brief moment of silence passed before Alex continued, the girl feeling her cheeks slightly heat up as tears stung the corners of her eyes. "If you can wake up, we can work on it together. Compare answers, and all that..."
"We can't do this without you, Lyds." Alex spoke quietly.
Another brief silence passed, Lydia showing no signs of movement apart from her steady breathing.
"I really miss my best friend." Alex added, her voice soft.
"I think that's enough, Alex." Mrs Martin interrupted, Alex blinking away tears as she turned to face Lydia's mother, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Alex nodded, the girl turning back to face Lydia as she stood up. "Bye, Lyds. Hopefully I can come back soon."
Suddenly, Alex frowned, the girl noticing a bald spot on Lydia's head behind her hair. "What are they doing to her?"
"Alex, you need to leave." Mrs Martin cut her off, the woman approaching Alex.
"Why did they shave her head?" Alex frowned at Lydia's mother. "Why are you letting them experiment on her?"
"Alex." Mrs Martin furrowed her eyebrows. "It's for ECT, electroconvulsive therapy. It's done under general anaesthesia and it's perfectly safe."
"You're delusional if you think anything the people here do to patients is safe." Alex glared at Lydia's mother.
"She's my daughter. You don't think I'm trying everything I can to get her out of this?!" Mrs Martin exclaimed.
"Mrs Martin, that's not for ECT." Alex frowned.
As if on cue, a nurse walked in, the woman glancing between Mrs Martin and Alex. "Is everything alright in here?"
"It's fine." Mrs Martin responded as both her and Alex glanced at the woman. "Alex was just leaving."
Alex scoffed as she glanced at Mrs Martin.
Mrs Martin raised her eyebrows. "I know you're Lydia's best friend, but you need to leave now. Or you won't be coming back."
Alex narrowed her eyes at Lydia's mother, the girl glancing at Lydia, and then back to Mrs Martin as she hesitantly walked out of the room.
As Alex walked past two security guards, she purposely bumped into one of the guards' shoulders, the girl discreetly stealing his key card. "Sorry." She spoke as she walked past them and put the key card in her pocket, the girl leaving the mental asylum.
••••
AUTHOR'S NOTE
hey again!
sorry this chapter was so short, it mainly consisted of malia finding her mother and lydia in eichen house, so I didn't have much to include alex in.
