Am I in Stile? - Stiles Silinski (Book One)

Chapter 8

The water engulfed her, swallowing her as she pierced its surface. Every inch of her body was instantly chilled from its harsh temperature. She couldn't open her eyes as the chlorine slowly slid its way under her eyelids and silently burned through her sockets. It took all her energy to fight through the instinct to breathe in. Her nails desperately tried to dig into the water, hoping somehow she could latch on to something in order to stay afloat.

A soft hand brushed against her cheek, somehow giving her the smallest bit of comfort as it found her waist and began to drag her to the surface. For a brief moment she thought she was dying. Deep down a small part of her wished for it to be true, for her end to be one of battle. She could reminisce in the times she felt brave and daring; yet as she was pulled to the surface it became increasingly clear to her that she was glad to be alive.

She gasped for air as her head rose above surface. She slowly opened her eyes and allowed them to adjust to the light as she maintained her breathing. A slightly muscular arm lay around her waist keeping her afloat. She moved her hand through the cold water until it connected with another. Carefully she linked their hands together so she could feel some form of comfort. The sound of her heartbeat escaped in her ears as she locked eyes with her saviour.

She could feel her stomach twisting as she gazed into his eyes, her cheeks turned of soft pink becoming the warmest part of her body.

"You okay?" He breathed, the concern in his eyes glistening as he scanned her face for any warning signs. Air began to fill up in her lungs once again as she began to relax above the water.

"Thankyou" she breathed as he pushed her wet hair away from her face. The soft touch of his fingers sent shivers down her already cold spine. He nodded in return to her as he began scanning the room for the snake-like creature that had trapped them in the first place.

"Can you see it?" Derek panicked as his temporarily paralysed body began to sink deeper in the water. Everyone's eyes flickered across the ripples of the water as the mysterious creature roamed the edges. It's skin seemed to glisten even though no water had touched its surface. There was almost a glimpse of fear in his eyes when we gazed down at the water before him.

"Okay. Okay, I don't think I can do this much longer" Stiles chocked our at chlorine filled water filled his mouth.

"No, no, no. Don't even think about it!" Derek snapped, his eyes unusually full of fear as he glared at Stiles who was fighting to keep everyone afloat. Stiles turned his gaze to Maggie as concern spread across her face.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course" she breathed, careful not to let any water swim into her mouth. They nodded at each other as he slowly released his grip from her waist and allowed the water to engulf her.

"STILES!" Derek beamed out before he sunk bellow the surface towards the bottom of the pool. Stiles raced towards the edge of the pool, each stroke feeling like a knife was piercing through his muscles. As he neared the wet exterior his eyes locked with the creature, both of them determined to complete their task. With one last dive Stiles leaped towards his phone, allowing his fingers to grasp its surface before falling backwards into the pool. Just as his fingers punched in the numbers the glass fell from his fingers, plunging deep into the water below them. Stiles let out a frustrated groan and slammed his hands on the surface of his water before disappearing under the surface and collecting Derek from the bottom of the pool.

Maggie splashed around attempting to maintain afloat as she waited for Stiles to resurface. Her heart beat was increasing the longer he was submerged. Just as his head cleared the water the fire doors slung open revealing a slim worried looking Scott who was pacing towards them. He reached his arm into the water, gripped her under her armpit and tugged her out of the pool. She landed on the hard floor with a thud as she began coughing and spitting out chlorine water.

"Thanks" she managed to say as Stiles collapsed down next to her.

"You alright?" he asked, concern filled his voice as he placed a hand on her shoulder blade. She turned to face him and nodded slightly, although she didn't believe what she was saying. Stiles' soft hand gripped her own as he helped her up of the wet floor. He grabbed a towel from on top of the diving board and wrapped it around her, rubbing her arms in an attempt to dry her slightly - only, he didn't remove his arms after. He kept one hanging around her side slightly, his fingers gripping the edge of her other arm as he followed Derek and Scott out of the building.

"How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?" Scott sighed as he paced towards his car.

"It's called the Kanima" Derek stated, walking towards with Eric on tow.

"You knew the whole time?" Maggie asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"No. Only when it was confused by its own reflection"

"So it doesn't know what it is?" Scott questioned.

"Or who" Maggie continued, confused by the whole situation. She looked down at her arm to see Stiles fingers still holding the towel around her. They locked eyes for a moment before he realized he was still hold her. He opened his mouth to say something to her but instead let his grip go, walked slightly forward and looked towards Derek.

"So what else do you know?"

"Just stories. Rumors. It's a shape shifter - like us - but it's not right. It's like a .... " He stumbled to find his words.

"Abomination" Maggie continued as they all turned to look at her. Derek looked at her in confusion and nodded.

"Derek!" Scott called after him as he began to walk away "We need to work together on this, maybe even tell the Argents"

"You trust them?" Derek spat, shooting an anger filled look in Maggie's direction as he looked her up and down.

"Nobody trusts anyone! That's the problem!" Scott yelled. "There something scarier and stronger and its killing people. And - and we don't even know anything about it"

"I know one thing" Derek stated as he and Erica began to walk away "When I find it. I'm gonna kill it"