Empathy ⌯ Stiles Stilinski

[35] the old friend

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
the old friend

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( shapeshifted; pt.i )

THE cheers get louder as the lights get brighter, turning on with a thunderous sound. The seats are filled with adoring fans, some hold up signs declaring their love for the team, others for a specific player. Maddie sits on the top row of the bleachers, her feet on the ground as everyone around her stands to cheer, some hold signs to show their commitment, others find themselves in competition to cheer the loudest.

Maddie sinks into herself, pulling her jacket closer around her body. She visibly winces when the people behind her shout, and she's certain that they may have just burst her eardrum. She's always hated lacrosse games— well, the noise more specifically. She's never been much of a verbal expressor, most of her reactions are internal. Whilst Stiles always makes comments during a film, Maddie would much rather remain silent, balling her fists whenever something irritating happens or scowling when her least favourite character comes on. The silence lets her focus more.

The hairs on the back of her neck start to slowly stand up, goosebumps rising proudly on her covered skin. A quiet growl heard through the shouting crowds. She looks around her, behind her. Nothing.

Then when she blinks, it's over.

There are no players on the team, no familiar number twenty—four, eleven or fourteen. There's no one else in the crowds, nothing indicating a game. As if it was yet to happen. . . or it never did. The cold burns her fingers as she curls them into her palm, hiding them under her sleeves.

A chilling breeze brushes up against her neck at the same time her confusion settles in. She stands from her seat, her arms crossed against her chest in an attempt to conserve heat. The field is deadly silent aside from the sound of breathing. Maddie stills, closing her eyes as she takes a large gulp of air into her lungs, because it isn't her breathing she hears.

Against all instincts of survival, she turns around, body spinning after her head as her eyes land on a colour that bores into her soul. She stumbles back, her mind preparing to fall to the ground from the height of the bleachers once it catches up with her action, but instead she finds herself at the other side of the painted field. A metallic taste fills her dry mouth as her tongue quickly licks her lips. Maddie shivers after she looks down at her arms, finding them bare of the previous leather material that had been covering them, a sheer blue fabric replacing it that she doesn't take notice of. She rubs her hands up and down against her arms as her eyes dart back to the field, now finding a blurry figure standing in the middle.

"Jackson?"

The figure becomes more visible, the colours start to fade in, chasing the grey away and everything becomes familiar. So much so that the next words uttered from the figure's mouth are said in her mind before they reach her ears.

"Jackson, is that you?"

The red eyes bleed into her vision so suddenly that with the next blink she's jolting up in bed, her scream silenced by the lack of oxygen being able to make its way into her lungs. Her eyes start to flood as she hears her heart beating in her ears. Everything has been placed on high alert, her head snapping to each side as her eyes dart across the room, trying to detect a threat.