Stiles was certain - no he was a hundred percent sure - he was dreaming. He knew this because he didn't just happen to fall asleep during one of Coach's rants about the corrupt school system and end up in a quarry somewhere. It had been bright and sunny when he had closed his eyes and now it was dark and the stars shining about him were not as interesting as he thought they would be. Stiles glanced around, taking in his surroundings.
The quarry was dark, but the glow and roar of the fires going on around him gave him worry. He watched as a young girl with long dark hair, olive skin and was grabbed by a face he knew. A face that haunted his dreams. He was dressed more modern, blonde hair shorter, pressed against his head in a kind of flat style. His blue eyes were colder, reminding Stiles of Peter. Even the smile on his face reminded him of Derek's psycho, can't seem to stay dead, uncle.
He watched as the blonde man roughly yanked her head back and with a hiss, drove for her neck. Stiles dry heaved as he watched as the girl fought and tried her hardest to survive. But he could see her dying, he saw it in her paling complexion, heard in her dying gasps. He was almost certain he was going to hurl when she was dropped like a rag doll.
The man had blood smeared along his lips, his eyes gold like the wolves that plagued his nightmares. The golden hue bore into him from across the flames and he watched as they died out. He could see more corpses.
All women.
A woman with a wooden stake through her heart. A woman who looked like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. He could see the organ laying across from her and he wanted to vomit. He could feel the bile rising in his throat. His knees bucked as he watched the young woman who had been with him, a black girl who he could admit was beautiful, drop to the ground but the sickening sound a neck snapping was not something he hadn't heard before.
Stiles shut his eyes as he heard a loud scream. It was male and it sounded as if he was dying. Was he dying? Stiles wanted to look but he feared opening his eyes could only cause him to upchuck. He tried to take in a deep breath but all he could smell was smoke and burnt earth. The scream grew louder and he pressed his palms against his ears. He had to drown out the sound.
He was dreaming.
He was dreaming.
The screams got louder and he cracked open an eye to see a man in a well tailored suit standing over the blonde man. He knew their names. Elijah was the man hovering over the younger one, Nik. Elijah's hand came down like a viper, the sound of flesh being torn apart and Nik's painful scream made his chest heavy and his stomach churn.
Please don't, Stiles begged silently. Please Elijah, don't do it. Don't kill him.
Elijah moved, his eye determined and Stiles found himself crying out before he could see the whole thing. He could hear his shouting out for Elijah not to do, to spare his brother. But after that he found himself in an all too familiar setting.
Stiles arose off his hands and knees. He looked around, searching for them. Searching for the sounds.
They were close. He could sense them.
The growling comes first, then Stiles feels his legs moving. He can see the blur of blonde, tan and white even in the pale moonlight and know it's Nik. He can feel himself fall to the ground as he is caught and wolves start to crawl at him. He knows his death is coming. And yet, as the claws slice into his throat, drawing blood and taking his life, Stiles scream all the same.
It's getting louder, Lydia realizes as she sits in her history class. The growling sounds she hears, the annoying sounds in her ear that only she can hear, it gets louder with each second. And she wants to scream. She wants to drown out the sounds.
Drown out the noise that she doesn't want to hear. She wants the scream to wash away the feeling of dread and death; to calm to searing pain coming from her throat.
She takes a deep breath, feeling it crawl up her throat and just as it is about to pry out of her mouth, another noise sounds. One that has everyone in the class jump. A scream. A loud, agonizing male scream. And it's haunting because Lydia knows that scream.
She's heard it before.
Stiles; he's screaming. He's in pain, the voices in her head tell her. Go to him, save him, be with him. Tie him to solid ground.
She's out of her seat before she can stop herself and out the door before the teacher can finish calling her name.
Stiles needs her. He had always been there for her and she was going to be there for him.
So she follows the screaming, going from the halls to the music room. She sees Allison and Scott there; the hunter is watching helplessly as her ex-boyfriend tries to calm his best friend. But oddly, Stiles is backing away from Scott's soothing touch. He's crying out for him to stay away. He sounds different, Lydia notices. Stiles's voice is carrying a light accent. She can't place it but if she had to guess, it was English.
The redhead steps towards the two, cautious. Her heels make light taps as she brushes her hand along Scott's shoulder. Brown eyes meet green ones and she smiles, asking him to let her take over. The Alpha nods. He'll do anything to help Stiles. Lydia bends down, watching as Stiles continues to shake, continues to sink deeper and deeper into himself.
"Stiles," she calls, her voice a warm whisper. Terrified brown eyes gaze at her, trying to focus on her. "Stiles, can you tell me what's wrong?"
"I didn't want him to die," Stiles whispered, his voice shaken. She could hear him, hear some of the Stiles she remembers, but the accent was clouding it. It was like he was fully there. "I didn't want him to die, but I didn't want him to become a monster. I didn't want either of them to become monsters!"
"Who Stiles?" Lydia questioned.
"Nik and Eli," he responded. "I didn't die so that they could...so that they could become monsters."
Lydia and Allison frowned. The banshee turned to Scott, hoping for answers. He nodded his head, he knew what Stiles was talking about. Lydia turned back to Stiles, taking in that he was holding his neck. The voices whispered in her ear.
"Poor boy," they said in hushed voices. It was so fast she almost couldn't hear them.
"Stiles," she called and he looked at her. "What happened to you neck?" she asked and reached out. He swatted her hand away.
"Don't touch it!" he cried. "Please don't, I don't want you to see them."
"See what Stiles?" asked Allison. "What happened to you?"
"I died," whispered Stiles. "I died for Nik, to protect him for those things, and he...he became one of them!"
"Stiles," Lydia said and touched his hand. He jolted, looking at her, slight recognition in his eyes. "You're alive. Okay, you're alive and you're safe and nothing is going to hurt you, alright?"
He searched her face and reached a hand out, running a hand through her hair. His eyes began to droop and then when she cupped his cheeks, cradling his face in her hands, he smiled weakly as he fell in subconscious. "Bekah."
He slumped against Lydia and she blinked in confusion. Both she and Allison turned their eyes on Scott. "What is going on?" Allison asked, taking the words right out of Lydia's mouth.
"Let's get him to the nurse and call his dad," Scott said as he got up. "I'll tell you guys while we wait."
He was back in the quarry. Why was he back here?
Stiles looked around, noticing how it was bright out. The sun shined overhead and he frowned softly before he heard the crunching of the leaves. He turned and saw a girl standing there. She reminded him of Ms. Morell. Almond skin, dark hair that was more curled than straight, she was also small like Lydia. Her eyes were green, bright and luminous yet he could see a sadness there. Someone had hurt her, he realized.
He felt like he knew her, like something about her told her she was close to him. He wondered why. He had never met her before in his life. He look in the lavender tank top she wore and the dark blue jeans and dark denim jacket.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Are you the one who brought me here?"
"Uh," he paused. What was he going to say? He could always start with his name. Stiles cleared his throat. "I'm Stiles...and no I did not. I honestly don't even know how I got here."
"What do you remember?"
"Um..." he paused. "Having a panic attack."
She frowned, sympathy crossed her face. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm Bonnie by the way."
He nodded. Bonnie, it meant pretty. And she was pretty, beautiful even. Just as beautiful as Lydia. "So what brings you here?"
"I brought you both here," they turned to see a woman standing before them. She smiled softly.
"Who are you?" Bonnie asked.
"Ayana," Stiles murmured though he thought he had simply thought it. The woman, Ayana, smiled at him before looking at Bonnie.
"I am in need of your assistance," she said to Bonnie. "I wouldn't have called if it was not true."
"The spirits," Bonnie said, suddenly sinking into herself.
"Are not involved," Ayana said. She looked at Stiles once again, sadness in her eyes. "This involves a great evil. One that is far more powerful than Esther and craftier to boot. You need to contact the Original Hybrid."
Bonnie frowned, "I don't know where he is."
"Your friend does," Ayana said. "I don't have much time left. I need you to go to Beacon Hills," she turned her attention on Stiles fully. "You'll need to have a talk with your guidance counselor again. She will help you from here. I can only give this message to you both."
"Marin? How is she going to help me?" Stiles asked.
"Ayana," Bonnie started. Stiles turned his attention on them but felt something pulling him away. He looked around, searching for the source and he barely managed a yelp when he was pulled roughly from the quarry. He called out for Bonnie, who had turned her head and rushed to help him. He found himself falling, but not before he could see a sinister smile staring at him.
Stiles jolted away. He wanted to scream but nothing came out. He wrapped a hand around his throat and then found there were no scars. Just like last time, and all the times before.
There were never any scars. He took a deep breath, recalling the newest part of his dream.
So Nik was alive, but he was some crazy werewolf-vampire hybrid. Elijah was as well and that surprised Stiles. He had not dreamt of Elijah since he was young. Were the others alive, he wondered.
Ayana was new as well, and Bonnie too. Although he was almost sure Bonnie was an actual person. Ayana felt like a spirit. A ghost of the past that he was sure knew the answers to his dreams.
"Stiles," he looked over to see his father staring at him.
"Hey," he greeted softly. "Sorry to scare you like that."
John shook his head and pulled his son into a hug. "Next time you decide to have a panic attack about your nightmares," his dad said sternly as pulled back to get a good look at his son. There were bags under his eyes, he was paler than usual and he could see what faded red marks from what he knew was Stiles scratching at his neck from the nightmares. John's eyes watered as he met his son's gaze, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Come to me okay?"
Stiles nodded. "I will dad."
Bonnie's eyes snapped open and she shot up into a sitting position. From her bedside, she could make out Tyler's frame as he walked over to her and handed her a drink of water. She took it, swallowed the liquid and then took a rigid breath. The other occupant in the room did not even move, simply kept their eyes trained on
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
Bonnie shook her head. "Can you get Caroline on the phone?" she asked, keeping her eyes trained on the other person in the room. Tyler shared a glance with their third party and then nodded to Bonnie. He walked out the room, knowing that she wanted some time alone with him. He dialed Caroline's number as he walked down the stairs. The call went to voice mail so he left a message telling her to get his house.
Back in the room, Kol pushed off the wall, keeping his eyes trained on Bonnie's. "What do you want to talk about darling?"
"Ayana," she said. Kol nodded and sat down next to her, waiting for her to continue. "She said you had a brother, one who died when you were all human."
He nodded again, his mind flashing back to the morning Niklaus came to their home, crying over their little brother's corpse. Henrik had sacrificed himself for his brother. Nik had said time and time again that it was supposed to be him. Henrik had pushed him out of the way.
Their family had suffered greatly that night.
Henrik, their innocent younger brother, had died at the hands of the beasts that tormented their village. He took a shaky breath, "Was that what she summoned you for?"
"No," she said. "There was a boy there. His name was Stiles, but when I looked at him it was like looking at a younger version of you."
Kol arched an eyebrow, "Me?"
She nodded. "That's why I am hoping Caroline will answer. We need Nik."
Kol frowned. He had not seen his brother since his faked death. He still was thankful Jeremy had been on his and Bonnie's side when they came up with the plan. Although he had been greatly saddened by the young hunter's death. He had warned Elena that the consequences would be dire. He could sympathize with the former doppelganger simply because he understood what it meant to lose a loved one.
"What does Nik have to do with this Stiles boy?" Kol asked. Bonnie sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.
"He's important to Nik," Bonnie said. Kol frowned softly. That was one thing he had not liked about the bond his brother shared with Bonnie. The bond a pack shared. Shortly after Bonnie placed Klaus's soul in Tyler's body, something had changed. His brother saw her and the Lockwood by as a pack. The charade the trio put up was award winning in Kol's book, especially when he awoke from his "death" to find Bonnie and Tyler listening to Klaus like two Betas.
Bonnie sensed her lover's distress. "Stop that," she said and cupped his cheeks. "Klaus and I do share a bond, as do I and Tyler. But I am not in love with any of them in the way I love you. Klaus is my Alpha, and like a brother to me. Tyler is the same way. Neither of them will ever grace my bed or my heart the way you do."
He smiled softly. "I'm sorry darling," he muttered.
"You're aware your jealousy is cute right?" she asked. He snorted. Tyler came into the room a second later and the lovers stared at him.
"Care's on her way," he said. "Hopefully she can tell us where he is."
It wasn't like Nik to just up and leave without telling them. So the shock of finding the manor empty had been a shock to them. Bonnie had not even gotten a chance to talk to him during her graduation.
"I hope so," Bonnie said.
She shut her eyes, remember running after Stiles and stopping short when a man with bandages stood in his place, a sinister grin on his face before he brought his finger to his lips, shushing her and Ayana and disappearing in a huff of smoke.
She had felt dread settle in her stomach before Ayana warned her to keep a close eye on Stiles, with Nik in tow. Something was coming and Stiles was in danger, everything he loved ones were in danger. She also informed him that she would find a friend there to help.
She only hoped it would be enough to get Klaus to follow.