Required Reading

I'm dreaming. I have to be. I'm in a basement and it's pitch black. I'm as blind as if my eyes had been gouged. A cold chill runs down my spine at that thought. I bring my fingers to my eye sockets and discover they are still there. Good sing. Hopefully, I can find some more. But that goes right out the window when I hear a voice in my head. 'They all must die. Choose who lives and the rest will die.'


A light cuts on and shows five people behind a glass. They are all bruised and bleeding while blindfolded and bound in chairs. I start to recognize them as my mom, my dad, Scott, Liam, Malia, Lydia, and Stiles. I bang against the glass and try to scream but nothing comes. 'Choose.'


I shake my head mutely. I had to have been here for an hour top, or this was some nightmare. I take deep breaths. It isn't real, how could it be? 'Choose.' I shake my head. 'Why refuse us?'


The Dread Doctors appear behind the five of them. 'This is a dream! You're not real! Not in here!'


'Do you think you could have so many abilities by a miracle? Why don't you think back to that night you were bitten? What really happened? Blocked it out, have we? I would too. Let's stop all the stalling and get on with the game. Choose which one lives and the rest will die.'


This is me facing my worst fear: making a difficult choice. I am never good at making the right decision and now I am being forced to.


I snap awake in the hospital waiting room. I took the day off from school to have an update with the hospital. I plan on going away for about a week, just to get myself together. I already told the school ahead of time and I already know where I'm going. A friend of mine from San Francisco committed suicide and his parents want me to be there since it seems like I was his only friend.


His name was Philip and he was that one shy kid you see always sitting by themselves. He barely spoke to anyone except me. He was in almost all my classes and we became really good friends. Hearing about him committing suicide really made me depressed. I never saw him as someone to end his life but not everything is as it appears to be anymore. I rub my eyes and stand up. My mom looks at me for a second with worry. "Come on, they'll see you now."


I walk behind her and into a room. It's like a normal hospital room. Waiting is a doctor on a computer. From where I stand, I can see my school picture and my information on the screen. I can already tell how this is going to go. Since I'm going away for about a week, they're going to give me a new dose of my anti-psychotics and my depression medication because of my recent losses.


I don't need either of them but I just go with the flow. I climb up in the bed and wait. The doctor types for a bit then pulls out a clipboard and turn toward me. My mom pulls up a chair on the other side of me. "How are you today, Scarlett?" the doctor asks with a smile.


I look at his name tag. His last name is William. I bring my knee up to my chin and my other one to the side. "I'm okay, I guess."


"Well, you know you're here for an update on everything going on from your IED to other things going on mentally."


"Let me guess, you're going to put me back on my anti-psychotics."


He sighs with a nod. "Yes, just temporarily. I also want to talk about something you mentioned a couple months ago. A...voice in your head."


I start chewing on my bottom lip. "I, um..."


"Don't worry. I'm not talking about going back to Eichen House because of insanity. Sometimes that and the lack of sleep can be caused by what we call frontotemporal dementia. It-"


"I know what it is." I feel tears swelling in my eyes by the memory of that name. "I, um, had a friend that was tested for it about a year back."


"Well, you know we're going to preform an MRI to see if you really have this and, if you do, we'll go on to discuss further treatments."


I nod and look down at my hands. I need to call Stiles. "What's the point in doing that when there is no cure for it?"


I feel my mom take hold of my hand. "Sweetie, we don't know what could happen. It might not be too severe and you won't need any treatment."


The doctor sighs and gets up to leave while writing. "That's about it. I'll just send in your medication through the mail and you can call to schedule an MRI when you return from San Francisco."


I hurry out and almost throw myself into my Jeep. I drive home, trying not to cry or get too upset. When I pull up to my house, I see multiple cars outside. I walk in and see Lydia, Stiles, Malia, Scott, Kira and Theo are gathered in the living room. I slowly place my bag down. "Is this an intervention?"


Lydia laughs. "No, more of a book club."


I look at the able and see copies of 'The Dread Doctors'. Just looking at the cover makes me cringe. My nightmare of them and Theo still haunts me from time to time. "Reading this, we can remember if the Dread Doctors did anything to us," Scott explains. He hands me a copy. "I think you should read it, too."


I roll it up to avoid looking at the cover again. "Okay but not now. I should finish packing and...start heading out. Stiles, can you give me a hand?"


Once me and Stiles are alone, I go on to explain to him what happened with the doctor. He's shocked, thrown off even. "What? Are you serious? You're a werewolf so you can't possibly have it."


"Yeah, Stiles but I'm not like Scott or Malia or Liam or even Theo. There might be a chance I do have it. The door of my mind never closed, remember?"


He pulls me into a hug. "It's gonna be okay."


I lock my arms around his waist. "You can't promise that, Stiles."


There's a soft knock on the door and Lydia steps in with Scott behind her. "Is everything alright?"


I wipe tears in my eyes and break from Stiles. I try to put on my best smile. "Yeah, everything is fine." I grab my bags and make sure I have everything I need. "I'll call one of you when I get to San Francisco."


"Hey, are you sure you don't want any of us to go with you?" Scott asks.


"Scott, I'm fine. This isn't the first time I've lost a friend." I zip one of my bags and look up. "I mean, Lucas then Boyd then Allison then...Aiden."


"Which is exactly why you should have someone with you."


I shake my head again. "I'll be fine. I'll only be gone for a few days. Besides, you need to stay here and make sure no one else gets turned into...whatever. Keep a lookout for any more chimeras or the Dread Doctors. Like Deaton said, we need to do what we do best. Look out for each other."


"How will you know if anything happens to us?" Lydia asks. "You'll be away."


I make my eyes glow. "I'll know and I'll come back as soon as I can."


While I'm loading my Jeep, Malia steps outside by herself. "Hey, need any help?"


I glare at her and shake my head. "No."


I'm still upset with how she wanted to deal with the Tracy situation. She still has the mind of her coyote and she doesn't use logic. She might be apart of my pack but I still don't agree with her choices of how to deal with situations. I slam my trunk close and start toward my house. "Look, I'm sorry."


I stop in my tracks and slowly turn around. "For what?"


"You know exactly what."


I cross my arms. "I want to make sure you know what you're apologizing for."


"Everything. I've said some really bad things to you while you've been the greatest Alpha any werewolf could ask for."


"Malia, I don't want you to see me as just your Alpha or leader. I need you to understand that I'm also your friend."


"I'm not used to all this! I was in the wild and on my own. I'm not used to people being nice to me or me being nice to other people."


"Malia, let me tell you about friendship and me. I have been bitten, beaten, kidnapped, tortured, possessed and killed in only two years of my life. Through it all, I still had my twin brother by my side and, together, we formed our own pack. Stiles and I were possessed but Scott never gave up on us. When we faced consequences of sacrificing ourselves for our parents, we all still did everything we could to bring you home. If none of that is friendship, I don't know what is."


"Then teach me. Teach me so I can learn all that stuff and be a better person. For you and Scott. For Stiles."


I nod. I say my goodbyes and start on the road. Riding to San Francisco alone gives me some time to think. About my past, present and future. My past, it has shaped me to who I am today. From my childhood to San Francisco to the night I was bitten. From Peter to Derek to Kate to Deucalion to Jennifer. It all makes me the strong Alpha I am today. My present is falling apart. I don't know who to trust anymore, I don't feel safe going anywhere and everyone I love is at risk of the creepy doctors. So much for a smooth senior year. My future, the possibilities are endless. I want things to end well for me before I go to college but it doesn't look like that will be happening.


I take a short glance at the time. As soon as I look back up, a dark figure appears in my lights. Out of reflex, I swerve to avoid hitting it and drive myself off the road and into a tree...


Scott


I'm walking to my final class for the day when Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Kira, and Liam come up to me. "What's going on?"


They all look worried and anxious. "The principal wants to see all of us in his office," Stiles replies.


"What do you think?" Liam asks.


"I haven't done anything wrong."


"Maybe it's for a school project," Lydia suggests.


We all file into the principal's office. Malia and Kira sit in the two chairs while the rest of us stand. "Are we in trouble?" Kira asks right off the bat.


"No, I brought you all here today in concerns of Scarlett McCall."


"Scar? What about her?" Stiles asks.


"Scarlett McCall's black Jeep Wrangler was found this morning, wrecked from the impact of a tree off the side of the road. Police found Ms. McCall's wallet and her phone in the car and her clothes a foot out. But she was not in the car and nowhere in the area. Scarlett McCall has been declared missing as of twelve noon today." He holds up a missing poster. It's heartbreaking to see my sister's picture under the bold words of 'MISSING'. "The sheriff wanted me to let you all know he has everyone one he can searching for her between here and San Francisco, her original destination. He also wanted me to tell you that he wants you all to let him know if have any clues leading to finding her. It's key you do that so we can bring our top student home."


I go in the hallway with my pack and everyone is worried. "Do you think she's dead?" Liam asks.


"I doubt it," Lydia replies. "She's been killed twice and they would've found her body by now if she died on impact or even if she tried to crawl away."


"Then where the hell is she?" Malia asks.


"I'm sure she's fine," Stiles assures the group. "We all know Scar to always make out of crazy situations."


I hope so.

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