Scott McCall's Arc

Chapter 22 of 30

Morning light cut through the hallway, but none of them looked rested. Stiles paced in tight lines, hands moving as he talked. Scott leaned against a locker, still feeling the woods in his bones. Kira stood close. Lydia watched them all with quiet, careful eyes. "Nogitsune echoes," Stiles said. "I dreamed it again. The thing chasing me down a hallway that wasn't a hallway. Thirty seconds, maybe less, before it had me." He didn't look at Scott when he said it. "I was at Eichen House," Lydia said. Her voice was level. "Standing in the old hydrotherapy room. The tub was full. Something pulled me under and I couldn't surface." She paused. "I almost didn't." Scott pushed off the locker. "It wasn't really her last night. The thing in the woods. It's getting stronger — reaching more of us, not just one." He drew a breath. "I called someone. For help." The door swung open and Isaac walked in, jacket damp from the rain. Stiles' mouth twitched. "Oh, perfect. The prodigal stray." Isaac met his eyes evenly. "Missed you too." Lydia wasn't listening. Her gaze swept the hallway, past the lockers, past the thinning crowd. Her frown deepened. "Wait." She turned a slow circle. "Where's Malik?" Scott went still. He scanned the hall — no bandaged figure leaning against the far wall, no glow of gold eyes watching from the shadows. Malik should have been here. Malik was always here. The hallway felt suddenly larger, and emptier, than it had a second before. Whatever was hunting them had stopped warning them. Their guide was gone.