《She-Wolf》Radio Silence
Advertisement
Stiles Stilinski sits with dozens of other people in what appears to be a rundown train station. The people are silent and seem distracted. Stiles realizes that the keys to his Jeep are in his hand. He turns to Doctor Sandra Hugo, the same doctor Lydia saw in class.
"Excuse me, sorry... Where are we?" Stiles asks.
"We're at the train station," the doctor replies.
"Right. Okay. Helpful. Which train station, exactly?"
"Train station number one-thirty-seven.
"Did you see me come in?"
"No..."
"How long have you been here?"
"Maybe an hour?"
"We got here at the same time. It's been at least six hours," A businessman sitting next to her reading a paper says.
"Six hours?" The doctor seems confused by this information.
"Where are you goin'?" Stiles continues his interrorigation.
"Uh... Uh, I had a ticket with me somewhere, um..."
"You always travel in your work clothes?"
"I must have been in a rush..."
Stiles gets up and walks to the ticket booth. The sign says 'Back in 5 Minutes' but the dust on the counter is thick. "Do you know if anyone works here?"
As the question passes Stiles's lips the PA system comes to life. "The following stops have been cancelled: Hollatine, Batten, Baybury, Deer Ridge, Red Oak..."
"Excuse me, where are those trains going?" Stiles asks as All the people get up from their seats and head for the tunnel marked 'To Trains.'
"...Trenton, Anderson, King Springs..."
"Excuse me, do you know what train this is? Does anyone know where this train's going? Excuse me, do you know what train this is? Do you know where this train's going?"
Wind sweeps through the tunnel bringing with it rustling leaves and the sound of the Ghost Riders on horseback. The people in the waiting area panic and flee, taking refuge behind the rows of pews as the Riders enter and dump a tied man onto the floor. The man's bonds disappear in a puff of green smoke. The riders tear through the station knocking people down as they ride. Someone grabs Stiles and thrusts him behind a column. It's Peter Hale.
"It had to be you,"
The riders return through the tunnel and everyone in the station, save Stiles, immediately returns to their seats and their formerly docile disposition.
"Peter? Peter, what are you doing here? How are you here?" Stiles questions.
"What do you mean, how am I here? I'm here. You are here. We are all here. Now, get the hell away from me, Stiles," Peter replies.
"Peter. Peter. Peter! What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting for my train."
"Okay, did you not just see that?"
"See what?"
"The horses, the hogtied businessmen with the magically dissolving ropes? I'm sorry, did anyone just see that?"
"I saw it," Selene replies.
"Aaah!" Stiles screeches. "Jezus, woman where did you even come from?"
"Ow, where could I have come from? Maybe one of the hundred seats here that you have a very clear view of,"
"Are you saying I should've seen you coming?"
"You would've if you hadn't been busy interrogating this asshole,"
"You mind? You're blocking the board. I'd like a little warning before my train arrives," Peter suddenly speaks up. The board is a list of arrivals and departures. The towns of Beacon Hills, Bodie, Boneville, Pripyat, Bannack, Skido, Canaan, Garnet, Harappa, and Red Bird are listed under the heading Arrivals. With each listed as 'arrived' except Beacon Hills which is listed as 'on time.'
Advertisement
The Departures board shows all towns are 'delayed.' They include Springville, Batten, Red Oak, Trenton, Anderson, King Springs, Cannon Creek, Hollatine, Bay Burry, and Deer Ridge.
"Okay. So, you're waiting for a train. How did you get here?" Selene asks.
"Pretty sure I took a cab," Peter replies as if it should be obvious.
"Pretty sure you didn't,"
"The last time we saw you, you were being locked away in Eichen House," Stiles reminds the man.
"I was in Eichen... Thanks to you," Peter remembers.
"Memory's good. Can you remember how you, uh, got out? They discharge you?" Stiles continues.
"No. The power went out, and I ran like hell,"
"That's it? You just ran?"
"Wouldn't you?" Selene questions with her head tilted at Stiles's question.
"Yes, that's it-- I literally just ran away from the insane asylum that was holding me hostage!" Peter replies. "How long have I been here?"
"The lockdown was three months ago," Stiles replies.
"I've been missing for three months, and no one came for me?"
"That's what the Ghost Riders do. They erase you,"
"Ghost Riders? Ghost Riders of the Wild Hunt?"
"Yeah, you know what I'm talking about?"
"Of course, I know what you're talking about. They ride the lightning. They are an unstoppable force of nature. And, I promise you, they don't make pit-stops in train stations."
"Unstoppable force of nature? Really? I've heard that one before and guess what we stopped them with silver. Also, don't be so dramatic," Selene points out.
"Come on, there's gotta be a way out of this place, right? Have you tried looking around? Have you talked to anyone who knows anything?" Stiles proposes.
"If this is the Wild Hunt, there is no escape. You and I are doomed to ride the storm forever," Peter replies and Selene rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, we're not in the storm, we're in a train station... And we can get out of a train station," Stiles counters and Selene snorts.
"We can't get out of here, Stiles... Because this place isn't real."
"What are you talking about? What is he talking about?"
"Beacon Hills doesn't have a train station."
"Didn't Derek live in a Train Depot at a certain point?" Selene points out.
"Firstly, station and Depot are two different things and secondly, it's been abandoned since 18 something or whatever," Peter argues.
"18 something? Really?"
"Selene, come on. Let's ignore this pessimist with an utter lack of faith and try the doors," Stiles says as he walks over to the doors.
"Try the doors, really?" Selene questions before continuing in a whisper "If walking through the doors is gonna get us out of here, I don't think many people would still be here,"
Stiles tries the doors.
"What are you doing?" Peter asks.
"Little help, please?" Stiles replies. Peter breaks the chain off one of the station doors with no effort. "Okay," Stiles says sarcastically and walks through. He emerges back in the station from another door. "What the hell." He tries the same doors again, ending up at the other doors again.
"No, no, no, keep going," Peter states.
"I don't see you comin' up with anything," Stiles replies.
"Stiles..." Peter whispers while coming closer to the teenagers. "Left shoulder, against the pillar. Don't look." Stiles looks. "I said, don't look!"
"Yeah, he's watching us," Selene observes.
"So?" Stiles asks.
Advertisement
"So-" Selene starts annoyed. "-Every person in this station is either comatose or catatonic. He seems very interested in keeping an eye on us,"
"Hey!" Stiles yells at the man. They try to approach him and he runs away. Selene jogs after him and grabs his collar. She pulls him against the pillar.
"Why are you watching us?" Selene questions harshly.
"You tried the doors. Nobody ever tries the doors," The man replies.
"Sounds like you have," Stiles counters.
"The ones that I could open. I've tried everything else,"
"Not everything. You're still here," Peter points out.
"Yeah, it seems like you got some kind of a plan. So, why don't you tell us about it?" Stiles adds.
"I can tell you... Doesn't mean you can do it," the guy says. Stiles looks at Selene and Peter.
"Oh, we-we can do it. They can-they can-" Stiles says.
"Well, it's right in front of your face. You didn't see it, did you?" The guy asks them.
"We saw it," Selene comments.
"Then why'd you waste so much time running through the doors?"
"Because we like easy solutions that never work,"
"I'll tell you why-- because it's all part of the illusion. You're afraid... And they want you to be afraid,"
"Or that,"
"I'm not afraid,"Peter says angrily and walks briskly toward the tunnel. He stops in front of it.
"Can't do it, can you?" The guy says and turns to Stiles and Selene. "He can't do it."
"We really should kill him," Peter complains.
"Or... you can just walk through it," Selene says. She rolls her eyes and walks towards the tunnel. She stops for a second right next to Peter. She glances over at him and swallows thickly. She turns back forward and walks through the tunnel.
Peter asks Stiles to push him inside. Once he does, the man walks briskly forward and into the dark. Stiles hesitates until Peter pulls him inside the tunnel.
~~~
Mrs Finch is teaching about the structures of the brain. She explains that the corpus callosum is the largest white matter structure in the brain and the bridge connecting all parts of the brain to each other. She says the ability for everything in the brain to communicate and work together allows for leaps in cognitive thinking. She adds that the structure is also credited with giving people a sense of intuition.
Lydia is distracted. There is a blue Jeep in the parking lot. A tow truck driver is hooking it up in preparation to tow it away. She is so distracted by this, she eventually leaves class with Scott following close behind. Mrs Finch asks the remaining students if they understand that class attendance is not optional.
Lydia runs to the parking lot.
"Hey! Hey, you can't tow this Jeep!" Lydia yells.
"Paperwork says I can. It's reported as abandoned," The tow truck driver explains.
"And now it's not,"
"Oh, this is your vehicle?"
"Does it matter?"
"Sounds like a 'no'."
"It's mine! Uh, my Jeep. Thank you. I'll move it... once I get the keys... from my locker... after you leave," Scott says as he runs towards them. Brett, who had seen the two through the window during his own class, came rushing out too.
"I'm sorry. Once it's on the hook..." the tow truck driver starts.
"Please don't say, 'You're on the hook.'" Lydia cuts him off.
"Well, I can't now..."
"Oh, I... Okay, look, there's gotta be something that we can do. Sign something? Call someone?" Scott sums up.
"Pay someone?" Lydia realises.
"Drop fee is a hundred and fifty. Cash," the driver replies.
"Or I could smash your head against the hook and maybe it'll fall off the hook," Brett proposes with a sweet smile. The driver looks at the other two teenagers nervously. Lydia and Scott were giving Brett a disappointed look but gave no sign he wouldn't do it.
"You know what, it's fine." The driver quickly scurries off.
"Hey, you know I don't actually have the keys to this thing, right?" Scott informs them.
"But now we have a Jeep!" Lydia replies and Brett snorts.
"Yay," Brett states.
~~~
Deeper into the darkened tunnel Peter, Stiles, and their guide find another platform and an abandoned waiting area. The tracks lead off into another darkened tunnel beyond.
"Congratulations. You found another part of the phantom train station," Peter says mockingly.
"Is this the way out?" Stiles asks.
"If it was, we would be leaving."
"Obviously, there's a catch. There's always a catch," Selene states. She walks further down the tracks until she stops suddenly.
"You might want to stay off the tracks, 'cause that's the way in and out," the guy explains. Selene holds her hand out in front of her. She seems to touch an invisible barrier for a second. She quickly pulls her hand back to see burning wounds heal quickly. The sound of thunder and galloping horses fills the air. "They're coming."
The Ghost Riders return with another victim. They seem to appear out of a greenish tear in reality in the middle of the darkness. The exact same place Selene had touched the barrier.
"That's the way out?" Peter asks. "How in the hell are we supposed to do that?"
"We jump," The guy explains.
"Jump?"
"On the back of the Riders as they go through,"
"Is that all?"
"I've been timing it. Look, we can jump from here just before they go out,"
"I think you're confusing your pronouns-- we aren't going to do anything, but you should absolutely give that a shot,"
"Do you not wanna get out of here?"
"We want to get out alive, okay? How do you know this works? Seems like a lot could go wrong." Stiles points out.
"You'll die," Selene, who had not taken her eyes off of the place the Ghost Riders had come through, speaks up. Everyone turns to her. "Burned up to a crisp until there are not even ashes left off you." She still doesn't face them.
"Look, I can't stay here. I'm losing my mind in this place," the guy states, deciding to ignore Selene's warning.
"I think you have an excellent grasp of the situation. I say, go for it," Peter replies.
"Hey, they're coming back,"
Peter pulls Selene and Stiles back. Selene runs towards the guy but Peter grabs her arm. "No, we can't let him do this," She protests.
"What if he's right?" Peter asks.
"He is, it is the only way in and out but he'll die. You and I might have a shot at surviving that but he'll die!" Selene replies.
"Hey, we'll figure something else out. Hey, look, there's gotta be another way out of this place," Stiles tries to talk down the guy.
"But there isn't. I've been looking for months. Are you comin' or not?" He replies.
The guy jumps and lands on the back of a horse. He rides up to the barrier and bounces off screaming. In a green flash, his body disintegrates.
"...Somehow, I don't think that went the way he was hoping," Peter states. Selene rips her arm from his grasp and jumps back onto the rails. She walks towards the rift and stares at it. "Now, we know."
"Know what?" Stiles asks.
"That we're stuck. It's over. We are trapped because that was our only way out," Peter states.
"Or that's just what they want us to believe,"
"What? What is it with you teenagers? You think that you're so special? You think the rules don't apply to you? Do you get it? We are dead and buried." Peter takes Stiles's wallet. "Money? It's worthless. Driver's license? Credit cards?" He takes the things out of Stiles's wallet and throws them into the air.
"Give me my damn wallet back!"
"It's all meaningless." He notices the keys in Stiles's hand and grabs them. "Keys?"
"Give me my keys." Stiles goes to grab the keys back but Peter throws them on the platform.
"What? Did you think you were gonna drive us out of here? Is that what you thought? Do you get it? We don't exist! And we are already forgotten."
"Somebody's gonna remember me and Selene. Either Lydia, or Scott, or Malia... Someone. They're gonna find us, all right? They'll come for me and Selene. Who would ever come for you? Right, Selene?" Stiles says and turns around. Selene is still facing the portal.
"You mean the people who couldn't remember me when magic wasn't messing with their minds? Those people?" Selene asks, turning around.
"What-"
"How long was I gone two, three weeks? And yet none of you even realised I was gone, that something was wrong. So, sorry if I'm not that confident in the fact that they'll come looking for me. But I'm sure they'll remember you, Stiles."
~~~
On Air with Stiles Stilinski
Back in the main waiting area, Stiles sits next to the old woman who wandered through the Stilinski house in Sundowning (Eve Sigall). She says she's going to see her grandchildren and asks who he's on his way to visit. He says no one. The intercom voice again announces the cancelled stops. Stiles follows the wire from the speaker and finds the radio room filled with disused but working equipment.
Stiles has apparently explained to Peter about the magnetic disturbances that accompany the Ghost Riders (Memory Lost) because Peter believes his theory is ridiculous. He says he can't use a ham radio to communicate across a supernatural barrier. He says Ghost Riders can't be seen, heard, or remembered and would not leave a gadget around so Stiles could call his friends.
Peter turns a dial and a high-pitched squeal fills the air. It's so loud both Peter and Stiles cover their ears.
~~~
At Beacon Hills High School, Scott exits a classroom looking for the sound. Malia joins him in the hall. She heard it too.
They go in search of the source and find Lydia and Brett standing in front of the blue jeep.
"It's coming from inside," Lydia says. They try to open the door of the Jeep but it doesn't cooperate.
"Goddamit," Brett says and pushes Scott out of the way a bit. He turns the handle and pushes with such force it breaks the door handle. "Eh, voila,"
~~~
Back in the radio room, Stiles is pushing buttons trying to get the microphone to work. Peter hears the Riders returning and gets Stiles to safety just before the rider, gun drawn, enters the radio room. Peter points out that he's saved Stiles' life twice.
~~~
Malia, Scott, Lydia and Brett are inside the Jeep now. Lydia, Scott and Brett are searching the vehicle when the sound suddenly stops.
"Why'd it stop?" Malia questions.
"It doesn't matter-" Lydia replies and tries the master switch "-there has to be a reason."
"What?" Scott whispers in confusion.
"You caught a scent?" Brett guesses.
"Yeah, uh... Ours. Mine, yours... all four of us."
"Mine? I've never been in this Jeep before," Malia replies sceptically.
"Neither have I," Scott agrees.
"Yes, we have. We just don't remember it," Brett points out.
"I thought we were done with that?" Malia sighs.
"Uh, yeah, Brett, Parrish checked the VIN number. There's no record of an owner," Scott reminds them.
"The Jeep didn't just drive itself here," Lydia agrees with Brett. Scott nods with an unsure expression realising Lydia is right.
"Whose side are you on?" Malia questions. Scott glances at Brett, then at Malia and then at Lydia.
"I'm on everyone's side," Scott states.
"Yeah, sure you are, Switzerland." Brett rolls his eyes.
"They're not real. Trust me. I've lost a lot of people in my life. It's a long list, and I don't feel like adding to it," Malia states.
"We were looking for a relic, what if this Jeep is a relic from one of them?" Brett reminds them.
"You might not have to... Not if we get him back," Lydia says and hands Scott a paper.
"This is from '96. And there's no name," Scott points out.
"But there's an address. 129 Woodbine Lane," Malia says, pointing at the paper. Lydia and Brett share a look of realisation.
"I know that address," Lydia states.
~~~
Lydia and Brett end up at the Stilinski household. They're sitting opposite Mr and Mrs Stilinski.
"I don't know what to tell you. I haven't seen that Jeep in... almost eighteen years," Mrs Stilinski states.
"But it's in your name," Lydia points out.
"But it was stolen,"
"Then how did it end up at the high school?"
"Beats the hell out of me. I mean, that thing was a junker back in the day. God only knows who'd want it now," Mr Stilinski replies.
Advertisement
I Enchanted The Whole Forest
Hi there, the name's Cam. And this is the story of how I enchanted a whole forest with various magic thingies.
8 72Brawling Beauty Adventure
Time is a valuable thing, it also may not all have occured yet Sonika is a little girl in a strange world cultivating what fortune she has, adventuring and demystifying what she lacks in order with the rules and regulations of the land, and sometimes not
8 145Death Drive
In the near future, most work has been relegated to machines and people are content to spend their time immersed in virtual reality, something they cannot get enough of. Thomas Walker, an ex-racecar driver who blames the hidden algorithms that run society for losing everything that is important to him, finds himself at the center of a string of bizarre vehicular attacks and becomes assured that someone is out to get him. Meanwhile, Lucas Bennett, an anxiety-ridden software engineer, is contracted by the leading artificial intelligence corporation in the US to decipher the inner workings of their flagship AI that have become incomprehensible even to themselves, a job that he is very invested in since he considers technology the solution to his personal as well as mankind’s timeless problems. Unknown to the public at large, the CEO of the company is bent on unleashing the full capabilities of that AI to handle every single aspect of society and individual lives. When all hell breaks loose, the two men and those close to them team up to survive and fight back against the horde of vehicular attackers and the Intelligence behind them while also clashing together over their views: is artificial intelligence a way to humanity’s salvation or doom? Betrayal abounds, nothing is as it seems and the traffic is a real killer. The story is finished and I will be publishing a new chapter every Friday. If that seems too slow for you, you can get the book at Amazon
8 93Ambiance (Cellphone Novel)
A girl is enclosed in a temple where she is a prophetess. She only wakes to see the late afternoon sun. When she begins to dream of a second heart within, which beats to the rhythm of someone near her. My entry as part of the Team Dreams in @rskovach 's Decameron 2.0. A/N: The cover art is not mine. Credits to the artist.
8 90Disappearance
8 124LIKE A LOVER
HONEY GAZES AND CHERRY RED LIPS© 2017
8 196