Fic: The Darkness of the Mind [Lydia/Peter]
Author: imera
Title: The Darkness of the Mind
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Lydia/Peter
Character/s: Lydia, Peter, mentions of Scott, Stiles and Allison
Summary: At first she thought she suffered from blackouts again, but then strange things happened
Warnings: none
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 3795 words
Prompt: #105 - Entrance
Lydia hated her blackouts, disappearing from somewhere familiar to a strange place, always waking up next to a dead body; something she still hadn’t gotten used to. She tried to learn how to suppress the blackouts, but nothing she did helped, so she kept disappearing.
She didn’t know where she was, the forest dark and unfamiliar, and no matter how long and far she walked she still didn’t find any roads, or houses, or anything which resembled anything human made.
She’d lost count of how long she walked when the sounds first appeared. At first she believed it was a random animal far away, but the sound kept moving closer and closer, until she no longer believed it was any harmless animal. Afraid of what it could be she started running, as fast as she could in her heels. Her ankles hurt, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear she felt as her imagination turned whatever creature was followed her into the most horrifying monster. Lydia wasn’t in a horribly bad shape, but that didn’t mean she could run a marathon, in heels.
Stopping she listened for the monster, barely hearing anything other than her breathing. Tears threatened to break through as she feared for her life, nervously looking around the forest to decide which way to run next.
That was when she saw it, a door in the middle of the forest. At first she believed she was seeing things but as she walked closer she realised it was no optical illusion. She heard the animal, it was close by, but Lydia was calm as she stared at the door. It was attached only to a doorframe, there was no walls, and nothing on the other side. However, even though it looked like a random object, Lydia still grabbed the door handle and pulled.
Seeing a door in the middle of the woods was strange, but what she saw on the other side of the door was far more bizarre. Unlike the dark forest she found herself in at that moment, she was staring at the sunny beach.
Nasty growling brought her back, and as she looked at the monster she could see it. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like something from a nightmare. It was a dark shade of blue and had fangs and claws, large teeth, and looked like a mix between a large dog and some kind of sea animals. It didn’t look friendly at all so she jumped through the door and closed it just before the monster tried to claw at her.
When she was calm after the horrifying meeting with the monster she turned, staring at the sea. She didn’t know where she was, but figured that as long as the monster stayed on the other side of the door everything was fine. Slowly she walked down the sea, struggling slightly as her heels vanished through the sand. Lydia noticed that the strangest thing about the beach was that there was no sounds. There were birds, and the wind moved passed her, and even the waves kept washing up the beach, but there was no sounds. Wherever she was, she knew it was no ordinary place, which meant it could also have monsters. Almost as soon as she feared the unknown she heard sounds, sounds which shouldn’t be there because the rest of that world was silent.
She could see some kind of creature moving from afar, moving towards her. Unlike the previous monster she couldn’t recognise the new one. It was red, had some large arms, and it looked like it had the face of a bat, but as there was a great distance between them she couldn’t be sure. Unlike the first monster, the red one moved faster. For a second she was completely frozen in fear, but then something inside her screamed and she was awaken from her fear and ran, ran as fast as he feet could take her.
Again she didn’t get far before her legs aching from running in high heels on sand. Her waist hurt, her ankles ached, and she was struggling to breathe. She was about to give up when she saw something strange, something which shouldn’t be there.
If she wasn’t being chased she would have taken small steps towards it to be certain it was harmless, but with the monster behind her she ran as fast as she could towards it.
It was a statue carved in a block of stone, nothing more. She didn’t pay it much attention at first, so if she’d chosen to leave at that moment she would never have discovered the true identity of the statue, but as she was still there she looked at him, and realised it was Peter.
She had no idea of how a statue of Peter came to be in a remote place like that, not that knowing would help her much, but she still wondered. Then, with no explanation to why, she felt the need to touch him. At first she wanted to touch his face, but felt that it was inappropriate even though it was a statue, so she touched his arm instead. Almost like her touch was magic the statue in front of her turned into a human, its grey hard skin changing into a soft coloured version, his hair turning from chiseled to his slick hairdo. He then gasped for air as he fell down to all four in front of her. Lydia was frozen, unable to comprehend what was happening, but before she could ask she heard the the nasty sounds of the monster in the distance, moving towards them.
“Thank you,” he said as he still struggled for air.
“How did you get here?” she asked, forgetting about the monster for a moment. “And how did you turn into that statute?”
“You’re at Scott’s, and I’m here to help you through this.” She thought about what he said for a moment, somehow remembering something about Scott, but it all felt like a dream. She then looked around the beach, knowing there was something familiar with the place, but unable to decide what it was.
“How are you going to help me?” she asked, doubting he could.
It looked like he was about to tell her how when the monster announced its arrival by shrieking nearby. “What is that?” he asked, shocked by the sight.
“I don’t know, but I doubt it’s friendly. There was one in the woods as well, but I escaped it by coming here.”
“And where are we?”
“I don’t know,” she replied again, fighting the desire to sit down and cry.
“You must know, this is all in your mind.” At once he said that a light went off in her head.
“I came here when I was young,” she said excited. “But there was no monster then,” she said and hid behind Peter.
“That is something from your adulthood,” he said. “And sadly it’s not something we can simply wish away.”
“Wish away?” she asked. Peter didn’t have a chance to answer before the monster attacked them, claws springing out of his human like hands. Peter then attacked it with his own set of claws. Peter evaded the claws, but the monster was not so lucky.
“There,” Peter said in a happy tone as he walked away from the monster. The celebration was short lived as the monster, which had been dead, came back to life. Peter turned his attention back and slashed its throat. He then stuck his fingers into it and slowly ripped his head off his body. The scene was grotesque, but Lydia was no longer as sensitive as she once war and could stand it, to some degree at least.
“Is it dead?” she asked.
“It should be,” he replied as he turned towards her. “How did you bring me here? I wasn’t able to break through.”
“Bring you here? I touched you, if that’s what you mean.” The expression on his face at that moment caused her to blush as she realised what he was thinking. “Not touched like that, perv. I touched your arm.”
“I wouldn’t have minded that kind of touching,” he teased, which earned him a punch in his shoulder.
They didn’t have a chance to continue chatting before the monster, which should be dead, began to twitch, and slowly something began to grow out of his decapitated head, as well as its neck. “What is it doing?” Lydia asked, feeling ill by the sight in front of her.
“It looks like it’s coming back to life, but this time as two.” The new parts were covered in slime, and as they grew it looked like they were boiling. “We better get away before they are fully restored.” Lydia couldn’t take her eyes off the monsters as they were growing out new limbs, but then Peter took her hand and pulled her away.
They had been running for a minute when her waist hurt again, as did her ankle. “I can’t do this,” she said defeated. “I don’t know where I am, I don’t know how to get out, and I’m being chased by some freaky creatures.”
“You can do this Lydia, don’t give up yet.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“This is all in your mind, all you have to do is find a door out of your mind, back to Scott’s place so you can return to your body.” It all sounded crazy to her, but she wouldn’t ignore it all as there had to be some truth to what he was saying.
That was when she saw it, a door, similar to the one in the forest. Unlike the first door, the second was located several feet into the sea. “How did that get there?” she asked, not really expecting any question.
“You’re doing it, you’re using your mind.” Quickly they walked towards the door, sharing a nervous look with Peter before reached for the door handle. What she found on the other side of the door was bizarre, and it made no sense, just like the rest of that place. She was staring at her home where there was an ongoing party in the back yard, and all the guests were her.
“Looks like you like to party,” Peter said as he helped her through the door.
“I really hate this.”
“Why, don’t like that you’re surrounded by other pretty girls?”
“I was completely alone the other places I was, and then monsters came after me, but what if all those clones are actually the monster, then we won’t be able to escape.”
Looking up she saw something on the roof of her house, some dark shadow creature with white glowing eyes. Peter must have noticed her strange expression and looked in the same direction as she until he also saw the creature on the roof.
“What is it?” Lydia whispered, hoping Peter heard her over the music which was playing at her party.
“A figure of your imagination, or fear.”
“So it can’t hurt me?” Looking at Peter she knew that was not right, he was nervous.
“If you die in this world you’ll be dead in real life as well.” She wanted to cry, hating the way her life turned out after she was pulled into the supernatural, but she was stronger than that.
All she needed was a door, a door which would take her to another place where there might not be any monsters. She tried to wish the creature away, but he was still there, moving slowly back and forth on the edge, staring at her.
When it did jump off the room Lydia screamed, then backed away until she crashed into something. Peter hurried to her side and pulled her away from the chairs, then pushed her behind him. She could barely see what was happening, but the screams of the other Lydia’s was enough to send a chill down her body. She tried her best to look around her home in hopes to find a door, the door which would take her to another place.
As Peter moved further away from where the shadow creature was killing off her copies, she got a glimpse of something strange in the pool. Parting with Peter for a moment she moved closer to the pool and discovered the door.
“There it is!” she shouted, reaching for her shoes as it would be easier to dive without them.
“Wait,” Peter yelled just moments before she planned to jump. “You need to get rid of your fear before you touch the door knob, if not then monsters will keep following you.”
Lydia stared at the shadow which had killed half of her copies. What was strange was what when the girls screamed as the creatures shoved a blade through their belly or cut off their heads. none of the other copies were aware of it. “I don’t know how,” she cried, her body trembling.
He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around so her back was facing the monster, he then stared into her eyes, his expression calm. “Think of a place you feel safe, think of how it is to lie in your bed and wake up in the morning, or how it is to hold someone close as you dance with them, or how it is to kiss someone.”
The screams continued around them which made it impossible to concentrate on the good moments. “I- I can’t, I can’t block them out,” she cried, feeling useless.
That was when he did something risky. He was the man who put her through mental torture in order to return from the death, and while she shouldn’t like it she ended up enjoying the kiss. It was nice and soothing, and it took her mind off the shadow creature long enough for her to concentrate on a happier time.
“Now jump,” she heard him say.
Doing as ordered she jumped into the pool, swimming over to the door which was standing upright in the middle of the pool. She took a deep breath and dived, reaching for the door which she opened. The other side was wonderful, a field of lovely flowers.
She looked up, somehow knowing that if Peter didn’t make it through he would be dead. The sight which she saw then horrified her. Peter was fighting the creature, blood running down his body, dripping into the pool before dissolving into the water. She was running out of breath, but she wouldn’t leave until the last possible minute.
The wait was short as the monster sent his blade through Peter’s stomach, then pulled it out. Peter turned his head towards her, then he slashed the monster’s throat with his claws before he jumped into the pool. The shadow creature did not die, but he stopped long enough for Peter to make his way down to the door, blood gushing out of his wounds. Not wanting to leave him behind Lydia reached for him, then pulled him through the door.
They landed in a field of flowers, the sky was blue and the air warm. Lydia was wet, and Peter was bleeding.
“Can’t you heal yourself?” she asked as she stared at the large wound that went through him.
“I can’t heal properly before we return to our bodies, and we can’t do that unless you focus.” His voice was weak, and she could see that he was in pain.
“How?”
He was about to speak when instead he grunted as he held his hand over his open wound. “You must, ahh, must focus on Scott’s home, focus on yourself, on your body.” She closed her eyes and tried, not certain it would work. “You must want it, if not then it won’t go.”
“How do I know it will work?”
“You must believe that you can do it.” She hated him at that moment, believe that she could do it was the stupidest advice anyone could give her. Believing was one thing, but it would be nothing without the ability to focus on the right place.
“Maybe it will work if you kiss me again,” he suggested. “A last kiss for a dying man.” She stared at him as he lay next to her, wanting to hit him.
“In your dreams,” she replied.
“What about your dreams, as we’re inside your head right now.” She rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to hit him. Looking around the field she could see a door in the distance, a door which hadn’t been there before.
“There it is!” she shrieked happily, jumping up to her feet.
“Good, now you better go before I die.”
“If you stay in this place you won’t make it out,” she said, remembering what he said.
“If I go with you and the next place turns out to be filled with monsters, or the next room in a line of hundred of rooms, I will be dead anyway.” He was probably right, but she wouldn’t feel right leaving him behind.
“If you go through that one door then I’ll kiss you, but only after.” That offer seemed to give him some extra strength, which he used to stand up. She smiled as her bribe had worked, ignoring the little voice which told her it had to be a bad idea to promise such a thing.
Carefully they made their way towards the door, his energy dabbing off every time he took a step, his pain increasing, and his body became heavy as she tried to hold him up.
“Don’t give up yet, we’re soon there.”
“And then you’ll kiss me,” he said weakly, almost as if he was dreaming. “I want tongue.”
“Fine, anything you want, but we have to make it first.”
The remaining half of the way felt twice as long as she had to carry him some of the way, or drag him. At least it helped her mood that she could slap him a little to bring him back. “Stay with me,” she kept saying.
Eventually, after a lot of struggles, they were finally there. The door looked like all the other doors, but it had to be the last, if not then she had no choice but to leave Peter behind, meaning he would die. She took a deep breath, concentrating on Scott’s house, hoping that when she opened the door that would be what she saw.
At first she didn’t recognise the room, it was dark and everything was grey, but as it was the room which the door opened to she had to take a chance. “Come on, we’re almost there,” she lied, hoping the room was in fact Scott’s house.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her friends, all standing around watching her, but it a copy of her at least. She couldn’t understand what was happening, but hoped there was no monsters lurking behind a corner as she had no means of protecting herself, and Peter was of no help.
“I think we’re at the right place,” she told Peter, trying to wake him. “What should I do?” Peter’s lips moved, but if he was speaking it was too low for her to understand. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before he would be dead she left him and walked towards the copy of her. A copy of Peter was standing in front of her, his hands positioned on each side of her head, and his eyes closed. That might be how he entered my mind, she thought.
Lydia touched his arm, somehow expecting him to come to life as the first Peter had, he did not. She then turned towards her copy, somehow knowing a touch was all that was needed to be awaken from the nightmare she found herself in. Her skin tingled as she reached for her body, sparks coming out of her fingers. She was nervous, but refused to pull her hand away.
It was difficult to explain how she felt the minute she touched the gray version of herself. It was as if lightning hit her, not that she knew exactly how that felt, but that was the only way she could explain it. Her body was warm and cold at the same time, and all of the hair on her body felt as it was dancing. Not only did the feeling hit her hard at once she touched her grey self, but in the blink of a moment she was back in her body, staring at Peter for a brief second before he dropped to the floor.
Her friends rushed to them, looking worried as they noticed Peter’s wounds. “What happened?” Scott asked. Stiles said something Lydia didn’t catch as the room was spinning around, and before she knew it everything was gone from her vision.
The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed, Allison sitting on a chair close by, reading a book.
“Allison?” Lydia asked, her throat dry.
“Lydia, you’re awake!” her friend shrieked and moved next to Lydia, continuously asking her questions about how she felt.
“I’m slightly thirsty, but I feel fine. How long have I been asleep?”
“Eleven hours, seven if you don’t count the constant waking up the first four hours, where you kept screaming about someone coming to kill you.” Lydia couldn’t remember any bad dreams, and after being stuck in her mind with those monsters she was thankful for that.
“Did Peter die?” she asked, remembering what he did for her in order to save her life, even if it meant saving his own.
“No, he healed quickly, but we still don’t understand how he was attacked, he tried to explain it, but we still aren’t sure about it.” Lydia didn’t feel in the mood to explain, especially as she didn’t quite understand it herself.
“I’m still tired,” she excused herself and lay back against the pillow.
“Oh yes, Peter said you owed him one, but he wouldn’t tell us what it was.” Lydia blushed slightly, not because of what happened and what she promised, but because she enjoyed it.
“If you see him before I do, tell him that I haven’t forgotten,” she said, smiling as she turned away from Allison. “But now I feel like I need to close my eyes a little.”
“He said you could be mentally exhausted. Do you want me to stay?”
“No, you can leave if you wish.” Lydia didn’t care if Allison was there or not as all she would do was to sleep until she was no longer tired, and then she would see just how much Peter wanted to kiss her.
Title: The Darkness of the Mind
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Lydia/Peter
Character/s: Lydia, Peter, mentions of Scott, Stiles and Allison
Summary: At first she thought she suffered from blackouts again, but then strange things happened
Warnings: none
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 3795 words
Prompt: #105 - Entrance
Lydia hated her blackouts, disappearing from somewhere familiar to a strange place, always waking up next to a dead body; something she still hadn’t gotten used to. She tried to learn how to suppress the blackouts, but nothing she did helped, so she kept disappearing.
She didn’t know where she was, the forest dark and unfamiliar, and no matter how long and far she walked she still didn’t find any roads, or houses, or anything which resembled anything human made.
She’d lost count of how long she walked when the sounds first appeared. At first she believed it was a random animal far away, but the sound kept moving closer and closer, until she no longer believed it was any harmless animal. Afraid of what it could be she started running, as fast as she could in her heels. Her ankles hurt, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear she felt as her imagination turned whatever creature was followed her into the most horrifying monster. Lydia wasn’t in a horribly bad shape, but that didn’t mean she could run a marathon, in heels.
Stopping she listened for the monster, barely hearing anything other than her breathing. Tears threatened to break through as she feared for her life, nervously looking around the forest to decide which way to run next.
That was when she saw it, a door in the middle of the forest. At first she believed she was seeing things but as she walked closer she realised it was no optical illusion. She heard the animal, it was close by, but Lydia was calm as she stared at the door. It was attached only to a doorframe, there was no walls, and nothing on the other side. However, even though it looked like a random object, Lydia still grabbed the door handle and pulled.
Seeing a door in the middle of the woods was strange, but what she saw on the other side of the door was far more bizarre. Unlike the dark forest she found herself in at that moment, she was staring at the sunny beach.
Nasty growling brought her back, and as she looked at the monster she could see it. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like something from a nightmare. It was a dark shade of blue and had fangs and claws, large teeth, and looked like a mix between a large dog and some kind of sea animals. It didn’t look friendly at all so she jumped through the door and closed it just before the monster tried to claw at her.
When she was calm after the horrifying meeting with the monster she turned, staring at the sea. She didn’t know where she was, but figured that as long as the monster stayed on the other side of the door everything was fine. Slowly she walked down the sea, struggling slightly as her heels vanished through the sand. Lydia noticed that the strangest thing about the beach was that there was no sounds. There were birds, and the wind moved passed her, and even the waves kept washing up the beach, but there was no sounds. Wherever she was, she knew it was no ordinary place, which meant it could also have monsters. Almost as soon as she feared the unknown she heard sounds, sounds which shouldn’t be there because the rest of that world was silent.
She could see some kind of creature moving from afar, moving towards her. Unlike the previous monster she couldn’t recognise the new one. It was red, had some large arms, and it looked like it had the face of a bat, but as there was a great distance between them she couldn’t be sure. Unlike the first monster, the red one moved faster. For a second she was completely frozen in fear, but then something inside her screamed and she was awaken from her fear and ran, ran as fast as he feet could take her.
Again she didn’t get far before her legs aching from running in high heels on sand. Her waist hurt, her ankles ached, and she was struggling to breathe. She was about to give up when she saw something strange, something which shouldn’t be there.
If she wasn’t being chased she would have taken small steps towards it to be certain it was harmless, but with the monster behind her she ran as fast as she could towards it.
It was a statue carved in a block of stone, nothing more. She didn’t pay it much attention at first, so if she’d chosen to leave at that moment she would never have discovered the true identity of the statue, but as she was still there she looked at him, and realised it was Peter.
She had no idea of how a statue of Peter came to be in a remote place like that, not that knowing would help her much, but she still wondered. Then, with no explanation to why, she felt the need to touch him. At first she wanted to touch his face, but felt that it was inappropriate even though it was a statue, so she touched his arm instead. Almost like her touch was magic the statue in front of her turned into a human, its grey hard skin changing into a soft coloured version, his hair turning from chiseled to his slick hairdo. He then gasped for air as he fell down to all four in front of her. Lydia was frozen, unable to comprehend what was happening, but before she could ask she heard the the nasty sounds of the monster in the distance, moving towards them.
“Thank you,” he said as he still struggled for air.
“How did you get here?” she asked, forgetting about the monster for a moment. “And how did you turn into that statute?”
“You’re at Scott’s, and I’m here to help you through this.” She thought about what he said for a moment, somehow remembering something about Scott, but it all felt like a dream. She then looked around the beach, knowing there was something familiar with the place, but unable to decide what it was.
“How are you going to help me?” she asked, doubting he could.
It looked like he was about to tell her how when the monster announced its arrival by shrieking nearby. “What is that?” he asked, shocked by the sight.
“I don’t know, but I doubt it’s friendly. There was one in the woods as well, but I escaped it by coming here.”
“And where are we?”
“I don’t know,” she replied again, fighting the desire to sit down and cry.
“You must know, this is all in your mind.” At once he said that a light went off in her head.
“I came here when I was young,” she said excited. “But there was no monster then,” she said and hid behind Peter.
“That is something from your adulthood,” he said. “And sadly it’s not something we can simply wish away.”
“Wish away?” she asked. Peter didn’t have a chance to answer before the monster attacked them, claws springing out of his human like hands. Peter then attacked it with his own set of claws. Peter evaded the claws, but the monster was not so lucky.
“There,” Peter said in a happy tone as he walked away from the monster. The celebration was short lived as the monster, which had been dead, came back to life. Peter turned his attention back and slashed its throat. He then stuck his fingers into it and slowly ripped his head off his body. The scene was grotesque, but Lydia was no longer as sensitive as she once war and could stand it, to some degree at least.
“Is it dead?” she asked.
“It should be,” he replied as he turned towards her. “How did you bring me here? I wasn’t able to break through.”
“Bring you here? I touched you, if that’s what you mean.” The expression on his face at that moment caused her to blush as she realised what he was thinking. “Not touched like that, perv. I touched your arm.”
“I wouldn’t have minded that kind of touching,” he teased, which earned him a punch in his shoulder.
They didn’t have a chance to continue chatting before the monster, which should be dead, began to twitch, and slowly something began to grow out of his decapitated head, as well as its neck. “What is it doing?” Lydia asked, feeling ill by the sight in front of her.
“It looks like it’s coming back to life, but this time as two.” The new parts were covered in slime, and as they grew it looked like they were boiling. “We better get away before they are fully restored.” Lydia couldn’t take her eyes off the monsters as they were growing out new limbs, but then Peter took her hand and pulled her away.
They had been running for a minute when her waist hurt again, as did her ankle. “I can’t do this,” she said defeated. “I don’t know where I am, I don’t know how to get out, and I’m being chased by some freaky creatures.”
“You can do this Lydia, don’t give up yet.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“This is all in your mind, all you have to do is find a door out of your mind, back to Scott’s place so you can return to your body.” It all sounded crazy to her, but she wouldn’t ignore it all as there had to be some truth to what he was saying.
That was when she saw it, a door, similar to the one in the forest. Unlike the first door, the second was located several feet into the sea. “How did that get there?” she asked, not really expecting any question.
“You’re doing it, you’re using your mind.” Quickly they walked towards the door, sharing a nervous look with Peter before reached for the door handle. What she found on the other side of the door was bizarre, and it made no sense, just like the rest of that place. She was staring at her home where there was an ongoing party in the back yard, and all the guests were her.
“Looks like you like to party,” Peter said as he helped her through the door.
“I really hate this.”
“Why, don’t like that you’re surrounded by other pretty girls?”
“I was completely alone the other places I was, and then monsters came after me, but what if all those clones are actually the monster, then we won’t be able to escape.”
Looking up she saw something on the roof of her house, some dark shadow creature with white glowing eyes. Peter must have noticed her strange expression and looked in the same direction as she until he also saw the creature on the roof.
“What is it?” Lydia whispered, hoping Peter heard her over the music which was playing at her party.
“A figure of your imagination, or fear.”
“So it can’t hurt me?” Looking at Peter she knew that was not right, he was nervous.
“If you die in this world you’ll be dead in real life as well.” She wanted to cry, hating the way her life turned out after she was pulled into the supernatural, but she was stronger than that.
All she needed was a door, a door which would take her to another place where there might not be any monsters. She tried to wish the creature away, but he was still there, moving slowly back and forth on the edge, staring at her.
When it did jump off the room Lydia screamed, then backed away until she crashed into something. Peter hurried to her side and pulled her away from the chairs, then pushed her behind him. She could barely see what was happening, but the screams of the other Lydia’s was enough to send a chill down her body. She tried her best to look around her home in hopes to find a door, the door which would take her to another place.
As Peter moved further away from where the shadow creature was killing off her copies, she got a glimpse of something strange in the pool. Parting with Peter for a moment she moved closer to the pool and discovered the door.
“There it is!” she shouted, reaching for her shoes as it would be easier to dive without them.
“Wait,” Peter yelled just moments before she planned to jump. “You need to get rid of your fear before you touch the door knob, if not then monsters will keep following you.”
Lydia stared at the shadow which had killed half of her copies. What was strange was what when the girls screamed as the creatures shoved a blade through their belly or cut off their heads. none of the other copies were aware of it. “I don’t know how,” she cried, her body trembling.
He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around so her back was facing the monster, he then stared into her eyes, his expression calm. “Think of a place you feel safe, think of how it is to lie in your bed and wake up in the morning, or how it is to hold someone close as you dance with them, or how it is to kiss someone.”
The screams continued around them which made it impossible to concentrate on the good moments. “I- I can’t, I can’t block them out,” she cried, feeling useless.
That was when he did something risky. He was the man who put her through mental torture in order to return from the death, and while she shouldn’t like it she ended up enjoying the kiss. It was nice and soothing, and it took her mind off the shadow creature long enough for her to concentrate on a happier time.
“Now jump,” she heard him say.
Doing as ordered she jumped into the pool, swimming over to the door which was standing upright in the middle of the pool. She took a deep breath and dived, reaching for the door which she opened. The other side was wonderful, a field of lovely flowers.
She looked up, somehow knowing that if Peter didn’t make it through he would be dead. The sight which she saw then horrified her. Peter was fighting the creature, blood running down his body, dripping into the pool before dissolving into the water. She was running out of breath, but she wouldn’t leave until the last possible minute.
The wait was short as the monster sent his blade through Peter’s stomach, then pulled it out. Peter turned his head towards her, then he slashed the monster’s throat with his claws before he jumped into the pool. The shadow creature did not die, but he stopped long enough for Peter to make his way down to the door, blood gushing out of his wounds. Not wanting to leave him behind Lydia reached for him, then pulled him through the door.
They landed in a field of flowers, the sky was blue and the air warm. Lydia was wet, and Peter was bleeding.
“Can’t you heal yourself?” she asked as she stared at the large wound that went through him.
“I can’t heal properly before we return to our bodies, and we can’t do that unless you focus.” His voice was weak, and she could see that he was in pain.
“How?”
He was about to speak when instead he grunted as he held his hand over his open wound. “You must, ahh, must focus on Scott’s home, focus on yourself, on your body.” She closed her eyes and tried, not certain it would work. “You must want it, if not then it won’t go.”
“How do I know it will work?”
“You must believe that you can do it.” She hated him at that moment, believe that she could do it was the stupidest advice anyone could give her. Believing was one thing, but it would be nothing without the ability to focus on the right place.
“Maybe it will work if you kiss me again,” he suggested. “A last kiss for a dying man.” She stared at him as he lay next to her, wanting to hit him.
“In your dreams,” she replied.
“What about your dreams, as we’re inside your head right now.” She rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to hit him. Looking around the field she could see a door in the distance, a door which hadn’t been there before.
“There it is!” she shrieked happily, jumping up to her feet.
“Good, now you better go before I die.”
“If you stay in this place you won’t make it out,” she said, remembering what he said.
“If I go with you and the next place turns out to be filled with monsters, or the next room in a line of hundred of rooms, I will be dead anyway.” He was probably right, but she wouldn’t feel right leaving him behind.
“If you go through that one door then I’ll kiss you, but only after.” That offer seemed to give him some extra strength, which he used to stand up. She smiled as her bribe had worked, ignoring the little voice which told her it had to be a bad idea to promise such a thing.
Carefully they made their way towards the door, his energy dabbing off every time he took a step, his pain increasing, and his body became heavy as she tried to hold him up.
“Don’t give up yet, we’re soon there.”
“And then you’ll kiss me,” he said weakly, almost as if he was dreaming. “I want tongue.”
“Fine, anything you want, but we have to make it first.”
The remaining half of the way felt twice as long as she had to carry him some of the way, or drag him. At least it helped her mood that she could slap him a little to bring him back. “Stay with me,” she kept saying.
Eventually, after a lot of struggles, they were finally there. The door looked like all the other doors, but it had to be the last, if not then she had no choice but to leave Peter behind, meaning he would die. She took a deep breath, concentrating on Scott’s house, hoping that when she opened the door that would be what she saw.
At first she didn’t recognise the room, it was dark and everything was grey, but as it was the room which the door opened to she had to take a chance. “Come on, we’re almost there,” she lied, hoping the room was in fact Scott’s house.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her friends, all standing around watching her, but it a copy of her at least. She couldn’t understand what was happening, but hoped there was no monsters lurking behind a corner as she had no means of protecting herself, and Peter was of no help.
“I think we’re at the right place,” she told Peter, trying to wake him. “What should I do?” Peter’s lips moved, but if he was speaking it was too low for her to understand. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before he would be dead she left him and walked towards the copy of her. A copy of Peter was standing in front of her, his hands positioned on each side of her head, and his eyes closed. That might be how he entered my mind, she thought.
Lydia touched his arm, somehow expecting him to come to life as the first Peter had, he did not. She then turned towards her copy, somehow knowing a touch was all that was needed to be awaken from the nightmare she found herself in. Her skin tingled as she reached for her body, sparks coming out of her fingers. She was nervous, but refused to pull her hand away.
It was difficult to explain how she felt the minute she touched the gray version of herself. It was as if lightning hit her, not that she knew exactly how that felt, but that was the only way she could explain it. Her body was warm and cold at the same time, and all of the hair on her body felt as it was dancing. Not only did the feeling hit her hard at once she touched her grey self, but in the blink of a moment she was back in her body, staring at Peter for a brief second before he dropped to the floor.
Her friends rushed to them, looking worried as they noticed Peter’s wounds. “What happened?” Scott asked. Stiles said something Lydia didn’t catch as the room was spinning around, and before she knew it everything was gone from her vision.
The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed, Allison sitting on a chair close by, reading a book.
“Allison?” Lydia asked, her throat dry.
“Lydia, you’re awake!” her friend shrieked and moved next to Lydia, continuously asking her questions about how she felt.
“I’m slightly thirsty, but I feel fine. How long have I been asleep?”
“Eleven hours, seven if you don’t count the constant waking up the first four hours, where you kept screaming about someone coming to kill you.” Lydia couldn’t remember any bad dreams, and after being stuck in her mind with those monsters she was thankful for that.
“Did Peter die?” she asked, remembering what he did for her in order to save her life, even if it meant saving his own.
“No, he healed quickly, but we still don’t understand how he was attacked, he tried to explain it, but we still aren’t sure about it.” Lydia didn’t feel in the mood to explain, especially as she didn’t quite understand it herself.
“I’m still tired,” she excused herself and lay back against the pillow.
“Oh yes, Peter said you owed him one, but he wouldn’t tell us what it was.” Lydia blushed slightly, not because of what happened and what she promised, but because she enjoyed it.
“If you see him before I do, tell him that I haven’t forgotten,” she said, smiling as she turned away from Allison. “But now I feel like I need to close my eyes a little.”
“He said you could be mentally exhausted. Do you want me to stay?”
“No, you can leave if you wish.” Lydia didn’t care if Allison was there or not as all she would do was to sleep until she was no longer tired, and then she would see just how much Peter wanted to kiss her.