Love's Spiral

Things happen. One second a person is a part of your life and then, in the next second, they can easily be taken away from you. It doesn’t matter who they were or how well you knew them. It doesn’t matter if you even knew them at all. When someone dies, your life is affected. If your best friend dies, you’re allowed to be completely crushed. Your favorite celebrity dies, you can still be crushed because they could have had a big impact on your life and how you view it. If your cranky, werewolf ex-whatever dies, you’re crushed.

That was how Spencer felt in this moment. One second Derek was there, alive and well, being his normal unemotional self. In the next, Alpha claws were protruding from his stomach, coming all the way from his back. It doesn’t matter that he and Spencer weren’t on good terms. All that matters was that she liked him alot. Maybe she even loved him. Whatever sort of relationship that she had with him, it killed her that he wasn’t in her life anymore.

Spencer couldn’t go to his burnt down house if she needed to talk to him about something. He wouldn’t be watching over her room, like she knew he had been. She wouldn’t see that black Chevy Camaro driving around in the dead of night.

None of it would happen.

Derek was gone.

Now as she was standing in the hallway of the high school at night, everything was a blur. She couldn’t hear anything but the mumbles coming from her friends about trying to lock the door they were attempting to hold shut. She was holding her hand over her mouth, feeling the tears roll down from her eyes.

“Anything!” Scott shouted, taking Spencer front her trance.

Spencer looked to Scott and then to Stiles, who looked like he was getting an idea.

Stiles stood up, holding the door handle. He looked from left to right, eyes finding themselves on something outside.

Scott stood, too, to see what he was looking at. He made room for Spencer to see the bolt cutters that were lying on the ground at the bottom of the steps.

“No.” Scott said.

Spencer was too scared to say anything.

“Yes.” He argued, trying to push Scott off of him.

“Stiles, no.” Spencer finally begged. “Don’t be a hero.”

Stiles didn’t listen though and he was already squeezing himself out the door.

“Stiles…” Spencer whimpered, reaching for Scott’s hand for comfort. She squeezed it as hard as she could, not caring how much it hurt him, not that it would.

Stiles stood at the door for a second after he closed it. He wanted to make sure that the alpha wouldn’t come out from behind a corner and attack him. He eyed the bolt cutters lying on the ground. Stiles quickly moved down the steps and picked up the tool.

Spencer eyes were trained on him when Scott started to freak out. She looked up a little, seeing the alpha come out from behind the Jeep. “Stiles!” she shouted when Scott shouted for him to come back. The two banged on the door.

Stiles looked back to them, confused for a second. When he noticed the two were shouting at him, he looked in front of him. He pushed himself off of the floor, with the bolt cutters in hand, and ran back up the steps and into the school.

Spencer stood away from the door, not wanting to be in the way as he placed the cutters in between the two doors to hold them shut.

Scott and Stiles looked around outside, Stiles taking out his flashlight, shining it outside.

“Where is it?” Scott asked aloud to no one in particular. “Where’d it go?”

When the three backed away from the door, Spencer stood next to Stiles.

“That won’t hold, will it?” Scott asked the two of them.

Spencer shook her head.

Stiles’ arm when around her shoulders. “Probably not.”

Spencer bit her lip, closing her eyes. There had to be somewhere they could go. Somewhere safe.

Stiles shined his flashlight down the hallway. Between their scared, heavy breaths, there was a howl. It was inside the school. Stiles’ hand moved down to catch Spencer’s as all three of them ran into a classroom. The boys ran in, Stiles going straight for the teacher’s desk.

Spencer closed the door when she was clear through. Spencer combed both her hands through her hair, walking backwards away from the door to the center of the room.

The desk screeched against the floor when Scott and Stiles attempted to move it.

Spencer shushed them and they stopped.

Stiles kept his voice low. “Stop, stop.” He told Scott, holding up his hand. He looked to the door back to Scott. “The door’s not gonna keep it out.” He realized.

“I know.” Scott agreed.

“I hate your boss.” Stiles mumbled.

“What?” Spencer exclaimed.

“Deaton? The alpha?” Stiles told her and Scott. “Your boss.”

Scott shook his head. “No.”

“Yes, murdering psycho werewolf.”

“It’s not Deaton!” Spencer stressed quietly.

“It can’t be.” Scott insisted.

“Oh, come on.” Stiles mocked. “He disappears and that thing shows up ten seconds later to toss Derek twenty feet through the air?” Stiles shrugged sarcastically. “That’s not convenient timing?”

“It’s not him.”

“He killed Derek.” Stiles said. Someone finally admitted it out loud, and, suddenly Spencer didn’t feel well.

Spencer moved to sit in one of the desks.

Scott argued with Stiles. “No, Derek’s not dead. He can’t be dead.”

“Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay?” Stiles harshly whispered. “That doesn’t exactly qualify as a minor injury.”

Spencer started having trouble breathing.

“He’s dead and we’re next.” Stiles pointed out.

Spencer tried to take deep calming breaths, but nothing was working. She couldn’t keep this up. Spencer needed to calm down. She focused on something other than Derek. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the school and any possible safe exits.

“Okay, just…” Scott trailed off, looking over in Spencer’s direction. He groaned when he saw her hunched over. They hadn’t exactly been taking her feelings into account when it came to the whole ‘Derek-being-dead’ thing. “What do we do?”

Stiles took a deep breath. “We get to my Jeep.” He said, confidently. “We get out of here. You both seriously think about quitting your jobs, good?”

Spencer stood up. It wasn’t Deaton. She knew that for sure. He wouldn’t have been so helpful to her if his only plan was to kill her in the end. For now, she had to play along with Stiles so they would get out of the school alive. Whoever the alpha really was, he didn’t really like being antagonized.

The boys ran to the windows trying to get them open.

“Stop.” Spencer said, in a strong voice, trying her best not to let it falter. “They don’t open. School’s climate-controlled.”

“Then we break it.” Scott suggested.

Spencer shook her head. “It’ll make too much noise. It’ll draw him straight to us.”

Scott sighed. “Then…” he looked around outside. “Then we run fast.” The two of them looked over at where the vehicles were.

“Yeah, and that would only be successful for you since you’ve got werewolf reflexes.” Spencer told him. “Stiles and I will be left behind to be chomped on.”

The boys looked back at Spencer quickly and Scott turned back.

“Then we run really fast.” Scott turned his whole body, taking a closer look at the cars. “Stiles, what’s wrong with the hood of your jeep?” he asked. Stiles and Spencer both furrowed their brows.

Spencer approached the window and stood next to Stiles.

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“It’s bent.”

“Like dented?” Stiles questioned, pushing his way forward over Scott to look at his Jeep.

“No, I mean bent.” Scott contended.

“What the hell - ” Stiles was interrupted by a crash coming through the window behind Spencer.
Spencer ducked her head under her arms, and tried not to scream. She felt a hand pull her down to the floor and landed with her legs across Stiles, sitting between Scott and him.

“What the hell was that?!” Spencer whispered.

Stiles shined the light in front of them, landing on a rectangular box.

“That’s my battery…” Stiles said, with his voice shaking. He pushed himself up, taking Spencer with him since she was sitting across him.

Scott pulled them both back down though. “Don’t.” Scott said.

“We have to move.” Stiles told him.

“He could be right outside.”

“He is right outside, Scott.” Spencer explained.

Stiles grabbed Spencer’s hand when he heard how her voice waivered just a little.

“How the hell else did he know to throw the battery in here?”

No one said anything for a minute. It was obvious that the three of them were in trouble.

Scott was breathing heavily and Spencer wondered if he needed his inhaler for a second. “Just let me take a look.” He slowly moved his way up the half wall to peer out the windows. He looked around, glancing at the cars and across the parking lot.

“Anything?” Stiles asked.

“No.”

“Move now?”

Scott nodded. “Move now.”

Stiles helped push Spencer up before he got up himself. He automatically grabbed her hand.

Spencer didn’t pull away. They needed to get out of the school safe, and she was going to need Stiles’ support. They walked out into the hallway and Stiles shined the light down it.

Scott was already leading the way down the hall, but Spencer grabbed his arm with her free hand.

“What?” Scott asked, confused as to why she would stop him.

“We need somewhere without windows.” Stiles explained.

“Scott threw his hands up to the side. “Every single room in this building has windows.”

“Then somewhere with less windows.” Spencer corrected, glancing around. She was mad at herself because she had completely gone blank about the layout of the school.

Scott was still breathing heavily when he offered up a solution. “The locker room.”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah.” He said, as he pulled on Spencer’s arm and they moved swiftly through the hallway. The friends got to the locker room safely, not without glances over their shoulders to make sure they weren’t followed. The door closed and Spencer winced slightly, wishing they had gently closed it.

“Call your dad.” Scott ordered Stiles.

Spencer shook her head. She didn’t like that idea one bit.

“And tell him what?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know. Anything. There’s a gas leak, a fire, whatever.”

Spencer could tell that Stiles wasn’t going to give in to Scott’s wishes so easily.

Scott continued to sway him. “If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars, it’ll take off.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Spencer asked.

Stiles nodded. “What if it goes completely Terminator and kills every cop in sight, including my dad?”

“They have guns.” Scott said, as if it were so simple.

Spencer rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and to slow him down, D… Derek needed to be shot with a wolfsbane-laced bullet, do you remember that? There’s no way simpled guns will be able to take that thing out.”

Scott was at a loss for words. He couldn’t come up with a better plan and it was making him frustrated. His best friends were in danger now, and it was all his fault. He had to come up with a plan. “We have to find a way out and just run for it.”

“There’s nothing near the school for at least a mile.” Stiles informed.

“What about Derek’s car?”

Stiles thought for a millisecond before agreeing. “That could work. We go outside. We get the keys off his body.” Stiles made a face, not liking that part. “Then we take his car.”

“And him.” Spencer insisted.

Stiles sighed, looking down at Spencer who he noticed looked incredibly lost for just a moment before she covered it up.

Spencer had just lost someone that she was close to. Sure, Stiles absolutely hated Derek for basically everything, but she was his for a while. As short as that while was, it still meant something.

“Fine. And him.” Stiles turned, keeping Spencer’s hand tightly wrapped in his and headed back the way they came. When they reached for the door, Spencer stopped, catching some sort of noise.

Scott grabbed Stiles’ hand with his own, stopping him from opening the door.

“What?” Stiles questioned.

“I think I heard something.”

“No, you heard it. I did, too.” Spencer told him.

“Heard something?” Stiles questioned. “Like what?”

Scott shushed his friend while Spencer told him to be quiet. The three backed away from the door, eyes not leaving it. Stiles’ flashlight was still on and Scott pushed it out of the way.

“Hide.” Scott said, simply.

Spencer could hear her own heart beat in her chest. She slowed her breath, controlling her heartbeat. Spencer looked to Stiles whose heartbeat was even louder than hers. She turned to the other side, seeing the lockers next to them. She opened one, being louder than she meant to.

“No, Spencer!” Scott whispered.

Spencer held a finger up to Scott. She pushed Stiles into the locker.

Stiles looked to her with wide eyes.

“You need to calm down.” Spencer stressed towards Stiles. “I could probably hear you across the school.”

Stiles nodded as he eased the locker door shut.

Spencer took the locker next to him. She eyed Scott, telling him to hurry up and claim a locker for himself. She closed the locker door and listened for Scott to get in his. She could hear Stiles’ heart from the next locker to her.

Stiles had managed to calm himself down, but only just barely.

Spencer listened to the beat, letting it comfort her and she zoned out completely. She imagined herself somewhere else. Anywhere. She wasn’t closed in a small metal box. Instead, she was at home. In her new home. Up the stairs, first door on the left of the Stilinski household. It was the middle of the night and Spencer was laying on her bed facing the wall with a huge smile on her face.

Stiles was knocking on the wall quietly in some sort of code, they had just made up. In the end, they didn’t know what the other was trying to say, so Stiles would just grab his phone and call her.

Spencer smiled when she saw his number flashing on the screen. They played twenty questioned until Spencer would pretend to fall asleep so that she could listen to his breathing rise and fall in the next room. In the back of her mind, she would always hear a few leaves crackle outside and the tree branch shook. Spencer knew it was Derek. She knew it was him checking up on her, and she was glad she could always listen out for that. She always felt safe and then she would quickly fall asleep, listening to Stiles breathe, and eventually snore a little bit, but he would never admit that he did.

It was an unknown voice that she heard first after a locker had been opened. She pushed herself out of the locker, claws out, only to find the night janitor.

Stiles jumped out of his locker, trying to quiet the man.

“Quiet my ass! What they hell are you trying to do, kill me?!” the janitor asked.

Scott was staring at him, eyes wide, scared that the older man was talking so loudly.

“Just listen for half a second, okay?” Stiles begged.

“No, not okay. Get the hell out of here, right now.” The janitor pointed to the door, pushing the boys to it, Spencer being pulled along by Stiles.

“God!” Stiles exasperated. “Just one second to explained.” The three teenagers were outside the locker room.

“Just shup up and go.” The janitor ordered, before being pulled back into the room. Growling quickly followed the man’s disappearance. The door slammed shut and the man was thrown against the glass. Through the frosted glass, the three friends standing there saw blood splattered across it.

Spencer’s hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped.

The man screamed for life, pounding on the door.

Scott threw himself against the door, trying to get it open and save the guy.

Spencer watched as Stiles pulled him away from the door. The man was shouting and they couldn’t do anything about it. In a second, her own hand was away from her face and Stiles’ hand was wrapped around her wrist.

Stiles pulled her down the hallway running away from the locker room.

They ran to the end of the hallway where double doors led to the outside. Hopefully, the alpha would have been distracted enough with the janitor that he wouldn’t run after them. Stiles, Scott, and Spencer ran into the doors, trying to get them open, but they would hardly budge.

Spencer stood back in shock. They were trapped in the school.

“What the hell?” Stiles questioned aloud, as he and Scott kept trying to get the doors open.

Scott peeked his head out of what could be opened. “It’s a dumpster.” Scott said, before backing away, joining Spencer.

“He pushed it in front of the door. To block us in.” Stiles grunted, still trying to move the door opened. “Come on, help me.” Stiles ordered his friends.

Spencer looked to Scott.

Scott reached out to grab Stiles and pull him away from the door. There was no use in trying. They were locked in.

“Stiles, stop.” Spencer begged.

Stiles didn’t though. He fought against Scott, trying to open the door. Stiles wanted to be safe. He wanted to get out of the school alive. He wanted Spencer safe. It was all Stiles could think about. He didn’t want to die in school.

“Stop!” Scott ordered, finally getting a good enough hold on his friend and pulling him away from the door.

Spencer reached out to comfort Stiles, but he just kept walking past her.

Scott shook his head at her and held her hand catching up to a retreating Stiles.