Chapter 14: Nemeton

"Boys, wake up!" The Sheriff exclaimed, getting a lazy response from Scott and Stiles. "Lydia is here"

The girl nodded and waved at him as he left, then walking into the room with his friends.

Stiles was sprawled out in the floor, limbs everywhere as a bunch of papers rested over his stomach, going up and down with his breathing pattern. His mouth was wide open and he softly snored.

Scott rested on the arm chair, his head hanging from one of the sides as he rested peacefully. He was cuddled over himself and looked young and innocent like a baby.

"Good morning!" Lydia greeted them very loudly, getting them to finally open their eyes.

Scott was so startled that he fell off the arm chair, just to climb up onto it clumsily. Stiles was wide eyed as he tried to gather all the papers spread across him and the floor and wiped his mouth from any residue of drools.

"I'm guessing you still have nothing" The redhead picked up a few papers from the printer and sat down in Stiles' bed.

"Nothing..." Scott looked sad and defeated, even if he was still sleepy and he rubbed his eyes.

"My dad might, though" Stiles jumped up from the floor and followed the Sheriff. "Dad, wait!"

They heard them mumbling things, probably about Catori and any possible leads on her.

"We've been awake almost all night" Scott yawned big like a lion and got comfortable on the arm chair. "Haven't found anything, not any leads"

"What did you look for?" The redhead took her eyes off the paper she was curiously looking around to fix her eyes on her friend.

"A little bit of everything, anything we thought could give us a clue" He tiredly rubbed his eyes vehemently to shake off the drowsiness. "Locations in Beacon Hills, supernatural creatures in lore unknown to us, any new information on the other cases of missing girls..."

Lydia directed her eyes back to the papers on her hands and quickly read them.

A Japanese creature known as Kappa, the Beacon Hills Railroad Depot, the case of a girl called Vikki Sanders, the Warehouse District, a beast called Selkie and a similar one called Kelpie, the Eichen House, a being called Knocker...

Just then Stiles walked back into the room, plopping down next to Lydia with a resigned expression.

"As you can see, this was a huge success" He told her bitterly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lydia suddenly felt something. Her fingers were twitching nervously, almost craving for... what? She had enough experience as a banshee to know that strange feeling had something to do with her supernatural nature.

While the boys were trying to sober up from their interrupted and restless sleep, Lydia searched the room for more papers that contained information and gathered them. That was probably what she was looking for.

Most of them were carelessly squashed between Stiles' hands, so she quickly snatched them away from him.

"Hey!" He complained, startled by the sudden outburst. "What the hell...?"

Lydia frantically read through them, her green eyes darting from one page to the other, trying to find it.

"What's wrong?" Scott somehow knew what was happening. "Got anything?"

"I think so" She replied absently as she still went over the papers, as fast and effectively as she could.

"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know"

But then she stopped at a certain page. When she saw that word and that photo, her heart skipped a beat and somehow she knew. That was it.

"The Nemeton" The redhead stared at the picture of the cut out tree.

"Is Catori there?!" Stiles jumped up from the bed again, both excited and frightened.

Flashes of the Darach and their parents being kidnapped and held there, waiting to become human sacrifices, rushed to his mind. His hands shook a little and his throat suddenly turned very dry with the memories.

He glanced over to Scott, who was staring back at him with a recognition that told him he knew what he was thinking and felt the exact same apprehension. So his friend nodded slightly, telling him it would be okay without any need for words.

"Yes?" Lydia doubted in response, still not being too sure about it since she didn't have full control of her banshee premonitions.

"Is she still there?!" Scott urged their friend as well, hopeful and begging for it to be it for real.

"I-I don't know!" Lydia exclaimed in frustration, crumpling the sheets in her hands.

"We're still going, right?" Stiles asked them, his restless eyes darting from one to the other. "I mean, it's the only lead we have at all. If there's even a slight possibility that Catori's actually there..."

"We're going" Scott assured with confidence and determination.

"I'll start the Jeep" Stilinski hurriedly picked up his keys and ran off the room, his friends following.

However, he came back at super speed to give Lydia a quick hug since she had been the one to finally give them a clue after all that time in uncertainty.

But he fidgeted around and gawked at her when she went after him.

"Lydia..." He frowned, half questioning. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going with you!" The three of them tussled a little on the way down until they got to the Jeep.

"You should stay here..." Scott softly told her, seeing as she was ready to get into the vehicle.

"I'm not staying here" None of the boys had seen her so determined before. "I'm coming with you to save Catori"

"It can be dangerous"

"I don't care!"

The redhead jumped into the backseat of the Jeep to reinforce her statement and to show she had made her decision. She wasn't changing her mind.

"But..." Stiles insisted once more, concerned.

"No buts" She shook her head. "Get on the car, Stiles"

The boy glanced at his friend in awe, but Scott was just as surprised.

"Okay..." The alpha boy sat on the seat as Stiles started the engine. "Let's go then"

*

Stiles told himself that dividing the group was never a good idea. Both in movies and in real life.

So he hated that he was walking through the forest around the Nemeton on his own. In fact, through a secret tunnel that led to a secret hideout area underneath it, which was even scarier.

However, he felt even more frightened with what he found next. A figure laying on the floor, feeble and motionless, caught his eye.

"Oh my God..." Stiles uttered, his heart skipping a beat. "Lydia, Scott!!!!"

The boy ran to Catori and kneeled next to her, observing her carefully. He noticed how her chest slowly and weakly raised and fell. At least she was breathing.

"Cat" Stiles placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, but she didn't react. "Cat, wake up!!"

She felt cold and looked very pale. Deadly pale. A distorted expression of unease took hold of her face even if her eyes were shut tight. She was unconscious.

"SCOTT!" Stiles called again, at the top of his lungs.

He was terrified, felt helpless and tiny.

But he still tried to convince himself that there was hope. They had found her, and he was going to fight to get her to open her eyes. To save her.