Alone

It was a normal day. It was always a normal day when everything went to hell. No warning. No signs. Nothing.

I was just coming downstairs to get breakfast and see my dad before he had to go off to the station but, as he moved towards me, a smile plastered on his face and a mug of coffee in his hand, he suddenly drifted away in a cloud of ash.

I barely registered the crash of the mug hitting the kitchen floor.

'I'm dreaming.'  Was my first thought, my initial shock at the event not yet worn off. 'It's just a dream. Come on Stiles, wake up. Dad's downstairs waiting to see you before his shift. You're just dreaming.'  But as I continued to tell myself this I began to doubt myself more and more.

Counting my fingers I could feel my hands begin to shake as I counted ten - no more, no less - and the panic of losing my dad finally hit me...

I honestly didn't remember dialling Scott's number until I heard his voice coming out of the device, sounding strained, as though he'd been crying.

"Stiles?" He asked before I heard a muffled sob coming from his end of the phone.

"Scott. What's happening?"

"I don't know. Mom... We were talking about her promotion and celebrating and then she- she was gone."

Suddenly I felt my airways begin to constrict at the thought that this was happening to other people too. I quickly hung up the phone, not wanting to worry Scott any more than he already was with my problems.

I nearly instantly regretted my decision to hang up the phone though, realising that this was the worst panic attack I'd had in years and I needed help, but I couldn't call him back, my hands were shaking too much to get a good grip on the phone and I could feel my vision swimming in and out.

I allowed darkness to consume me.

I was alone.

...

The next thing I was aware of was someone screaming my name. 

"STILES! Stiles. Breathe with me okay. Focus on my heartbeat. Here." I could feel the person place my hand over their heart and concentrated on breathing in rhythm with its beats. 

As I began to breathe more easily I felt myself begin to be more aware of my surroundings and it wasn't long before I recognised the person in front of me.

"Lydia? Oh my god, Lydia." I managed to say before I broke down into tears, burying my face into her chest. I felt her wrap her arms around me, whispering things into my ear to help calm me down.

I don't know how long we sat in that position but when I had calmed down enough that I could talk, Lydia began to ask my questions.

"What's happening Stiles? People are just disintegrating throughout Beacon Hills without any obvious cause." The worry in her eyes over what was happening made my heart clench.

"I don't know but... Lydia my dad... I'm all alone... and Scott... his mom... she's gone... and..." Was all I managed to get out between sobs but it didn't matter, Lydia understood me perfectly.

"Stiles you're not alone, you've still got me and Scott and we'll always be here with you okay. Never think you're alone."

"Thank you Lyds," I replied, not trusting myself with too many words right now.

I wish people would stop promising things they couldn't stick to.

...

Once I was cleaned up a bit, Lydia and I agreed to go visit Scott, after all, he was all alone in his house and had just lost his mother. I also wanted to see him so we could support each other. He had helped me through losing my mom and I had helped him with his dad leaving so this time we would help each other.

As we entered the house though, (I never knocked as I had my own key) we saw that Scott had his trainers and the keys to his bike in hand.

"Going somewhere?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow. Scott usually moped around at home when something bad happened, he didn't usually leave the house.

"I was just about to head to yours actually." He replied, "I realised that you were alone there and you've just lost your other parent. I've still got my dad and you're too important to me to let you suffer through this on your own."

I couldn't help myself but start crying again at what my brother had just said. He had just lost his mom but was going to be strong for me because I'd lost more and was too important to him.

"Oh, Scott!" I cried before we launched ourselves at each other, both crying into each other shoulders.

Lydia, the quick thinker as always, moved into the kitchen to get us some food and drinks, knowing that we were both going to be thoroughly exhausted after all of our crying.

Soon we were all sitting in Scott's living room, discussing what could have possibly caused this catastrophic event. On our way to Scott's, we had witnessed several people vanishing into thin air, loved ones left crying by themselves on the sidewalk with no clue of what was going on.

It turned out that Lydia had sensed something coming and that was why she had headed to mine and found me when she did. She had wanted to discuss the feeling she had had, not completely like people were going to die but more that they were fading away from existence.

"How do we know whether it's just in Beacon Hills?" Lydia asked, catching my attention immediately, "I mean we have no idea how powerful this thing is, or whether it's an attack on a global scale."

Lydia's words gave me a sudden impulse to turn on the TV and check the news to see if there were any reports of this strange occurrence anywhere else.

Images flashed across the screen in quick succession. Planes crashing due to the pilots suddenly disappearing, boats stranded out at sea, car crashes and massive pileups. Even as we watched the cameraman vanished, the camera crashing to the ground with the image of the news reporter rushing forward before he too was gone.

The amount of chaos that was happening and the fact that it wasn't just contained within Beacon Hills but occurring globally was truly heart-breaking.

"Scott you should call your dad, see if he's ok. You too Lydia, check up on your parents." I said and both had their phones out in an instant, checking to see if their remaining family was alright as the devastation on the TV carried on playing in the background.

After seeing that their parents were fine, which they were thankfully (I was slightly jealous that Lydia still had both her parents when my last one had been taken from me but I was never going to confess that), I suggested we go to Derek's loft to see who else in the pack was alright and try and figure out a way to solve the problem together.

Just as I was walking through the front door however I heard Scott's scared cry behind me.

"Stiles!"

"Scott? What is it, buddy? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." Is all he said before he turned to dust, just like the others.

"Scott! No no no no. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This ca-" I was cut off from my rant by a hand on my arm. I could see the unshed tears in Lydia's eyes ad instantly brought her in for a hug.

Scott was gone.

...

It didn't take long before we were on the road heading towards Derek's loft. We both knew that Scott would have wanted us to go and find a way to bring him back rather than sit around and grieve so we were going to honour that. Even if it hurt.

Pulling into the parking lot outside his building, I could see two shadows moving around the loft, presumably Derek and Peter.

After climbing the stairs to the heavy metal door I discovered that I was right, Derek was in the middle of the room, standing next to his uncle who was staring at his laptop screen with an intense look of concentration on his face.

"What do you want Stiles?! Derek asked, not even looking at me or Lydia as he stared at the screen with the same interest as Peter.

"I don't know. I just wanted to know that you were ALIVE and not another pile of ash out on the sidewalk. Is that a problem?"

At my words I heard him sigh, looking up to face me and I stared back at him. The instant his eyes widened I knew it was because of my appearance. I was sure the amount of crying I had done in the past couple of hours was going to make my face permanently red and splotchy.

"What happened to you two? You look like someone just kicked your puppy." Peter asked, tactless as ever.

"They did. And then turned him into ash." I replied, not missing the shock that adorned both of their faces at this.

"Scott's gone?" Derek questioned, disbelief written across his face at the thought that Scott had been one of the victims of this terrible curse.

"Yeah. Along with his mom, my dad and about half the fucking population of the world." I said, trying to stay calm despite the circumstances.

"We were wondering whether you had any ideas about what it could be." Lydia piped up from my side.

"Well, according to what I've been reading in news articles, there was an attack on New York by some alien creatures, as well as the country of Wakanda, which had all the Avengers involved so I'm guessing that they'd have a clue, or at least that it all stems from New York."

"That's brilliant. That's the first lead we have on getting them back! That's-" I was cut off by Peter suddenly falling forward into the table.

"You know I always wanted to go out with a bang." He smiled as he began to disappear, soon just another pile of dust on the floor.

"Save us," Derek said from behind me as he too disappeared.

"Stiles. Stiles."

"No. Lydia to you too. You said I'd always have you. Don't go, please. I can't do this without you." I cried as I looked into her face, my pain reflected in her eyes.

"You can and you will. Stiles, I know you can do this. You're the one who always figures it out and this is just another mystery for you to solve and I'll be there waiting when you do. I love you."

"I love you too," I said as I watched the woman I love leave me just like everyone else.

I had no one left. Nowhere to go.

I would get revenge on whoever did this. I would get my friends back and stop this once and for all.

And with that I stormed out of the loft, making my way to my jeep.

I could do this.