Phoebe's POV:

"Shrödinger's Cat!" Mr. Douglas spoke, turning to face us once he finished drawing the cat on the board. I look around the class, noticing their dreamy expressions as they didn't dare to look down. "Ah, I can see I impressed you all with my artistic abilities."

Hayden giggles from beside me which causes my eyes to widen slightly.

"I can smell your jealousy from here, Phoebe." Liam whispered with a smirk.

I discreetly elbow his stomach which causes a grunt to escape from him but I casually continue to write down my notes.

"Schrödinger puts his cat in a box with poisonous food. Now, until he opens that box, the cat is, in theory, both alive and dead." Mr. Douglas continued to explain before he leaned against his desk. "But, when he opens it, it's either "Hello, Mittens," or "Goodbye, Socks.""

Hayden giggles loudly, along with several other girls in the class, once more and I discreetly place a hand on her lap.

I continue to look forward but seconds after, I feel a hand place on top of mine, giving a small squeeze which causes me to smile.

"Putting aside the potential animal abuse here, what does it have to do with physics?" All of the women in the class raise their hand, but Mr. Douglas's eyes land near Hayden and I. "Yes, Hayden?"

"It illustrates the concept of quantum superposition. Light is both a particle and a wave until it is observed." She answers with a smile.

"Yes! Excellent answer. Very impressive." Mr. Douglas proudly smiled before he turned towards the rest of the class. "Does observing something change its behavior? Or alter its outcome? That's the question of today's lab on page one hundred seventeen. Break into groups of five."

Corey, Liam, and Mason get up from their spots to sit nearby Hayden and I as I flipped open the packet for us to see.

"Have any of you guys noticed that phones can't geolocate today?" Mason asked, holding up his phone to show the compass app on his screen.

On the screen, it showed the needle pointing to our right to signify North which causes my brows to furrow in confusion.

"Looks like it works." Liam shrugged.

I quickly shake my head. "Liam that's not north." I say and point towards the chalkboard. "That's north.

Corey pulls out his phone from his pocket, showing his compass app doing the same. "Mine's doing it, too."

"Mr. Douglas has a compass." Mason subtly hinted, nodding his head towards the cabinets.

Corey smirks and puts his hand on our work table, allowing himself to become invisible.

I look towards the cabinet and see the door slowly open for a few seconds until it finally shuts.

A hand comes into view on the table and Corey becomes visible once more with a proud smile, revealing the compass in his hands.

Mason picks the compass up and lifts the lid, his brows furrowing in confusion. "It's the same."

Hayden leans forward with curiosity. "What are you gonna do with it?"

Mason shrugs. "Follow it."

"Seriously?"

"Where do you think it goes?" Corey questioned.

"I have no idea but...we won't find out 'til we open the box." Mason smiled and I roll my eyes playfully at the reference.

Liam and Corey, however, frown in confusion which causes Hayden to chuckle. "Schrödinger's Cat."

Corey blankly stares at her before he turned to Mason for help. "I-I still don't get it."

Allison's POV:

"This is the place?" Olivia questions once she, Scott, Stiles, and I got out of the Jeep as I eyed the large brick house in suspicion. "Great."

The rusted swing set squeaked as it blew in the wind, clouds above the building swirling into gray mist which set an ominous atmosphere.

"That's not creepy at all." Stiles muttered sarcastically before we follow behind him and Scott to the house and pushed open the door with a loud creak.

"This place looks like nobody's been in here for years." Olivia spoke up as I looked around and saw a good amount of cobwebs and dust covering parts of the walls but a lack of furniture.

"I mean, Alex said he lived here." I reminded, wrapping my arm securely around hers to pull her close.

Scott aimed his flashlight to the dining room where two plates, two wine glasses, and two water glasses are sitting on the table but similar to the living room and the foyer, are covered in dust and dried up leaves as well.

"You wanna split up?" Scott suggested.

My eyes slightly widen. "Uh--"

"Absolutely not!" Stiles exclaimed.

Scott took the lead by walking up the wooden stairs first and with each step that we took up the steps, it creaked underneath and Olivia tightly gripped my arm with discomfort.

With the number of cobwebs in this place, I knew she refuses to touch the wooden railing since she did not want to risk having a spider crawl on her hand without noticing.

She hates them with a passion.

"Maybe Alex got the address wrong?" Scott suggested once we reached the top of the stairs and walk past an empty room cleaner than the others.

"Or he lied." Stiles grimly muttered.

"From the way he seemed at the station, I don't think he lied." I answered as we continue to walk past several more empty rooms. "Unless he convinced himself that his lie is the truth."

Once we reached the last white chipped door that was shut at the end of the hallway, Stiles uneasily looks at each of us before he took a step forward and grabbed onto the crystal doorknob.

He hesitantly twists it to open the door and pushes it open which causes my eyes to widen, seeing that neatly bright and cleaned room filled with typical pre-teenage furnishings.

"Definitely not a lie." Olivia whispered as Stiles opened the door wider for us to step inside the room.

"Why didn't the cops say anything about this?" Scott asked, switching the flashlight off.

"They don't know it's here." I answer with a small shrug.

Stiles turned away from the furniture. "And they can't come here without a warrant, and there's no owner of record to serve a warrant to. So, unless there's some kind of threat or imminent danger, they wouldn't come in."

My eyes mindlessly wander around the room until it lands on the photos hanging on the wall. Before I could get a better look, Scott suddenly flinched back with his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" I worriedly ask.

"I think I heard something." He mutters before he turns and walked out of the room with Olivia following close behind.

Before I could leave the room, I feel a hand tug me back which causes me to turn and see that Stiles' eyes never left the wall.

"Do you see that?" He whispered and pointed to the pictures on the wall.

I take a step closer to get a better look at the pictures, seeing several of them were younger pictures of Alex as a little kid with no other people.

"He's by himself." I conclude, noticing that some of Alex's poses were displayed awkwardly.

"Yeah but this one right here," Stiles points to the frame labeled '#1 Dad' printed on. "see how his arm is curved?"

I grab the frame and bring it closer, seeing that his arm was propped up over something invisible. "Almost like someone photoshopped his dad out of there." I say and Stiles quickly nods.

"Exactly. If it was supposed to be an ordinary picture, what kind of kid puts a dad-inspired frame if it's only himself?"

A strong gust of wind blows behind us and instantly I rub my arms with a shiver. "I'm not sure but I'm going to borrow Olivia's sweater. It's cold." I mutter before I exit the room.

Just before I could reach the stairs, in the corner of my eye I see a black sliver of a cowboy hat that rested on a dark figure's head enter through one of the empty rooms which causes me to pause in my steps.

I turn towards the room but slowly unclip the daggers from my belt. "Guys?" I whisper, wondering whether or not it was one of them still investigating the rooms.

Olivia's POV:

"Where's the sound coming from?" I whisper to Scott once we reached the bottom of the steps.

"Near here." He whispered back, aiming the flashlight towards the dining room where the large wood table had the utensils, plates, and cups covered in dust.

Scott moved the light away for a moment but a small creak is heard once more which causes him to flick his light towards it again. My heart drops at the sight, seeing all that was left was the clean prints.

"Did you see what I just saw?" I whisper.

Before he could answer, another creak is heard but this time it was closer than before.

I flick my wrist which ignited into flames and I look to Scott who nodded his head to the corner we entered from.

"One, two..." I mouth and we quickly rush around the corner but before I could swing a punch, a familiar screech causes me to stop.

"Jesus!" Phoebe gasped, putting a hand over her chest as Liam and Mason sighed in relief.

"You guys almost gave me a heart attack!" I scold, closing my hand to extinguish the flames before I smacked her on the arm.

"W-What are you two doing here?" Liam nervously asked, placing his hands on his hips as he glanced between Scott and I.

"This is Alex's house." Scott swallowed, trying to calm himself down. "What are you doing here?"

"This is where the compass led us." Phoebe answered, rubbing the side of her arm with a pained expression.

"What compass?"

Mason held out his hand, showing the old golden compass but the needle wildly moved in all sorts of directions.

"Why's it doing that?" I ask.

"We have no idea." Mason answered as Liam pulled out his phone as well, showing that the needle in his compass app wildly spun around as well.

"They're all doing it."

Allison's POV:

I quickly turn the corner into the room but similar to the other ones, it's empty as well. I cautiously look around, tightening my grip on the handle of the dagger as I step further into the room.

A gust of wind blows behind me which causes me to turn again, seeing as the piles of leaves swept into the middle of the room.

"What the hell...?"

Suddenly one of the doors slam shut which causes me to jump at the sound but it soon enough followed with a gasp.

"Guys?" I warily call out. A faint footstep slowly approaches closer to the door and I quickly step out of the room, seeing Stiles's terrified expression as he stared ahead of the hallway.

"Wait!"

I follow his line of vision but just before I could fully turn, Stiles grabs my arm and yanks me to the ground as the gunshot clashed against the wooden door behind me. He covers my body as much as he could as several more gunshots collide with the door, shielding me away from the wooden shards that fell on us.

"Olivia!"

Olivia's POV:

I quickly turn at the sound of my name which causes my eyes to widen. "Allison." I whisper before I sprint towards the stairs and ran up.

Once I reached the top, I frantically look around but see Stiles barely getting off of Allison from the ground with a dazed look.

"Are you guys okay?" I worriedly ask as I rush towards the two, carefully helping them up from the ground. "What happened?"

"H-He was here." Stiles stammered, his eyes glancing between us and behind me before he pointed to Alex's door that was now shut. "He shot at us. It was one of the guys you saw in Alex's memory."

"Did they hit you? Are you hurt?" I worriedly whisper to Allison, checking to see if any bullets nicked her but she shook her head, whispering a quiet 'I'm okay.'"

"The guy who took his parents?" Mason questioned in confusion.

"No, no, no." Stiles quickly shook his head. "They weren't just taken. They were-They were made to disappear. That's why there's no furniture, that's why they weren't in any of the photos--"

"They were erased." Allison nervously spoke up.

Stiles quickly turns and opens the bedroom door, but instead of being met again with furniture, pictures, and small toys,

Everything was gone.

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"I keep feeling like it's familiar, you know? Like I've heard it before." Stiles tells Allison, Lydia, and I as we walk outside of the school.

Since Phoebe was watching Liam and Hayden at practice with the car, I needed Stiles to drive me back to the school which meant looking more into whatever he saw with Allison. She was still shaken up by it so she decided to stick with me until I dropped her off at home.

"Deja Vu?" I ask but Stiles shook his head.

"Pensée a civage?" Allison suggested, swinging our interlaced hands together. "It's French for 'a lingering thought you can't reach'."

"Okay, well, is there a French word for 'feeling an overwhelming sense of urgency and impending doom?'" Stiles remarked sarcastically.

"Féminine un fille phantom?" Lydia answered which caused all of us to turn, seeing her give a small shrug. "It's French for 'Banshee.'"

"Okay, w-what does your Banshee intuition say this is?" He exasperated in frustration.

"That you don't have to figure it all out right this second?" She sternly emphasized.

Stiles's expression softens but I furrow my brows in curiosity. "You're really worried about this kid."

He nods, flipping through the pages of his book. "This kid's got no one, you know? And...there's a reason why. There's gotta be." He spoke before closing the book shut.

"Give this man a ride, sweet family will die. Killer on the road." Lydia whispered under her breath as she looked to the side.

"Are you quoting Riders on the Storm?" Allison curiously asked

Lydia's head jerks back to face us, almost as if she broke out of her trance. "What?"

"You've never heard of the song? 'Riders on the Storm?'" Stiles chimed in with his brows furrowed in confusion.

Her eyes widen. "That's it!"

I stare blankly, glancing between the three. "I'm lost."

"The Ghost Riders! The Wild Hunt." Lydia emphasized. "They come by storm, riding horses, and they take people."

The corners of Stiles's lips perk up before he shook my arm excitedly. "We need to find Scott. Now." He stated and turned to Lydia. "Lydia, you're so smart I could kiss you right now."

"Do not kiss me."

"I'm not gonna..." He trails off with hesitation before he quickly leans in and pecks her on the cheek before dragging me away. "Did it anyway!"

"Stiles, slow down!" I scold as he continued to pull my arm but I quickly look back at Allison. "I'll find you later! I love you!" I call out and I watch as she waves with amusement before Stiles pulls me inside.