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CHAPTER THREE:

TARGET PRACTICE

"Are you coming, Dasha?" Lydia hollered from across the parking lot and the blonde teen rolled her eyes blatantly at Scott and Stiles, to show them how much fun she would have with Lydia. Dasha loved Lydia, dearly, but being around her more than 10 hours a day can be pretty hellish.

School had ended ten minutes ago, and Dasha was sitting on the hood of Stiles' Jeep. Scott had been glancing between the two of them, noticing how she was lounged on top of Stiles precious car, and how Stiles was edgy, like she was going to break his baby. Dasha pushed off of the hood of the baby blue Jeep before hugging Stiles tightly, in farewell.

"Have fun with Lydia," Stiles teased his best friend and she groaned, burying her head into his chest. "What? Don't like bonding?"

"We've bonded enough, I just don't want to sit around for hours as Allison tries to get her mojo back." Dasha pulled away from him slightly, looking up at his pale face. "Can I stay here?"

"Nope," Stiles grinned, as if he was enjoying her pain. "You already promised her."

"I know, I know." Dasha pouted, pushing away from him. 

"Just watch, something supernatural will happen while we're in the woods."

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"Not the steadiest hand for a superb marksman." Lydia noted as Alison shot her first arrow. It had missed, terribly, and Dasha realized that maybe her purpose of coming today was for moral support. Allison had lost her groove.

"It's been happening for the past few weeks. Since that night." Allison replied, explaining what was going on. 

Lydia tore paper, "Start over."

Allison breathed in and out deeply before she focused on shooting again. She missed, again. 

"Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal." Lydia commented lightly with raised brows. Dasha wished that Lydia wasn't that obvious with her hopelessness. 

Dasha spoke up, stepping forwards. "It's okay Alison, I know that it seems bad but you're definitely doing better than I would've! I probably would've poked myself in the eye with an arrowhead by now."

Allison smiled softly at the blonde who was attempting to ease her nervousness and annoyance. 

"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures."

"There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal."

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Do you really think this is going to help?" Allison asked Lydia and Dasha rolled my eyes at how nervous Allison was.

"I know that if you think it's not going to help it definitely won't." She paused, clearing her throat before turning to Allison with a smile. "So get your head into it, shoot a few and see what happens."

"Oh." Lydia said simply.

"We're gonna be here awhile," Dasha sighed out, grabbing her phone out of her butt pocket to text Stiles the update.

Lydia sighed as well, most likely getting annoyed how slow things were turning out. "Maybe hold the string a different way. Try the Mongolian draw.

The other two girls turned to face Lydia, their faces showing shock at the strange yet known fact that spewed out of Lydia's mouth. "What? I read. Try it."

Dasha rolled my eyes, she knew Lydia was smart. That's why Stiles had the hugest crush on her— even Dasha did, at one point. Lydia, however, was not interested in Stiles, leaving the poor boy heartbroken but he was on the mend. 

Dasha groaned as she heard another arrow clatter to the ground.

"Okay, um– Take a second to close your eyes and imagine the arrow going into the target." Lydia instructed to the dark haired teen.

"Did you see that?" Allison asked abruptly, moving her bow down to her side, staring off in the distance.

"See what?" Lydia and Dasha asked simultaneously.

"Wait here," Allison instructed her friends. Dasha turned to Lydia, her eyes widened in disbelief. 

What the hell was going on?

"Should we call Scott?" Dasha harshly whispered to Lydia but she ignored her friend, watching as Allison walked away from the two of them.

"Are you serious?" Lydia called out to Allison but she was already distracted.

"I'll be right back," Allison told us.

"You did not just say that."

Allison disappeared into the distant trees and Lydia pulled out her phone and sent a text to Scott. The two girls continued onward, trying to follow Allison. 

"Allison!" Dasha called out to their friend, noticing her in the distance. A yelp, however, escaped Dasha's lips as she noticed Allison's dazed look and how she pointed her bow and arrow directly at her friend. 

"Allison!" Dasha shrieked as the arrow flew at the blonde girl, hitting her in her leg. Dasha fell to the ground, curling up into a ball as Lydia appeared beside her. 

Allison turned the bow on Lydia before she was yanked away by Isaac, who appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, my god." Allison gasped. "Oh, my God, Lydia, Isaac!" The girl mentioned moaned at the pain erupting from her thigh and Allison turned to see her friend, laying on the ground.

"Oh, my God, Dasha!"

Dasha smiled weakly from her position on the ground, clutching her thigh. Tears blurred the blonde's vision but she knew that Allison was now lucid, and Isaac had managed to stop Allison from hurting Lydia.

Lydia immediately dropped down beside Dasha, turning her to look away, making sure they were making eye contact the entire time.

"Dasha, whatever you do, don't look at it." Lydia muttered to her determinedly. "You and Stiles always faint at the sight of blood—"

"Too late," Dasha gasped out, holding her hands in front of her face. 

She was for sure, going to faint.

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        IT WAS THE NEXT DAY DURING LUNCH when Dasha limped towards her friends who were eating lunch outside instead of in the cafeteria. She winced at the shooting pain that would occasionally crawl through her tense skin. Doctor Deaton had patched her up after the incident in the woods and Stiles picked her up and took her home all the while Allison apologised profusely.

"Yeah soooooo Allison almost shot me with an arrow yesterday!" Dasha announced to the table as she slammed her tray onto the flat surface in greeting. The blonde sent a playful glare towards her friend who guiltily waved at their friends. "So, as I told Stiles, something supernatural did kind of happen– Allison is seeing things."

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things? "

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?"

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison asked.

"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac added.

"Ha," Stiles laughed sarcastically, looking at the boy who casually ate while listening. "Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me." Dasha snorted, she knew it was bad to laugh but the way that Isaac and Stiles threw sass at each other was beautiful.

"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles asked Isaac with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that."

"Hi. Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo.' It literally means "in-between state." The state between life and death." A girl from Dasha's class spoke up, approaching the table. Dasha was tense because it was supernatural stuff... but real. What did this girl hear?

"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked icily, which received a foot stomp by Dasha who frowned at the queen bee.

"–Kira–" Scott interrupted the new girl before she could speak up for herself. "She's in our History class."

"So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian? "

"Either, I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can by visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities? And what are those?"

"Like demons." Kira stated. 

"Demons– Why not?"Stiles asked turning to Dasha with a pointed look. Alwas something worse around the corner.

"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"

"Death– You die."

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