I think I handled telling Jeremy the truth well. But I'd rather not talk about that without crying.

Stiles told me he liked to distract himself after his mom died and if I was being honest, it was a good idea. Tonight we had a lacrosse game, but I was definitely not gonna be playing. I'd rather watch and observe for tonight.

I sat at the first row of bleachers closest to the bench, looking around as I hadn't seen Stiles all night. Though Scott did say he was probably late, like always.

5 minutes later and now Danny was knocked down, Stiles was still missing... and Boyd was now out on the field.

"Oh this won't be good..." I whispered to myself, my head turning to look back and see Allison with Gerard.

"Ah okay that hurts, Erica."

I once again turned back around to face the school, the sound of Stiles' voice now grabbing my full attention. I tried to listen closer, hoping to hear whatever Erica had to say.

"Stiles." I shot up when I heard Derek now speaking, asking Stiles about the other night when the lizard man had killed the mechanic.

I looked back towards Allison, who was now giving me an odd look as I held my hand out slightly, mouthing Derek's name as I started walking towards the school.

"Alright. Alright, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark. Kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales. Is that enough? Okay, because I've somebody I really need to talk to." Stiles described the thing we had seen as I started nearing closer to the pool. A sudden sent of fear wafted into my nose and I heard heels clicking quickly, raising a brow as I picked up my pace.

Erica slammed right into me, not bothering to help me up. "Run, Dean!" She ordered, then left.

"What do you mean—" I heard a loud splash, followed by another one that caused me to start sprinting towards the pools.

The doors crashed open and I looked around frantically, noticing movement in the pool. "Stiles!" I yelled, running over to see him Bob up and gasp for air, holding a limp Derek.

"Dean! Get outta here!" He ordered as I looked around, freezing in my spot when I felt something slice my neck. I gasped in pain, turning around to see the creature hissing at me.

And then I felt another slice across my leg, another yell of pain before I was falling backwards into the pool.

"Dean!"

I couldn't move. I tried to flail my arms up,  it I couldn't even twitch. I was sinking to the bottom, and Stiles was stopping Derek from drowning.

This is it, isn't it? I thought to myself as I tried to keep myself from breathing in. But nothing was working.

I let myself breathe in, and then there were a pair of arms around me, pushing me up to the surface.

I coughed hard, all the water leaving my lungs as my head rested tried to keep itself up, Stiles swimming back to grab Derek before he started sinking again.

"You're an idiot." Stiles and Derek said in unison as I scoffed.

"I heard you and Stiles talking, then a smell of fear. I'm gonna come running if he's in danger." I said, Stiles struggling to keep himself above the water.

"Aren't people suppose to float?" Stiles gasped out as I looked around slowly, my eyes widening in horror as the lizard man walked around us like we were prey. And we probably were.

"Just... don't stop swimming." I ordered as Stiles hummed.

"Isn't it 'just keep swimming'?" He asked as Derek glared at him.

"Just get us out of here before we drown." Derek ordered.

"You're worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth." Stiles stated the obvious as Derek groaned in annoyance.

"Did you notice that we are paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?!" Stiles looked around for the monster, slowly swimming towards the ladder.

"Wait wait wait!" I yelled, moving my head in the direction of the monster. The three of us watched it prowl around, Stiles frowning in confusion.

"What's it waiting for?" He asked as the lizard walked up to the pool. My eyes widened in fear at the thought of it swimming to get us until it reeled back when it touched the water.

"Did you see that!? I don't think it can swim." Stiles laughed in victory as Derek and I shared the same 'we are gonna be here a while' look.

𒊹︎𒊹︎𒊹︎

It's been two hours.

"I don't think I can do this much longer." Stiles breathed out as I looked at him.

"You've been stopping us from drowning the last two hours don't give up right freaking now!" I ordered as his eyes latched onto his phone. Stiles grip on my body loosened.

"Don't even think about it!" Derek yelled.

"Would you just trust me this once?" Stiles asked as Derek shook his head. "I'm the one keeping both of you alive!"

"Yeah. And when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna be able to fight that thing, you or me? You don't trust me I don't trust you. You need me to survive, which is why you are not letting us go. Stiles!" Derek bellowed, and then Stiles dropped us both.

"Stiles I'm gonna kill—!" My head was under the water again, and now both Derek and I were sinking to the bottom.

Great. This is perfect.

"Scott!" Stiles yelled from above, and then he was gripping my shirt and dragging me up.

"Please tell me you got ahold of him?" Derek asked as I gasped for air, looking up at the ceiling as my head rested on Stiles shoulder. I was actually feeling weak from not moving.

"Wait wait! I can move my feet!" I cheered, kicking my feet around.

"I can't stay up any longer. I need something to hang onto!" Stiles started swimming towards the diving boards, wrapping an arm under mine so I could still stay up.

But it wasn't much longer until I was under water for a third time, and suddenly being thrown out of it.

I slowly sat up as I regained control of my body, turning my head when I heard glass shattering, and the monster looking at its reflection and running off.

And suddenly I knew exactly what it was.

"Kanima."