A gut wrenching feeling overcame her as she passed through the gates of Eichen House. She'd made a promise to herself that she would never return to the place of her nightmares, but there was no where else to search. Her determination was slowly dwindling, but it would ignite again as she pictured the image of the stone in her mind.

She had to find it. She didn't just want to play hero for once, no. This was an instinctual need to destroy what her ancestors could not. To finish off the monster once and for all, so he cannot return again.

That's what Stiles didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend what it felt to see every Banshee do their part in the history, pass the stone onto the next, so Aeval's legacy could live on. He doesn't understand the power the stone holds, and how important it is that she has it.

But he still stuck close to her, refusing to let Lydia walk into the asylum alone.

"There is no way in hell I'm letting you go in there by yourself." He'd said, with a brow set straight and no option for her to refuse. "What ever happens, we'll have each other."

They formulated a plan: Stiles would distract the front desk while she snuck away, and she'd open a back door for him to enter. He kept the key-card from the last visit to Eichen, so they would use that to get into the supernatural unit and ultimately to her grandmother's old cell.

The hand he lay on her back soothed the tensing nerves built up inside of her. He smiled a dorky sideways grin, before they pushed open the doors and into the asylum.

A tanned woman looked up to the pair from the front desk. She offered a gracious smile, yet it didn't reach her eyes. "May I help you?" The worker questioned.

"Yes, we're here for visiting hours, but could you direct me to the restroom first?" Lydia said, barely managing to cover the shakiness in her voice. Stiles, of course, noticed the strain in her speak and began to smooth small circles on her lower back with his thumb.

"First door down the hallway on the left." Lydia nodded to the woman's directions, and walked peacefully through the hallway. She shot Stiles a small smile of reassurance before continuing on her way.

As she made her walk past countless identical doors, Stiles' shouting began to echo through the hall. "What do you mean you need my drivers license to visit someone?" She would've giggled at his destructive antics if not for the circumstance.

She pulled the key card from the waistband of her skirt as the metal doors to the supernatural unit came into view. After a quick look down either side of the hallway, she swiped the card in the reader as the doors swung open. A ripple went through her as she stepped through the doorway, the familiar feeling of the mountain ash. It didn't stop her, like the other supernatural creatures, but she could still feel it send chills down her spine.

But as soon as the chill was gone, the hole in her chest swelled. Lydia choked on her breath, the air halting in her lungs as a pulsing echoed in her head. She wearily stepped forward, keeping her eyes forward and off of the other creatures surrounding her.

She passed the door that Stiles would be waiting at, but walked past it without a second look, as if she was on autopilot. An energy seemed to be pulling her through the maze of a hallway, and the pain in her heart was ever present but she didn't cough or heave. Instead, it was a low rumbling inside her, shaking every bone as her fingers started to go cold.

There was a banging on the door behind her, followed by Stiles. "Lydia, come on, let me in." But it didn't reach her ear. She pursued the voice calling her, a harsh hiss that stung her eardrums.

A thick, glossy substance began to trickle from the corners of her mouth, leaving a sickening metallic taste. Her grandmother's cell lay in front of her, with familiar brick walls and a metal door hanging ajar. She entered the room, eyes wide and head pounding.

The far wall was stained with a black mark that resembled a lighting strike. Her breath hitched as a ghastly, clawed hand extended from the bricks, the talons coated in thick blood. It reached outwards, swiping at the air in front of it with frustration.

The hole in her chest opened suddenly, and a string of dark, gaseous matter grew from her sternum. The hand clung to it, the sound of hissing erupting from the wall. It pulled her forward, Lydia struggling against it as the string grew taught. The whisper grew more coherent, until words formed and stung her ears.

"I am...the bringer...of bloodshed..." It hissed, giving a tug on the string, making Lydia's feet scoot forward. The force made her cry out, pain erupting from her heart. "I am..." All breath escaped her as a pair of glowing, red eyes appeared from inside the wall. A deep growl echoed into the room.

"Akeldama!" The hand pulled one last time with all of it's strength. Lydia flew forward, her head smacking viciously into the wall. She slumped to the floor, hearing the sound of panicked footsteps before she lost consciousness.

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The Gate
[08] the string