DEAD MAN!
CHAPTER THIRTY.
i-i can't move my hands.

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ADRIAN MARTIN ROLLED HIS EYES AS HE WATCHED STILES SHOUT AT THE MECHANIC WORKING ON HIS JEEP FOR WHAT FELT LIKE THE MILLIONTH TIME. Due to Erica Reyes' bold decision to take parts out of Stiles' jeep, the boy had no choice but to get it looked at professionally. Adrian had been the one to suggest a mechanic after Stiles' genius- mind the sarcasm- plan of duct tape didn't work. In all honesty, the boy was more there to provide moral support.

Whether that support was for Stiles or the mechanic . . . the Martin boy was still on the fence with it.

"Hey. Hey!" Stiles walked up to the working mechanic as he drilled something into his jeep. "What do you think you're doing? All I needed was a starter."

The guy didn't even glance away from the car as he spoke. "Yeah, but it looks like your whole exhaust system has gotta be replaced, too."

Stiles' mouth fell agape, looking displeased at the worker's words. "Why do I get the feeling you're slightly overestimating the damage?"

"It's probably gonna run you around, like, twelve hundred, parts and labour." The mechanic scanned over the jeep, taking in its very used state.

"Are you kidding me?" The boy cried, face in utter disbelief. "This thing doesn't even have a catalytic converter. And, yes, I know what a catalytic converter is."

It was then that the man finally turned round to face the boy, stopping his drilling. "You know what a limited slip differential is?"

The Stilinski stuttered on the spot, giving his boyfriend time to walk over to them after hearing their conversation. "The LSD is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts."

While Stiles' jaw dropped to the floor, the mechanic smirked and looked the redhead up and down. "Yeah. You know about cars?"

The teen shrugged. "Picked a few things up from my dad."

The mechanic just nodded, keeping his eyes on Adrian a little too long for a certain someone's liking. Stiles sighed loudly, gaining the mechanic's attention again. "Okay, just finish. I'll be back here . . . seething with impotent rage."

Grabbing Adrian's arm, the boy led them to the back of the workshop where the waiting room was. "That guy was totally checking you out." Stiles muttered angrily.

Adrian barked a laugh, quirking a ginger-haired brow. "Jealous, Stilinski?"

"Stop enjoying this so much." Stiles rolled his eyes, clasping the door handle. He immediately pulled his hand away to reveal a weird substance coating his hand. "Oh . . . nice. Real sanitary. Quality establishment you're running here." He called back, making sure the mechanic could hear him.

The two boys entered the room, Adrian taking a seat just as Stiles wiped his hand with the substance onto his jacket. He pulled out his phone, muttering under his breath.

"Hey, look. The guy plays lacrosse." Adrian smiled as he pointed to a photo of the mechanic in none other than Beacon Hill's lacrosse gear.

"Figures." Stiles scoffs, shaking his head in bitterness.

Adrian tilted his head, taken back. "You're not seriously upset a guy looked at me, are you?" He grinned once he figured it out as he leaned back in his seat, a smug look on his face.

Stiles scoffed. "No, I'm not." His tone was quiet, obviously telling the boy he was lying.

"Hey," Adrian's softer tone was more serious as he stood from his seat, Stiles looking at him expectantly. "You don't have to be jealous. You're the person I'm with, not him."

"That could change though." The redhead caught the mutter, making a frown appear on his face. Was that really how he felt? He thought sadly.

"Stiles," Adrian trailed off, biting his lip. The words he so badly wanted to say were on the end of tongue, but they were also the words he feared to voice the most. Ultimately, Adrian chose to be brave and speak his truth. "I lov-"

The sound of something dropping cut him off. Adrian confusedly snapped his gaze to the window, something turning in his gut. Something didn't feel right . . .

Stiles had dropped his phone, making his boyfriend look at him in concern. His hands began to shake, the boy grunting as if trying to move them but couldn't.

"Stiles," Adrian called out worriedly, eyes getting wider as he took a few steps closer to the shaking boy. "What's going on?"

The teen boy looked up, eyes wide. "I-I can't move my hands." His breathing was panicky, his hands seeming to get more and more stiff.

Something caught the couple's eye through the glass window, Adrian's heart stopping at what he saw. It looked to be a lizard-like creature that was six foot tall at most! It's long claws lowered him closer to the mechanic, who was oblivious to the danger.

"What the hell is that?" Adrian breathed in fear, staggering back a few steps. He'd never seen anything like it, not even in the old horror movies Toby and himself watched during their movie nights!

"Hey!" Stiles struggled to get out, trying to gain the guy's attention through the glass while his boyfriend gaped at the creature. "Hey!" The mechanic didn't hear him, only breaking away from his job when it was too late.

The thing raised a dinosaur-like claw to the back of his neck, creating a straight cut on his back. Adrian's eyes widened as the man collapsed, Stiles' body falling down soon after.

"Stiles!" The boy knelt down beside him, watching him struggle for his phone. The redhead picked up the device for him, his mind lost. "W-What do you want me to do?!"

"C-Call the station." Stiles grunted, his hands still shaking as he panicked. Adrian nodded, beginning to type in the numbers. He only got so far as '91' before he was interrupted.

The sound of the apporators with the jeep on slowly coming down on the defenceless mechanic didn't allow the boy to complete his task, gaining his focus instead.

"Adrian," Stiles caught on pretty quickly to what the teen's intentions were, and although he commended him for thinking of it . . . he couldn't allow him to go through with it. "Don't."

Sadly, Adrian was already on his feet. He dropped the phone next to Stiles, scrambling for his coat he had left in the room. The teen ignored Stiles' protests of fear as he used his coat to open the door, running out.

Adrian Martin only took a few steps before the lizard came out of nowhere, hissing at him with its venomous eyes staring into his fearful ones.

Adrian let out a sound of surprise, backing up so quickly he fell down to the floor. He didn't have much time to get up before the thing was on top of him.

Adrian cringed, eyes shutting closed as its hisses buzzed through his eardrums. It's breath fanned his face, claws pressing against his skin.

It all seemed as if Adrian's life would've ended there, and he was preparing himself for it . . . until the pressure of the lizard swept off of him.

Peeling his eyes open, Adrian saw the lizard was no longer in eyesight . . . but the crushed mechanic was.

❚ ❚ ❚

"I told you, I just . . . we walked in, and we saw the jeep on top of the guy. That's all." Stiles told his dad as they sat in the back of an ambulance, Adrian sitting not too far away. He hadn't spoken since the police arrived.

"What happened to your hand?" Sheriff asked, looking down at the hand his son was caressing.

"Nothing. Can I just get out of here now?"

Adrian zoned out from then as he watched the police through the window uncover the body of the dead mechanic. The scene sent a shiver through his spine, his lip now trembling.

A sudden prick of pain erupted through his skull. He winced, caressing his head as a ring came through his ears. What's happening?

When the Martin boy looked up, his green orbs widened when he saw a blue mist float out of the mechanic's dead body. It floated in the air, no one paying it any attention; proving only Adrian was the one seeing it.

Then, without any warning, it floated up and evaporated . . . like a ghost.

"Adrian." Someone's hand latched onto his arm, making the teen flinch as he prepared to defend himself. Stiles' eyes quickly widened and stepped back slightly, arms up in surrender. "Woah, it's me. You okay?"

"I let a man get killed, Stiles. I- his dead body was right in front of me." The redhead sputtered, eyes trained on the floor in shock. In all honesty, reality of what had just happened had not settled in just yet.

Stiles shook his head, pulling the teen into a much needed hug. Adrian didn't respond in any way though, his body feeling too numb and frozen to move his limp arms. "It wasn't your fault, Tiger. It wasn't."

"What was that thing?" Adrian stepped away from the hold. He had gathered pretty early on that Stiles seemed to recognise it vaguely.

The buzzcut offered a sigh, shrugging. "We don't know yet. Scott and Allison ran into it too. Speaking of, I called Scott since my jeep is now evidence. He's coming to pick us up." The boy explained, waving his phone for emphasis.

"Oh . . . " Was all that Adrian could muster, eyes focusing on where he'd seen that blue mist float out of the mechanic's body. It had to have been his Necromancer abilities kicking in surely . . . but what was it? "Ok."

"Are you sure you're okay, Adrian?" The question made the boy finally look up to meet the hazel eyes of Stiles Stilinski, calming him somewhat. "Did something else happen that you're not telling me?"

The Martin boy could only swallow his thoughts, not wanting to be a burden. "I'll tell you about it later."

Scott pulled up not that long after, the two boys climbing in. "You okay?" He asked once Stiles closed the passenger side door, Adrian sitting in the back.

"Yeah." His words made Adrian frown ever so slightly. They were definitely not okay. "You were right. It's not like you. I mean, its eyes were almost, like, reptilian."

"But there was something about them." Adrian carried on, recalling the sight of the creature's eyes. Realising how bad this situation was becoming, the Martin boy let out a shaky breath. "Last time I checked, lizards were small creatures."

"What do you mean about the eyes?" Scott turned to face the redhead more, his brown eyes scanning between the two boys now.

While Adrian had no idea how to describe the feeling he got, Stiles pitched it perfectly. "You know when you see, like, a friend in a Halloween mask, but all you can actually see are their eyes, and you feel like you know them, but you just can't figure out who it is?"

Scott frowned, eyebrows knitting together. "Are you saying you know who it is?"

"No." Adrian shook his head in the backseat, causing both boys to turn his way. The sight of the lizard's face right in front of him burned in his memory, creating a chilling picture. "But I think it knew us."

❚ ❚ ❚

Adrian Martin liked to consider himself a decently heavy sleeper. Sure, it took awhile for him to get settled down but once he was out, he was out like a light. Nothing could wake the teenager up from his slumber . . . except the screams and gasps of his mother.

Fearing something was wrong, Adrian almost tripped over his trainers by the door as he ran into his sisters' bedroom. The sight in front of him was not a sight Adrian was planning on seeing that morning.

Lydia's bedsheets had blood caked beneath them, the culprit being her hands. They were bloody and looked badly cut, making Adrian connect the dots between the broken, bloody mirror on her table in front of her bed.

"Lydia, sweetheart, why would you do that?" Their mother whispers in shock, caressing her daughters hands. Lydia doesn't say anything, only small whimpers leaving her mouth.

The entire time, Adrian watches with a parted mouth. All this supernatural stuff happening around him . . . the boy couldn't keep up with all of it. He needed a break.

Strutting back into his room, Adrian grabbed his phone off his desk and dialled a number. He waited a few seconds, the person picking up on the third ring. ". . . Hello?" The voice followed hesitantly, almost in fear.

"Fancy ditching school to watch movies? I need a break." The Martin boy sighed, running a hand over his ginger hair.

Toby let out a breath of relief, even letting a very small and weak chuckle come through. "I thought you'd never ask."

A U T H O R. N O T E
this is probably the shortest chapter in the book but this is all my five am self could come up with. i'm a living zombie, i know. thought i'd also sprinkle in a bit of toby as well seeing as the chapter was short and i love writing about my baby.

can someone please explain to me why this gif makes me laugh so hard every time i see it?
like the scene is just funny to me and idk why.
mickey: *gets shot*
ian: *gay panic*
. . . i feel bad for all you non-shameless watchers out there who have no idea what i am going on about and think i'm crazy lol.

GIF MADE BY ME !
━ R O S C O E O B R I E N