Laws of Nature [2]; Liam Dunbar

ten: how not to save a life

Marlow dashed up the stairs and into her room. Riley was sitting on her swivel chair, looking at an old picture of her, Stiles, Noah, and Marlow's mom Claudia. She smiled at it absent-mindedly. She turned around to face Marlow, a sorrowful expression forming on her face. "When did she die?"

Marlow sighed and sat down on her bed. Riley turned to her in the chair, handing her back the picture. Marlow looked at it. She smiled upon remembering that day. It was one of her mom's last good days. They had spent it in the local zoo, which had been abandoned a few years later. "She died a year after you left," she told Riley. "Frontotemporal Dementia."

Riley shook her head. "Damn. That sucks," she commented. Marlow nodded. It wasn't pretty towards the end. Claudia couldn't even remember her own children a few days before she passed. After she passed, Marlow felt alone. That feeling was what prompted her to shut herself off from anyone. Better to keep everyone at arm's length than to lose them as well.

Only she wasn't alone. She had her dad and Stiles. Mason and Scott were great friends to her as well. Best friends. And now she didn't even know where she stood with either of them. She had chewed Scott out beyond belief and she wasn't there for Mason when Corey died. She sighed. "Yeah, it does."

Her best friend gave her a look. "So, what happened? Stiles only told me that you went to talk to Scott before the Jeep broke down and he pointed me in the direction of your house."

Marlow sighed defeatedly. "He made you walk here all alone?" she asked, an apologetic tone coating her voice.

Riley waved her off. "It was fine. I faded here," she told her matter-of-factly. Marlow narrowed her eyes at her in confusion. "Oh, it's like teleportation. One of my few witch powers."

"Oh," Marlow started. "That's so cool," she added, a laugh escaping her lips. It sounded off though, even to Marlow. She was still thinking about how she had talked to Scott. And now thoughts of Hayden crept into her head. The girl couldn't have been well.

Riley chuckled. "Yeah, I'd imagine your brother is still standing in the same spot he did an hour ago. And that his mouth is just hanging open." she laughed. Marlow smiled at her. She put the picture frame next to her on her bed. "So, what did happen?" she asked. Marlow sighed. Dropping onto her bed, she pulled her pillow over her head and let out a scream. Riley rolled over to her side in the chair. She pulled the pillow off Marlow's head and set it back on her bed. "That bad, huh?"

Marlow nodded. "I don't have a pack anymore. I am an idiot that left her pack. And I chewed out my brother's best friend. I don't think I'll be able to come back from this one." she explained. She let out a heavy sigh. "I mean, I've done a lot of things, had a lot of tantrums. But it has never been this bad before."

Riley raised an eyebrow. She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms together. "Something must have caused this." she started. "Something other than the Dread Doctors," she added. Marlow turned to her, a questioning look on her face. "What do they have to gain from breaking up your pack?" Riley asked. Marlow was silent. She couldn't answer that. "Did something else happen when they came to town? Was there anyone else who could have caused this?"

Marlow sat up with a start. She had been hard on her brother for weeks because he was so rude to Theo. But as per usual, he was right. Theo was the one other person who came to town when the Dread Doctors did. He had tried to insert himself into the pack ever since he arrived. Everything he had done up until this point was to sabotage the bond of the Pack. "Theo."