Laws of Nature [2]; Liam Dunbar

seventeen: the bloody charity game

Marlow and Riley caught up with Stiles, Scott, Liam, and Chris as they all followed Parrish. Parrish, the Hellhound version of Parrish, was following the Beast around the school. They had encountered several dead bodies already. They had just been able to save Lydia, seeing people die around them again was unbearable for Marlow.

They all came to a stop once they met up again, watching as a man on the bus looked up at them. He looked close to death. Everyone else on the bus already was dead. Marlow's heart skipped a beat. "Help me."

Scott took a step forward, halting as Parrish walked towards the bus. "It's a trap."

"Please..." the man begged again.

Scott gave Parrish a look. The Hellhound turned back. Riley had previously found her uncle's alter ego fascinating. Now, it was just terrifying to think about what kind of nightmare it would lead them to next. "You can't help him," Parrish told Scott.

He turned back to the bus as the upper half of the man's body fell from the bus and onto the floor, guts still attached. Riley gagged and turned away from the scene. Marlow was frozen in place. Stiles steadied Riley as the girl tried her best not to throw up.

Finally, the Beast revealed itself to the group. Marlow was afraid of another panic attack hitting her. She controlled her breathing as best as she could. Liam turned his head to look at her, noticing her ragged breathing. He grabbed her hand, giving her a reassuring nod.

"That's big. No one said it was that big." Stiles spoke up.

"I did." Liam reminded him. Marlow squeezed his hand tighter. She needed something to hold on to. She felt like she was about to faint.

Flames began to engulf Parrish's entire body as he started chasing after the Beast. The two disappeared through the trees. Scott, Stiles, and Chris ran towards the bus. Marlow was rooted to the floor. The Beast looked scarier than she could have ever imagined.

Liam stuck by her side, never letting go of her hand. "Thank you," she told Liam, raising their entwined hands.

"Anything to keep you sane," he assured her, a smile crossing his face.

Marlow smiled back at him. She knew it was wrong to do this with Liam. He was dating Hayden and that was her fault. She shouldn't have let him go. More roaring ripped her out of her thoughts. The Beast knew how to escape the Hellhound and it would be getting harder for them to stop it.

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Marlow stood next to Mason by his locker. She had just seen Corey packing his bag in the boy's locker room and had run straight to Mason. She still believed in Corey and she knew Mason could keep him in town. "Just convince him to stay somehow!"

Mason sighed, closing the door to his locker. "Why? I understand why he'd want to leave town. Parrish burned him alive. He almost died."

"But you like him, don't you?" Marlow asked. Mason turned to her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Well, you do. I know that because I know you. And right now a great guy is about to walk out of your life."

"It doesn't matter. He's with the bad guys now."

"Everyone deserves a chance at redemption." Marlow reminded Mason. He bit the inside of his cheek. "And shouldn't the fact that he's running away from Theo give you an indication that he's not a bad guy at all."