Alone • Liam Dunbar

Twenty

Last night was rough, needless to say.

After Liam assisted Hayden with getting the power in the club back on, using his strength to flip the stuck safety switch in one of the back rooms, he left. I offered to give him a ride home since I didn't want him walking around town by himself at such a late hour, but he refused and walked away without another word.

Hayden didn't seem surprised when I told her I had to leave too.

I went home and tried to sleep, but my mind wouldn't let me. It kept replaying Liam's disappointed reaction to my friendship with Hayden and Brett, as well as constantly reminding me of the negative impacts Valack's book might have on me. We realized that it had a delayed reaction to it, so none of us were in the clear yet, and worse of all, we had no idea what would even trigger the repressed memory.

I was convinced that the moment I closed my eyes, the Dread Doctors would be there to greet me in a brand new terrifying nightmare.

Hoping to buy myself some time before that happened, I laid awake in bed, witnessing a pitch black night turned into a pastel morning. In those hours that passed, guilt and anxiety only settled into me further.

When the time came for it, I got ready for school.

I assumed Liam would have cooled off by the first period, but I was wrong. He built his entire day around not talking to me, even going so far as to skip the one class we actually had together. I couldn't even try to pretend that he was absent since he did a terrible job of avoiding me in the hallways during transition times, narrowly hiding behind corners of trash cans.

I couldn't blame him for it, not at all. I screwed up.

My only wish was that he would tell me how to make things better rather than leaving me clueless and playing into an immature silent treatment. This situation wasn't one I had any experience navigating, and it wasn't like I could go to our friends for advice. Either they had no idea about Liam and I, or they happened to be part of the reason he and I weren't on the best of terms right now.

I did seriously consider speaking to Hayden about it but I didn't want to increase any tensions between her and Liam more than I already had. Though, in my defense, that had been purely unintentional.

I was giving Liam the space he so clearly desired, and put all of my attention on coming up with new ways to find chimeras.

Beacon Hills High School was a breeding ground for supernatural activity because of its position on the telluric currents, but it wasn't the only place in the town where a chimera could possibly turn up. Mason and I had been talking earlier, and we created a plan that would give us more pairs of eyes on the other side of town, increasing our chances for success, by using Brett and Lori to keep track of students of Devenford Prep.

Having them watch their peers at school would expand our search radius significantly, which bought time for the Stilinski's in our midst to figure out a pattern that would have more definitive results in tracking down potential victims.

Brett was hesitant about skipping school to speak with us about our idea but after some begging and bribing, he agreed. It would cost me to pay for an entire month of his rent, but it's not like I didn't have the money to spare.

The halls were empty as I made my way out to the field, third period beginning a few minutes ago. Mason and I had a free slot right now, so neither of us had to worry about any teachers questioning our whereabouts. We told Brett to meet us on the bleachers when he arrived, something that should be happening soon, as the isolated location would provide us with privacy from any prying ears.

The sudden slam of a classroom door puts my journey to a cautious end.

Shuffling footsteps echo through the deserted halls, approaching my position fast. I hold my ground, looking down the hall from where the noise was coming from, waiting for a threat to reveal itself.