Nefarious ➛ Theo Raeken [2]

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Buzzing filled her ears, white noise in the background as she watched Malia Tate fly back into the wall behind her. It felt like she was standing in the middle of a dream, a nightmare that had been on a constant loop for months now. She had dreamed of the day that she had gotten him back, the pair reuniting in a giant hug and sharing a gentle kiss. She had dreamed of a happy reunion, one that always ended up with him being ripped away from her again without moment's notice. It had been a dream and for once she couldn't tell if she had fallen asleep in the back of Lydia's car or if she was present in her own reality.

She could feel them all staring at her, her family and Scott's pack but she only had eyes for the bruised and bloody teenager that she had been waiting months to see again. Her eyes traced his face, tears welling in her eyes as she noticed the sweet relief that was mirrored in his own as he looked at her. The madness that had been there the last time she had seen him was long gone and she could see that he was almost as broken and battered as she had been the moment, he had brought her back from a shallow grave.

The others were looking at her like they were seeing her for the first time again. Fear was in their eyes and she wondered if it was because that she had yet to move towards the boy that she loved. She was staring at him and he was staring at her and they all realized how far Clarissa Bane had fallen for Theo Raeken when they saw the desperation in her haunted eyes.

Power was all she could feel rushing through her veins, power in the situation at hand and desperation to find something to cling to so that she could be sure that what she was seeing was real. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him and she barely felt the calm hand of her brother that was on her back to ground her to reality. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop and tear her away from the fantasy that she had found herself in.

"Lissa." The words fell like a prayer from his lips, hope and desperation tainting the words that had fallen on deaf ears. Everyone was watching them, their eyes darting back and forth between the pair in hope that a bomb wouldn't explode in the middle of the McCall household.

"I need someone to explain to me very clearly what the hell is going on." Clarissa's voice was shaking, her heart beating wildly in her chest at the sight of him. She wanted nothing more than to take him away from them all, to hide him from the people that had taken him and locked him up in the first place. There was a clear divide in the room between the people who were relieved to see Theo Raeken alive and well and the people who wanted nothing more than to take him away again. "Because I feel like I've walked into an episode of the Twilight Zone and I'm this close to locking myself up in Eichen House."

"He's going back in the ground." Scott declared firmly after helping Malia from the floor, his hands holding the girl back from lunging towards the beaten boy again. Clarissa took a step to the side at his words, her feet firmly placed between her love and the people who wished him harm. She could see them all staring at her, but it didn't matter because her brothers had taken a step on either side of her to place a protective wall in front of Theo against the others.

"Like hell he is." Clarissa was calm and collected as she stared at him, her moment of shock fading away as she realized that nothing would change. The moment of peace between them had ended once again and the divide between them had never felt as prominent as it did in that moment. It was Clarissa's family or them, there was no in between and she had always fought like hell for her family. "He's staying with me."

"You can't." Liam declared suddenly, his eyes locking with her own and she could see the remorse in them. He had apologized before about his actions against her and she could sense that this was his way of making it up to her in the long run. "He remembers Stiles."

Clarissa attempted to not look back at Theo in surprise at the mention that he remembered the person who had been driving her crazy with worry for the past few weeks. In a way it made sense though that he would remember Stiles. The Ghost Riders manipulated the living and Theo had been with the dead. It showed the limitations to their power and weakness was something that she had always been good at exploiting.