Alone • Liam Dunbar

Twenty-Four

My body was on autopilot. I wasn't actually feeling anything or understanding what was going on, I was merely acting out my baseline functions. From the moment Hayden opened her eyes I felt numb; useless. Any hope or optimism I had been fighting to hold onto lately became futile. There was no reason to grasp for it if it wouldn't last anyway, and because of that, I had begun to debate whether or not Scott was right, and we really were condemned to repeat history.

"Hayden, just wait!" Liam calls out.

The newfound chimera ignores him, not sparing either of us a second glance as she races toward the back door of Sinema. We pursue her accordingly, ignoring the glares we get as we pass the steady stream of employees who started to enter the club for their shifts tonight. They were the least of our worries.

Liam did his best to break the news to Hayden gently, but telling someone that they had been morphed into an unnaturally supernatural creature against their will wasn't a simple feat.

It also wasn't much of a help that Hayden didn't believe a single word out of Liam's mouth. Disbelief has always been more favorable than acceptance.

"Stay away from me," Hayden snaps at us from over her shoulder.

She swings the back door to the club open, hurrying down the few steps to march over to her car parked outside. Liam catches the door before it slams shut in our faces, holding it open for both of us to slip through and follow Hayden.

The lot was empty except for the three of us. I could hear voices but they were around the corner at the front of the building, energized patrons lining up for the club's opening that would happen at any minute. The music from inside also began to echo as they amplified the various electronic tunes that would be played tonight. It felt so odd to have the rest of the world continue on as planned, despite it feeling as though ours had stopped.

Hayden fumbles to grab her car keys from her jacket pocket. She attempts to unlock her driver's side door but from where I stand, I can see how wildly her hands shake. The rush of her adrenaline won't allow her to remain calm.

"Hayden-" Liam attempts to begin another round of conversation, but she isn't in the mood for it. She whips around to face us, her expression still as stone despite her trembling.

"Asking me to close my eyes was weird, sticking a glow stick in my face, even weirder, but werewolves and dead doctors...?" She scoffs afterward, resenting everything she deemed ludicrous.

"Dread Doctors," Liam corrects her, holding back a slight wince at his lame defense.

Hayden shakes her head angrily. "Whatever. Get away from me."

Her frustration has aided her in fighting her body's reaction to fear. She no longer shakes, and when she turns her back to us again, she's finally able to unlock her door.

Liam casts a desperate glance my way, silently begging me to stop her. He's done all he can but there's a level of trust required for this situation that he doesn't have with Hayden. They may have gotten along today, but that wasn't real, and that temporary truce wasn't strong enough to navigate this situation. She won't listen to him. She won't believe him.

But, the thing was, I didn't know if she would believe me either.

I sigh pathetically, taking a step closer to Hayden. My movement makes her look at me, putting a pause on her getaway plan.

"Hayden, please, you have to trust us," I beg.

I feared for what would become of her. From what we've seen, chimeras don't have lengthy life expectancies, and their deaths are not peaceful. I had grieved for Tracy that night at the station and she was a total stranger. I couldn't even imagine how I would react to losing Hayden, especially at the hands of the Dread Doctors.