ILLUSION, ELI HALE

sixteen | a thin line

As much as Nadia claimed to hate the woods, it seemed to be the ideal spot she and Eli found themselves. Except this time it wasn't a fun little hangout session. No, they were being chased by a psycho werewolf hunter and she was accompanied by two werewolves.

It appeared those stories that she'd fallen down a rabbit hole reading a few months ago about the supernatural in Beacon Hills were actually true. Maybe her mother was right. She should have stayed home tonight.

Speaking about her mother, what time even was it? Was she hiding in the Auto Shop for ten minutes or two hours? Margie and Nathan were probably worried sick about her by now. The lacrosse game had probably ended ages ago. Derek's promise to drive her home had quickly turned into a change of plans, and from what it was looking like, Nadia was going to have to spend the night at the hospital.

"Are you saying that you brought this woman back to life?" Nadia asked Scott as they ran through a labyrinth of oak trees. As they ran, it seemed as though Allison was just strolling along but her arrows were very close to hitting their targets.

Her actions of following the boys into the woods were primarily for her survival. She didn't trust this Scott character seeing as though she literally met him earlier today, and Nadia was too angry to even think about the betrayal that Eli had caused. Her own best friend. She'd even go as far as calling Eli her home. But he'd been lying to her this entire time.

"Back from Bardo," Scott answered the girl.

"Thanks for the clarification," Nadia yelled at the man sarcastically as if she understood anything about the concept of bringing people back from the dead. Specifically, a woman who'd been dead for fifteen years. That was her age.

"I thought she was the love of your life? Why is she trying to kill us?"

"I have that same question, Eli," Scott responded to the boy. He made a path clearing bushes out of the way so the teenagers didn't get slashed by thorns or anything, but it wasn't quite helping. As many steps they took, Allison just seemed to be right on their tails. "Come on, kiddos! Don't stop."

Nadia was absolutely exhausted. She'd not eaten anything except for the tater tots at lunch today, and was still dripping blood from the cut on her arm. As she tried to run, she ripped off a piece of her blood-soaked cardigan and wrapped it around her wound, attempting to keep pressure on it, but it wasn't working much. Her mother taught her about first aid, but Nadia needed stitches and a thin layer of cloth was not helping. That was evident by the fact that she was beginning to feel a bit woozy from blood loss.

As the rain was beginning to stop, they slid down what looked like a ditch at the beginning of a river and that's when the girl was starting to call it quits.

"Guys, I can't—," Nadia cradled her stinging arm in her grasp. She'd not felt pain like this ever. Her lungs were gasping for air and her head was pounding from the adrenaline. "I can't run, it's too much,"

"You're bleeding again." Eli's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Here, let me help," It didn't go unnoticed the abrupt change in her body language as Nadia moved her arm out of Eli's way so he couldn't touch her. The drop in his tone as he noticed that she was avoiding him was painful for both Eli and Nadia. "Scott, she needs to be seen by a Doctor."

"Going to the hospital is going to raise too many questions. Especially after what just happened with Allison." Scott bit his lip, trying to come up with a plan. There were arrows still flying in their direction, thankfully not falling into the mini ravine they were huddled in. "You know Deaton? My old boss?"

Eli nodded, a look of confusion on his face. "The Vet?"

"Yeah, he's a bit more than that," Scott responded. "Take her to him. Nadia, he'll stitch you back up good as new. He's done it to me when I was around your age."