Alone • Liam Dunbar

Thirty-Seven

a/n- yall im sorry for not posting for like two months! i recommend rereading the last chapter or so if you don't remember what happened cause i pick up right in the middle of everything. so sorry!!

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The continuous high-pitched thump coming from the ECG device was all that told me Hayden was alive. She lay on the table, silent and still. Melissa kept going back and forth, picking at her skin with needles to inject her with various liquids and concoctions that didn't work, and attaching more wires to her for different machines that failed to give us any solutions or aid. None of it changed a single thing.

Hayden was still dying.

It had been over an hour since Liam left, and he had yet to text or call. It was infuriating in the beginning, but then dread started to grow in the pit of my stomach as I realized how similar his actions were to Scott's. It made me think that maybe the McCall boy hadn't been avoiding me, but instead, there were forces beyond either of our control working against us. That possibility filled me with unease, especially since I allowed Liam to walk right into the middle of what could be a trap on the vulnerable night of a supermoon.

Mason stands with me at Hayden's side, dabbing a rag across her skin that soaks up the immense amount of sweat that seeps out of her pores. She doesn't notice his actions, her eyes having been closed for some time now, but I'm sure she'd be grateful nonetheless, as am I. In Liam's absence, his best friend has been more than supportive, even with everything he's going through with Corey. Whenever Melissa needs aid or requires more supplies, he's the one that steps up, saving me from having to do a single thing. It makes my only worry have to be holding Hayden's hand. I hate to ask any more of him, but I needed to find a way to be sure Liam was safe and he was the only one I trusted enough to do it because I couldn't go myself. I couldn't leave Hayden. Not now.

I nudge the Hewitt boy's arm with mine, then tilt my head to the side to motion for him to follow me. He does, and Hayden doesn't notice the lack of my hand on hers, or Mason no longer cleaning her drenched skin. She's significantly less aware than she was before, and I understand why. I understand what's coming.

"I need a favor," I ask Mason when we're far enough from the table. Hayden may not be entirely coherent, but I couldn't risk her overhearing.

"Okay, sure, whatever you need," he replies seriously. I almost smile at his dedication. Almost.

"You have to find Liam and Scott. I think something's wrong," I explain with a slight twitch, unable to hide my fear at the thought of harm befalling Liam.

"What do you mean?" Mason presses, confused.

"Liam left over an hour ago and he's been screening my calls. He wouldn't do that, not tonight. And Scott... I'm starting to think he wasn't ignoring me after all."

Besides the obvious points, I had no idea how to tell Mason that there was also just something about all of this that just felt wrong. The injured back of my head had been throbbing endlessly since Liam left, and it almost felt like a warning trying to spew out from within me. I couldn't fight off this notion that my friends and I were heading down a dark path, and if we didn't turn back soon, we would be lost forever. I had tried to suppress that side of myself these past few months, the part of me that expected disaster, but now that internal aspect of my psyche was impossible to ward off. It was being forced to the surface.

Mason's eyes drift over his shoulder, finding Hayden. The sorrow in his gaze wraps itself around her as all she does is lay there, her chest awkwardly rising and falling with weak breaths. She looks more machine than girl at this point with how many wires and tubes Melissa's attached and embedded her with.