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Darcy wiped a mercury-stained hand under her nose as she ran. The stream may have been weak, but she'd already begun to feel her body shutting down- headache, weakness in her limbs, difficulty breathing. As someone who ran for her life a lot, it felt weird to be running from something she couldn't escape.
Scott's scent had taken her uptown toward the school. She had a lot of questions she planned on asking him, questions like, "What the hell?" and "Why did you leave?" and "Will you tell my aunt I forgive her?" For all the build-up earlier, she was kind of handling her impending death very well.
Darcy slowed as she entered the school grounds, her chest heaving as she fought to get in air. It was a good thing it was Saturday, so no one saw the mess she had become over the past fifteen minutes. She sniffed the air again; Scott's scent trailed over in the direction of the library. She took a deep breath and headed over, still wiping under her nose.
With her feet pounding into the pavement, her legs struggling to keep her going, she took a tight turn around the school's main building. Since all her focus was on Scott and his scent, she didn't even notice the person coming towards her until it was too late.
The two of them collided, and Darcy would've fallen to the ground if not for the cool hands that wrapped around her arms. Her nostrils were immediately invaded by a familiar smell, a comforting mint and pine.
Darcy stared up into Theo's eyes and it took her a moment to realize she should probably step back. When she did, his hands fell away and left her skin cold.
"Theo, what are you doing here?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
He looked down at her, his face hard to read. Without giving anything away, he replied, "Just saying goodbye to Scott."
Darcy jerked her head back in shock. "What? Is he leaving?"
"Well, he won't be here for much longer." The dark tone of his voice made Darcy's heart skip in her chest. Stepping back, she swallowed thickly while trying to keep her heart rate even. She didn't like the look on Theo's face- the smirk, the dark look in his eyes.
"Theo, what's going on?" she asked cautiously.
"I should be asking you that." His eyes dropped and she became aware again of the mercury leaking out of her nose. She pulled her sleeve over her stained hand and wiped the silver substance away with the other.
"Don't act like you don't know," she mumbled while trying to step around him. He simply sidestepped to stop her, making her peer up at him. "Theo, I have to get Scott, it's important."
