She wasn't part of the plan. She wasn't supposed to be at the library. Stopping by the police station to touch base with Lydia and Parrish was a spur of the moment decision. Parrish was expectedly locked behind bars per his own choice, but Lydia was nowhere to be found. Lydia had been gone awhile, long enough to cause some worry. Parrish encouraged her to go looking for the banshee and she obliged without much convincing.
Unfortunately for her, the school library was not the place to be. When she entered the building no one was around, at least that she could see. Her senses had been off balance lately. She wasn't hearing, seeing, or smelling as well as her werewolf abilities should have allowed for. She wasn't as strong either.
There was an open book on the table in the center. The page it was opened to told about The Wild Hunt. She was in the process of reading when she was struck across the back of the head with a blunt object. A few weeks ago she would have heard someone enter the library before they even crossed the threshold, but this time she didn't even hear him a few inches behind her.
Now she sits on one of the tables watching Scott run at the mountain ash barrier only to be thrown back into the other tables. He's been at it for at least an hour now, and every time the outcome is the same.
"Scott," she sighs, watching him scramble to his feet. To some degree she admires his tenacity, but at this point it's just depressing. It's etched all over his face that he feels like he's failed them, all of them. And vainly charging the barrier is just one more reminder that despite being a True Alpha, he can fall, too.
"I've done it before, I just... I can do it again," he mumbles more to himself than to her. He can't afford to admit defeat, not after letting Theo implode the pact by undermining every sense of trust and security.
She hops off the table, her feet hitting the floor with a sharp clap. She walks over to Scott, placing one hand around his bicep and the other on his shoulder. "Let's try something else, okay?"
Scott nods in agreement, letting her pull him away from the blocked entrance/exit. Getting his ass thrown across the room repeatedly has grown tiresome. As he turns his back, the ajar supply closet door catches his eye, giving him a new idea.
"I'm gonna check out the roof, you wait down here," Scott instructs as he heads for the ladder.
"Wait for what?" she calls after him.
"In case someone comes looking for us," he clarifies as his body disappears from her sight.
She nods soundlessly even though Scott can't see her. Waiting around for someone to come find them doesn't seem worthwhile, but the least she can do is humor her Alpha. And it's not like she has anything better to do.
She wanders up to the second floor of the library, exploring the shelves casually. She doesn't know why Theo would want to keep them trapped here, or what's in store for them, but it can't be good.
From the ground floor there's a faint sound of shuffling and muttering. At least that's what she thinks she hears. Whether she's hearing things or not, it's worth checking out.
When she gets to the main floor she sees a figure heading for the supply closet. In the darkness of the library it's hard for her to identify the person, but with the broad, hunched shoulders it's obvious that the figure is male.
"Hey!" she calls to the person, rushing over to them. She tugs at their arm, causing them to turn towards her. She nearly jumps out of her skin at what she sees.
"Liam," she gasps, gaping at his wolfed out appearance. His wolf form is not a new sight to her, but he looks different this time. There's no denying that it's Liam, but he doesn't look like himself. Not at all. Every little piece of him that makes him Liam is absent. He looks like a monster.
"What are you doing here?" he growls, retracting his arm violently, making her stumble back a few steps. His voice has a menacing edge to it that makes her want to run far away. This isn't him, but then again he hasn't really been himself since Hayden came into the picture.
She hasn't seen much of him lately, and when she has it's only because he's asking for help with keeping Hayden safe. 'Don't be jealous,' she would tell herself. But it's becoming clearer that this has less to do with her unrequited feelings for her friend and more to do with Liam just being an idiot.
"I could ask you the same thing," she retorts, trying to keep a neutral demeanor. On first thought she wanted to ask why he wasn't with Hayden since things are looking pretty grim for her, but the look on his warped face makes it clear that if she wants to live to see another day she shouldn't mention it.
"Don't follow me," he warns, advancing towards the ladder. His tone of voice gives away that what he really means is 'Don't get in my way.'
"What are you doing?" she starts toward him, blocking his path.
Despite his animalistic appearance, his reaction is not something she would have predicted from someone she's spent long nights with staying up and distracting each other from their formidable lives.
He grips her shoulders harshly, his claws digging into her skin and drawing blood. Her back is slammed roughly against the wall, the back of head smacking against ceramic wall with a lurid crack.
Her vision blurs as the white hot pain spreads throughout her body from the torn skin at her shoulders to the repeated head trauma. The room looks even darker than before as she falls to her knees when Liam releases his grip.
Her eyes glow yellow as she struggles to gather her bearings and get a grip on the situation at hand. She tried to give the Liam the benefit of the doubt these last few weeks. She let him put her on the back burner when Hayden became a priority. But she can't defend what he's turned to or what he just did, and what he's planning to do.
The clatter of shattering glass startles her back to her senses. She pulls herself up, claws extended and teeth bared as she runs back into the library.
The glass ceiling is, predictably, completely wrecked from the two bodies crashing through it. The two boys struggle with each other as they regain balance. Scott has been weaker lately, too, and Liam is amped up on rage and the super moon.
Roars echo off the walls, the sound engulfing her completely. She roars back, adding to the chaos erupting before her eyes. Her instincts take over before she can make a conscious decision on how to proceed.
She jumps into the middle of the rumble, ducking before Liam's fist connects with her jaw. Her foot pushes off his chest as she strikes to knock off his balance. Liam tumbles back, he wasn't anticipating being double teamed.
"What the hell is going on?" she yells to Scott, who's removing himself from a pile of rubble composed of glass, metal, and wood.
"This is exactly what Theo wanted," Scott shakes his head as Liam jumps back to his feet.
"No, I want this. I want to kill you!" Liam growls, lashing out at Scott. The two spin around in a tangle of limbs striking out at one another as Scott attempts to control his Beta without hurting him too badly.
"This is the more overdramatic temper tantrum I have ever seen," she mutters under her breath as she rushes to get between the two.
She raises a hand and brings it down to slash at Liam's back. The material of his shirt and unyielding skin give way as blood begins to drip out of the wound she just inflicted. Liam hisses in pain and spins around drag his claws against her collarbone.
Blood spills out of her body this time as she gasps in pain, her hand moving to clutch the injury. Liam continues his assault, elbowing her in the jaw as Scott tries to turn the attention back to him.
She teeters to the stairs, her vision going blurry again as Liam appears to be winning the fight. Scott lands flat on his back as the beta begins swinging his arms back and forth in a horrifying motion as blood splatters about the air.
"Liam!" she screams, pulling herself up. He shows no sign of hearing her as he continues to wail on Scott.
She slams into his side, the two of them flying through the air before hitting the ground with a thud. She scrambles to her feet, knowing the only way she'll survive this is if she's faster than him. Her foot connects with his stomach as she kicks him while he's still down. Despite her quickness, Liam is back on his feet and angrier than ever.
She extends her arm swiftly, landing a solid punch to his left cheek. He stumbles to the left but regains composure quickly. She runs at him, her intention to get on top of him. Before she can leap onto his shoulders he catches her throat in his clawed grip, his palm crushing her trachea.
A strangled gasp leaves her lips as he slams her body into the ground. His gaze is devoid of any emotion other than uncontrollable rage. It's hard to believe that this is the same boy who looked to her for comfort when he suffered PTSD from the berserkers just a few months ago.
It was a Saturday night when she heard a knock on the front door. She had opted for a relaxing night in since she had the house to herself for the first time in a long time. When she opened the door Liam was standing there with this scared expression on his face. He looked so innocent, so fragile.
She sat with him on the couch, running her fingers through his hair to soothe him from the images that plagued his mind. He relaxed at her touch, looking at her with those glossy blue eyes that held so much adoration in them. She made him believe that the pack would always look out for him, that they would always protect him. But now he's throwing that all away for some girl who couldn't have cared less about him three days prior, and that hurts more than his hands at her neck.
"Liam, please, stop," she whimpers, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. It's uncertain if the tears are from the immense amount of pain she's in, the fear of what might happen next, or the realization that she's become disposable to him.
He snarls in response, tightening his grip on her throat. His claws pierce the sides of her neck, blood spurting out grotesquely. She reaches her arm towards his face, a weak last attempt at surviving this predicament.
A reflective, shiny object catches his eye, making his expression go blank. She's wearing this bracelet on her wrist. It's a dark gray material with an anchor charm secured between the two ends of the fabric.
It was a 'thank you' gift. Thank you for being there for me, for not giving me up on me. He had seen the bracelet while he and Mason were out one day during the summer. Mason had wanted some new swim trunks and Liam began to wander while Mason tried some on. The bracelet was in the middle of one those clear bowls full of jewelry. It reminded him of her so he bought it.
The look on her face when he gave it to her was one of the most enchanting things he'd ever seen. She looked so genuinely happy. Seeing her smile without lingering traces of anxiety caused by supernatural happenings made him wish he could see her smile like that more often. But after all of this, it may be nothing more than a memory of how things used to be.
Liam's features begin to soften, returning to their human shape. He whispers her name, the expression on his face the one of someone who has just woken up from a horrible nightmare.
He falls back onto his butt, staring at her with wide eyes. She's coated in blood and it's all her own. They used to fight to protect each other, so how the hell did they end up here?
"I'm so sorry," Liam exhales breathily, leaning towards her. His statement is irrefutable, but that doesn't matter. Not now.
"Get the hell away from me," she snaps, swatting him away weakly. The tears that had been pooling in her eyes spill over in anger. This has all been too much. "You can say you're sorry all you want, but you don't hurt the people you care about. God, did ever care at all?"
"I didn't mean to hurt you. You got in the way... You were just..." he struggles to find an adequate string of words that will make this all better.
"Collateral damage," she finishes for him. "Good to know that's all I am to you."
"You know that's not true!" he looks scared. Scared of what he's done and scared of what will happen because of it.
"Bullshit," she snarls, "You've barely acknowledged my existence since like the second week of school. I made up so many excuses for you, but I can't justify you trying to kill Scott, and me consequently. You're so important to me, Liam, but I can't let you do this to me. I can only take so much and I deserve to be surrounded by people who don't only act like I matter when it's convenient for them."
"Please, please let me fix this. I can fix this. I-"
"Liam!" Mason shouts, entering the scene. He stops abruptly, taking in all the destruction. He looks to Scott who is beginning to regain lucidity, then to her and Liam who look like their whole worlds have been shattered.
"Hayden. She's dead. She died a few minutes ago. She's dead," Mason breathes out, feeling lightheaded.
She looks at Liam, who is devastatingly broken, and in that moment she realizes that when we let our emotions get the best of us, we're the ones who lose.
"Go. There's nothing here for you anymore," she says quietly, her voice hoarse.
Liam gets up and he runs. He runs past Mason, out the door and out of sight.
It hurts so bad that even now it's still Hayden. She knows he never meant to hurt her, he didn't consciously push her away. But he did, and he became selfish.
The abrasions on her skin will heal in time, but she became collateral damage the moment Hayden became more than just the girl from sixth grade.
