Insidious ✖ Theo Raeken

t w e n t y s i x

Stiles, Hayden and I carried badly wounded Liam inside the school, the Beast's roars reigning behind us as flocks of students ran around in a frenzy of screams and terror.

Just after the TV vans started airing, the Beast appeared and Liam, sensing exactly where the enemy is, rushed towards him and they both collided in the air.

We found an empty classroom and obeying Stiles' commands, laid Liam on the desk. The Beta screamed in pain, his severe wounds not healing.

"Liam?" Hayden winced, watching her lover.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." he groaned with his eyes squeezed shut.

Obviously, he's far from fine.

Hayden and I started to clear his chest from ripped pieces of his jersey which were soaked in his own blood. I snapped my head to my brother when he actually gagged.

"Stiles, now's not exactly the time to panic!" I ranted, trying to remain calm myself.

"What? Is it that bad?" Liam questioned tilting his head upwards, trying to see his wounds.

"No."

"Very."

Stiles and Hayden spoke at the same time, and you can guess which one is which.

"Okay, okay. What do you guys do when this usually happens?" Hayden asked, taking deep breaths.

"Uh, I usually pass out. Still might do that." Stiles blabbered, truly looking like he's about to do it.

Suddenly, I remembered how Theo kissed me and took away my pain in the hospital.

"Hayden!" I yelped. "Take away his pain. Kiss him!"

It sounded cheesy, but Hayden was having none of that. She looked at me seriously with her eyebrows knotted in aggravation.

"Take away his pain..." she muttered before crashing her lips on Liam's.

The black lines from Liam's face traveled through the connection of their lips and disappeared somewhere on Hayden's cheeks. The sight made my mind replay the time when Theo did that to me.

"Next time I'll kiss him." Stiles muttered, totally spoiling the moment.

Unbelievable, but after some minutes Liam stood up abruptly, much to our dismay. "Okay, I think I healed enough."

He was going towards the exit but Hayden grabbed his arm. "What? Where're you going?!"

"I can hear Scott fighting. Fighting the Beast!" after saying that he ran off immediately.

"Should we... Should we go after him?" Stiles asked unsurely, pointing towards the exit.

"I'm afraid we're not of much use." I mumbled, trying to fight my curiosity which encouraged me to go after Liam.

"I'm going to help others hide, you stay here." Hayden instructed as she ran out of the classroom too.

"Well, we're on our own. I guess we have to stay here." I put my arms on my hips and looked around the classroom.

"Are we really gonna do that?" Stiles asked after a minute.

"Nope."

We ran towards the library when several gunshots tore through the air. Who's shooting there?? It's gotta be Braeden, because the Argents are with Lydia at this moment.

We got in there just in time to see the Beast escape through the window, shattering it into pieces. We bumped into Malia as Scott and Liam were on the ground, trying to catch their breaths while Braeden still faced the window with a shotgun in her hands.

Malia rushed towards Scott to assist Liam in helping his Alpha stand up.

"You didn't seriously think you were gonna have a chance against that thing, did you?" Braeden scolded Scott before she saw me and Stiles approaching them. "Oh, great guys. You wanted to die too??"

"No, of course not." Scott answered Braeden's first question before turning to face the window. "But I got its scent."

~

"Scott, wait. You're hurt." Liam opposed to Scott's actions as the Alpha rushed through the school.

"Scott, Liam's right. You gotta slow down." I agreed, regarding him worriedly.

Stiles stayed with Malia and Braeden. As for me, my chalice of curiosity and apprehension is overflowing, and I can't stay in one spot.

As Liam and I tried to keep up with Scott, finally, we found ourselves in the parking lot. Scott scrambled around the cars, trying to match the scent.

Suddenly, he stopped and leaned with his palms on some car's trunk. Strange, but I thought I've seen this one somewhere...

My heart started palpitating as Scott finally ripped open the trunk, revealing its contents – a pair of sneakers.

He took one of them and checked the sole...

Bloody.

We stood there in silence, taking in the fact that we found what we were looking for, meaning we found the teenager that's hiding inside of the Beast.

Scott shut the trunk closed and I startled upon seeing Mason, just standing there out of breath, all exasperated.

"Scott?" he asked. "What are you doing to my car?"

I felt as if I was hit with a wet rag in my face. "I-It's you."

"What?" he scowled. "Guys, what she's talking about?"

I glanced at Liam and felt a pang in my heart, because I've never seen him so lost and hurt.

"Liam??" Mason called.

Before any of us could start explaining, the air started bubbling in a strange way. It was Corey ascending from his invisibility. Immediately, he grasped Mason's shoulders, all of us perfectly aware of what he's going to do.

"Corey, wait!" Scott shouted, but to no avail – the guys disappeared.

~

Lydia called, retelling everything Gerard told her while... experimenting on Parrish.

Apparently, the Beast originates from the story of The Beast of Gévaudan from mid 1700's. There's a man, a killer that's trying to remember itself using Mason's body, and apparently, he's got so little effort left.

I remembered the time when I got Stiles' texts and rushed to the hospital but was stopped by the Beast. I wonder, was it Mason who recognized me and didn't kill me? It would make perfect sense. But according to the fact that Mason... disappears while he's the Beast, could it be that it was that man who spared me? If so, why? Deaton speculated that it may be because the Beast simply liked me at that moment, but it doesn't make any sense to me...

I really hope that this man won't resurface and obliterate any traces of Mason, but I wasn't so sure now. Mason's gone, and Corey sure as hell won't be able to protect him.

I just hope that I won't happen to actually meet this killer.