Monstrous ➙ Theo Raeken

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Clarissa felt like she was underneath a cloud of despair and hopelessness as she leaned against her locker. She had split from Scott and Liam moments before, but her brother still refused to leave her side in case anyone came to talk to her about her performance in the library the night before.

"Do you think we'll find him?" Her brother whispered forlornly and for the first time since he found out about the supernatural, he looked like the young and scared teenage boy that was afraid of monsters underneath his bed when he was younger. "I mean we don't know where they took him."

"We have all of our bases covered." Clarissa declared hopefully as she put a brave smile on her face. She didn't know where Mason was, but she was going to do everything in her power to bring the young ray of sunshine home. "Evie is going to meet the sheriff, Stiles, and Lydia at the station to try and get Parrish on board with the plan after she tries her locator spells. You're going to stay here with Corey and Hayden to see if he magically comes here. Brett is sweeping the woods since Devenford had a day off. Melissa has the hospital on lockdown and I'm going with the others to meet Theo and hopefully Tracy will stay far, far away."

"No." Delcan shook his head sternly, a frown on his face. She could hear his frantic heartbeat inside of his chest at the mention of the two chimeras. "You know I love Theo and I know he makes you happy but right now I don't want you around him. He's dangerous."

Her brother openly admitting that he loved Theo created a warmth in her chest but simultaneously sent a pang of longing in her heart. All she had wanted was for her brothers to approve of the relationship that was slowly tearing her apart from the inside out but a small minuscule part of her wished that they would disapprove of it.

Loving Theo Raeken was an idea that had frequently crossed her mind in the most recent weeks. It was a dangerous idea because loving him was more than likely a death sentence. Theo was dangerous and that had been proven when he had shown no remorse for killing Josh in cold blood in front of them last night. He was charming and downright manipulative on some days and that was also becoming increasingly obvious as the rose-tinted glasses that Clarissa had worn were taken off and she looked at him for what he truly was.

She couldn't call him a monster, but the word lingered in the back of her mind and she recalled the words that she had once told her brother. Not all monsters do monstrous things, but Theo had done a monstrous thing and she didn't doubt that he was capable of more acts like the one he committed the night before.

Theo Raeken was an enigma to her because she had seen the best parts of him and the worst. One moment he could be covered in someone else's blood, namely Josh's own as he had killed him twice, and the next moment he could be looking down at her with the softest expression of adoration that she had ever received.

He was damaged and corrupt, but he was also beautiful and hers. She supposed, now that she was seeing reality clearly for the first time since she had been brought back, that people had the right idea when they said that the devil was beautiful because he was once an angel. Theo had the characteristics in spades but even she had been tempted by the beauty of being cared for by him.

"When did you become the older sibling?" Clarissa shook herself out of her thoughts and attempted to smile at him as she glanced his way from the corner of her eyes, but she could see his shoulders deflate. "I'll be with Scott and Liam. They won't let them hurt me even if they wanted to and I don't think that Theo wants to hurt me either."

"Just because he doesn't hurt you physically doesn't mean that he won't hurt you emotionally." Her brother whispered softly and Clarissa doubted that she would have heard him over the other voices in the hallway if she wasn't so hyper aware of his actions. "He's slowly breaking you apart from the inside out and you don't even see it."