"Alright everyone, gather 'round! I've got some announcements to make."

My coach finally calls it a day and we first head to the bleachers to grab our drinks. As everyone gathers around, I decide to use this chance to sneak out.

Before my coach can even begin, I suddenly ask, "Coach, may I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, but hurry up." She hasn't even finished her sentence and I'm already up and heading to my bag. Luckily for me, the coach and most of the team are facing away from me, so I grab my bag and silently walk out of the gym door as fast as possible, hoping no one will notice me. Once I'm out the door, I speed walk and call Scott like I promised.

"Scott?"

"Riles? Where've you been?"

"Practice," I explain. "I made an excuse and got out just a bit earlier. So what happened to Liam?"

"We don't know," my cousin replies, sounding worried. "Mason came to me and we've been looking for him and can't find him."

"Where are you?"

"We just talked to Finstock."

"You still in with him?" I question, already hurrying down to Coach Finstock's office.

"We're outside his door."

"I'm coming."

"Riley, I'm really worried about Liam," Scott says in a lower voice, probably not wanting Mason to hear.

"Me too," I sigh. "You said you think it has something to do with Garrett..."

"Or the whole dead pool thing I general."

I become silent, feeling more frantic than ever. What if the reason Liam has suddenly disappeared from Mason's sight really is because of Garrett? Or simply another assassin?

"I'm almost there," I start talking again. "I'm gonna hang up."

"Alright."

I end the call and run faster down some stairs, swinging my bag over my shoulder to adjust it. As I sprint, I type in a few texts to Liam, hoping that he'd notice it. I'm sure the others have tried doing the same too, though. Finally, I turn the corner and enter the the hallway leading to Coach Finstock's office. There, at the end of the hall where it should be, stands Mason and Scott, seemingly talking to the coach once again.

"... skipped my class," I hear Finstock say not-so-sympathetically as I approach the boys. "Maybe he's sick. Like me."

"Liam didn't look sick the whole day," I speak up, making Mason and Scott turn to glance at me.

"He didn't look sick on our run, either," says Mason, leaning on the doorframe.

"He's not getting back to any of my texts," Scott paces.

"Mine either."

"Same," I sigh. The bell suddenly rings, signaling that it's the end of a class and I groan. I've just finished cheer practice and Mason had his own gym class with Liam who's missing, and now we've still got to attend a few more classes until the day ends.

Mason starts walking away and I should too, but I stand next to my cousin first.

"Yeah don't worry, I'll find him," he reassures us. "But text me if you do see him."

"All right," Mason nods, still looking slightly unsure as he backs away into the crowd of students to attend the next class.

"Riley, you should head back too," Scott says somehow in a fatherly way.

"Health is my next class, and that's with Finstock," I say, looking back at the man's office. "It doesn't look like he'll be getting up any time soon."

Scott just stares at me for a while and walks off, knowing he couldn't talk me out of this one. His phone suddenly rings and can be heard even above the noise and I move closer, eyes widening at the caller ID. Scott immediately answers the call, pressing the speaker.

"Liam?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, Scott," Garrett's voice comes from the phone.

"Where is he?" demands Scott, walking forward to a more empty area. I gulp nervously and follow.

"Come on," Garrett says almost playfully. "Like I'm actually gonna tell you that."

"I'll give you the money."

"Yeah, you will. But that's not going to get you Liam back. You're going to have to put in a little more effort than that."

"What do you want?"

"I want the money. And Violet. Or you never see Liam again."

A beeping sound alerts us that Garrett has hung up. Scott drops his hand, looking distraught.

"What are we gonna do?" I ask anxiously.

"We'll give him what he wants."

After a hurried conversation between Scott and I at the end of the hallway about what to do with Garrett, I'm ready to go help him. To my surprise, he suddenly orders for me to just get back to my second to the last class instead and he'll merely call me when he can. Another hushed conversation occurs between me and him, but in the end, I find myself stomping back to my next period of the day, the class supposedly with Finstock. Surely, I'm gonna late because I spent quite some time discussing plans with my cousin that I'd never be a part of, as it turns out.

"Sorry I'm late, coach," I apologize upon entering his classroom.

"Eh," Finstock just shrugs, his voice sounding thick. "We're just getting started. Sit down."

"Just getting started?" I repeat quietly to Mason.

"He's been telling us to just go over our notes from the lesson last time," he informs me.

"Oh," I nod and sit down, about to take out my notebook. I stop abruptly, though, taking note that basically everyone is not even doing anything in particular; they're taking advantage of Coach Finstock being sick.

"Any luck?" Mason then asks concernedly, referring to Liam.

I decide I shouldn't tell him exactly what I know, so I vaguely say, "Scott's on it. He might've found out where he could be."

The class drags on. There are only really just a few minutes left, but with nothing happening, it feels even longer than a usual boring class does. At first I actually did look at my notebook and then at some pictures Mason took of the lesson last time (it was mostly just words related to each other scattered on the board, though), but I soon got restless, and so did Mason and the rest of the class. Some did talk while some just sat there, unknowing what to do.

Once the final bell rings, I burst out the door and check my phone. Two messages are there and they're both from Scott.

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
I made a quick stop and got your bow and arrows in case. It's in your locker.

That surprises me but it really shouldn't. He's a werewolf, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to run to my house and grab my weapon. My parents are probably still at work, so it shouldn't have been hard for him anyways to sneak in.

Wait... if he placed it in my locker, then he must've broken the lock like he did to Garrett's that night of the scrimmage... damn.

That text was sent in the middle of class. The second one was sent in right before I got out.

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
I'm at the parking lot by the busses just so you know

I appreciate that my cousin is at least trying to fill me in on what's happening so that I wouldn't be so concerned, I guess. I'm not sure if he knows that I'd follow him and I'm on my way to where he is right now.

I first quickly make my way to my locker. Many students are just getting out for their last class for the day, whereas I'm here going to skip it. And it's Mr. Yukimura's class. I hope he'll understand.

Sure enough, my lock looks broken. From a distance, it's as normal as ever, but up close, you can tell that it's been forced to be taken out. I sigh and shake my head, opening up my stuffed locker and taking out the bag I used before to hide my bow and arrows. Then, I exit this part of the school and head to the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School.

A row of busses are always parked to the side. My first theory is that they're in between two of them, and since that's where I joined Scott and his friends before, I quietly search for him and Garrett. Like I had suspected, I find two boys standing between the last two busses, talking seriously. Garrett has his back turned away from me and Scott can easily see me- and he does. His eyes widen and he tries to cover it up. I can tell from his expression that he wants me to hide or even better for him, leave. I choose to do the first so I can listen in on them end though it's quite risky.

"You think I want you talking to anyone with a badge?" Garrett snarls. "I'm not getting help from a werewolf because I want him to talk to someone."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

Garrett chooses this exact moment to look back as I peek at them. My heart pounds as I retreat back into the shadows, covering myself from them with the help of the bus. There is a short silence and I pray he hasn't seen me. Fortunately, he starts talking again and I slowly look back.

"They're transferring Violet to a Federal Facility. You're not gonna let that happen," he now points a lacrosse stick at Scott.

"How?" the latter asks.

"They're going to put her in a car. We're going to follow it. We get ahead of it. You stop it."

"You want me to attack a car? That's your plan?" Scott says disbelievingly.

"You're an Alpha. If you can't stop one little car, then one little Beta is going to die." Garrett presses something on the stick and two sharp edges jut out from the end, startling me. "I stabbed your boy with a blade dipped in wolfsbane. Once it gets to the heart, bad things happen."

It's like I can feel my heart drop to my stomach at Garrett's words. If Scott won't do what he says and can't get to Liam... that's the end of it.

Once again, Garrett turns around to my side. I've had enough of nearly being caught so I hide again before hurrying out of the area until I reach the end of the row of busses. I stand there patiently until something happens, like a call from my cousin or even meeting him back here. In fact, he actually comes out a few minutes later; he steps out from behind the bus I lean on and spots me there.

"Riley," he says in relief. "What were you doing there? Garrett could've seen you and made an even worse bargain."

"Sorry," I say sincerely. "I just wanted to make sure you were fine and maybe even find something about Liam."

Scott sighs. "You heard about what he wants me to do, right?" I nod. "Then come on, we're going to the station so I can talk to my dad- hey, wait, don't you still have a class?"

I roll my eyes but smile sheepishly. "I've got high marks in Mr. Yukimura's class anyways."

"Get back to-"

"Back to class?" I finish for him. "Well, I'm already almost twenty minutes late, and I'm sure I wouldn't be let off that easy like what happened with Finstock because he's sick."

That makes Scott shut up and have to think things over. A few seconds later of him just staring to the side, he gives in. "Fine. Let's go."

→ → →

I trail behind Scott as he tries his best to convince his dad to not take Violet to the Federal Facility. I stay silent during most of it, feeling bad for both Scott, Liam, and everyone else affected that this is the only way out. The only way to save my friend, and Scott's Beta.

"We're taking her now," Mr. McCall is now saying.

"Dad, isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, Garrett's still out there. Maybe we should let someone else do it," Scott tries.

"I appreciate the concern, but after what happened with Katashi and losing evidence off an armored truck, I'm not letting her out of my sight." All we can do is stare at the man. "And if you're still worried, you should know I've got Beacon Hills' finest coming with us."

As if is on cue, Sheriff Stilinski comes walking out a door with Violet in front of him, her hands tied to the back. She smirks mischievously yet again at the Alpha, sending me chills when she even glances at me. Normally, I wouldn't be this frightened, but with Liam's life on the line, I really am.

"Go home, Scott," Scott's dad says, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "We'll take care of this." He then glances at me. "You too, Riley. Both of you, just know that we got this and we can handle it, alright?"

Scott is still too deep in thought to properly answer, so his dad takes his silence as a yes and leaves us there.

"Come on, we have to go," he murmurs, walking away again. This day is seriously so packed with everyone moving about, including me. I go behind Scott and it is quiet as we exit the station. Shockingly, I see Garrett himself there. He stands in front of a black car, leaning on it with his arms folded. If he's trying to act cool, he's taking a big risk by doing this in front of the police station.

"Ah, I see Riley is here too," he says delightedly, straightening up. "She has to come, too."

"Why?" asks Scott, stepping in front of me. "This wasn't part of the deal."

"Then I'll make a new one," the blonde boy grins. "She comes at least as a back-up. If she doesn't, I can make a detour and make sure you don't even get to your little Beta."

"That's not fair-"

"Oh, but it is," Garrett interrupts. "Isn't it, Riley?"

I don't respond. "It's not," my cousin continues.

"You don't get it, do you? I just made a completely different deal, but it's still about Liam's life so you've got no choice, really. I think it's actually really fair."

This time, Scott doesn't respond.

"Get in," Garrett orders us. Scott sighs as the boy gets into his seat before us.

"It's okay. If this is the only way I can help find Liam, then I'll... I'll do it. All I have to do is be a back-up, right?" But even I sound unsure.

"Right," he says unconvincingly. "Just... whatever happens, try to fight. No, just run if hell breaks loose, got it?"

I try to smile encouragingly. "Got it."

"We're wasting time here," Garrett tells us annoyingly.

"Yeah, yeah, we're getting in," Scott practically growls at the guy, walking around the car to get into the passenger's seat. I, on the other hand, sit in the back as usual.

At first, Garrett backs up the car so that we could stay behind the one where Violet would be in. She and some other officers come out minutes after we have settled in, and she's forced to get in. Soon, they drive away and Garrett starts up the car as well, following the first one. Light turns to dark when it's time for us to get ahead of the car with Violet. Garrett finds an alternate route and speeds up until we make it back to the main road where he parks us there. In a while, the car containing this mental guy's crazy girlfriend will arrive.

"This is not going to work," Scott breaks the silence.

"All you have to do is stop the car," Garrett says, sounding frustrated. "I'll take care of the rest."

If that was supposed to make Scott feel any better, I'm sure it didn't work. Because just by hearing that he'll be the one to 'take care' of everything else, I can sense that this is gonna be bad.