"required reading"

CASSIE WAS SICK TO DEATH with being coddled by everyone in the pack, especially her brother - it had been happening since her friends and family found out about the night at the club with the dread doctors, and she had to reassure them over and over again, that she was okay. She felt completely fine. She knew why they were all worried about her safety, but she hadn't bled any silver from her eyes or nose or any part of her body like the other failures, so that meant she was fine, right? She didn't even know at this point in time. But, her bad dreams had stopped all together, and she had stopped hallucinating about the dread doctors, too, so that was a good sign, but then again, she didn't know anymore. She didn't know anything anymore.

The only good thing that was coming out of this whole mess, was that they had some idea of what was going on, and why they were choosing their victims to experiment on, and that was a start, considering they didn't have any ideas on anything before. The pack had to start looking into what was unique about Cassie, and how she linked to the other chimaeras that the dread doctors had been experimented on. Noah had been on the case since the night at the club, as well as Stiles and Malia, who had been working non-stop to find out more about the masked men and what they wanted with their victims. The board in her dad's office now had her face on along with many others, and they were still trying to link it all together, with no clues on why she was chosen by the masked men like the others had, too.
The fact that Liam didn't want to let his girlfriend out of his sight, just fuelled to Cassie's annoyance and boredom. She doubted that anything serious was going to happen now, everything had seemed to have gone quiet since the night at the club, and they hadn't seen any more kids being turned into a chimaera. She just wanted some peace and quiet.. When Liam wasn't with her, she was either stuck with Stiles and Malia, or her dad and she was fed up. She hadn't had any time alone since the night of the club - she was tired.

Currently, Cassie sat behind the pack as they gathered around copies of the dread doctors book, knowing that they all had to read it, but dreading the moment to come. Cassie had two choices, to sit with Liam and listen to him ramble on about how he was worried about her and didn't want to let her out of his sight, or watch out for the pack as they begin to read the book through, in case any of them were to hallucinate and maybe run into the road, much like Malia had before, as she had already read the book. She obviously picked the packs version, that way she could relax.
Cassie on the other hand, wasn't allowed to read the book, which she didn't know why. If she was allowed to, then maybe they could find out where the dread doctors were and where they were working on all of these teens, including her. She tried to reason with Stiles and Scott to let her read it so maybe they could figure something out, but they wouldn't have any of it; in their eyes, Cassie was fragile, and there was no way they were letting her go anywhere near the books.

When she sighed on her place on the sofa, Stiles turned around and gave her a look, "What?" He asked, as everyone else's attention was on the book in their hands. He took it to himself to look out for Cassie tonight, as their dad was at work, and Liam had been with her every night of the week, and after she had told him she was tired of the boy constantly being protective over her - Stiles was more than happy to be on shift tonight as he hadn't seen the girl for a while.

"I just don't see why I can't read the book." Cassie replied, giving her brother a look similar to his own. They were both fed up with each other - mostly Cassie, as she was tired of being treated like a baby, and Stiles, because she was acting like a baby, by whining about being stuck with him. They both weren't happy with the situation, but they couldn't do anything to change it.

"Because it's to dangerous." Stiles told her, having already told her over and over again, along with Scott, who had told her the exact same thing. She had already been worked on by the dread doctors, and that made them not want her to read the book - what if she did, and it just made things much worse? They couldn't risk it, no matter how many times Cassie begged them to read the book.

Cassie rolled her eyes at his words, "So, why do you guys get to read it?" She asked him, motioning to him and his friends. She knew that they were all older than her and more mature, but that didn't mean they could do things that she couldn't. She thought of herself as capable as they are. Plus, she just knew that he was going to reply with something along the lines of 'because we're older' - which she hated.

"We're older." Stiles answered, doing exactly what Cassie had predicted - in response, she huffed, leaning back into the sofa as she looked around at the rest of the pack, who were concentrated in reading their books instead of the two siblings who were bickering again. Cassie knew there was no arguing with her brother - he was the most stubborn person she knew, so, with her mouth shut, she simply watched as the others read the books, trying not to fall asleep.

It was late, and Cassie did want to sleep, but at the same time, she wanted to see what would happen with the books, and if anyone would find out if the dread doctors had done anything to them. The whole time Cassie had been with the whole pack, no one had even dared to mention what they all knew - the fact that the dread doctors had done something to her, it was as if no one wanted to actually wanted to admit that something could happen to her. The pack all thought of Cassie as family, and the fact that something bad could happen to her, frightened them all just as equally.
"Anyone feel anything yet?" Scott asked them all, as there was silence throughout the group, as they read intently, silence being the only sound they could all hear.

"Tired." Kira replied, half asleep as she read.

"Hungry." Lydia then answered.

Cassie hummed along to her answer, "I could kill a cheeseburger right now." She voiced out, earning a nod of appreciation from Lydia, as she was hungry, too. Stiles rolled his eyes at the two of them, as Theo spoke.

"I think he meant the book." Theo said, motioning to the papers in his hand. Cassie was about to remark about how she wasn't allowed to read it, only, when Stiles nudged her and gave her a look to keep her mouth shut, she abided and sighed.
It was going to be a long night.

——

Cassie was exhausted from the night before with the little book club, having fallen asleep in between Malia and Scott due to her boredom of just watching everyone read. Even though she wasn't allowed to read the book, she still wanted to be involved with what the pack were up to, so she tried as hardest as she could to stay up, but in the end, she ended up slobbering all over Scott as she slept on his shoulder, and he didn't want to move her.
"You look exhausted." Liam told her, as the two of them walked down the hallway, hand in hand. He hadn't been happy that he didn't get to spend the night with her, but he also knew that Cassie needed space, and he now knew that he shouldn't be coddling her as much as he has been lately.

Cassie rolled her eyes at his words, "Thanks, Liam. Just what a girl loves to hear." She replied to him, taking her hand out of his as they reached their lockers, so she could open hers up. "I just didn't want to miss anything, you know?" She told him, as she grabbed some books from the locker.

"You can always ask Stiles about what's going on, I'm sure he would tell you." Liam told her, crossing his arms over his chest as he leant against the locker behind him.

"But that's the thing, Liam, he won't." Cassie argued, shutting the locker door in annoyance. "He thinks I shouldn't be let in on anything that's happening because it's too dangerous." She said, mimicking the last part in Stiles' voice.

Liam sighed at her answer, knowing that he was also in the same boat as her, but also thinking that Stiles had a point with it. If she knew too much, then maybe it could be dangerous for her, like if she would have read the book, finding out something that the dread doctors had done to her. If Cassie sees something she shouldn't have seen, or what the dread doctors had intentionally blocked out, who knows what it could do to her - it could haunt her for the rest of her life, or even worse, they could kill her for knowing too much. None of the pack knew what the dread doctors were doing to these teenagers, and the fact that Cassie was one of them, scared everyone - no one wanted Cassie hurt more than she already was, they just needed to keep her on a low profile, so she could stay safe..

"How was Hayden last night?" Cassie asked, before Liam could answer what she had said before. She knew that he agreed with Stiles in some cases, and she honestly didn't want to hear it, so she changed the conversation instantly, seeing the look on his face and just knowing what he was going to say.

Liam sighed at her question, "She still hates me." He answered, remembering the night before. He tries his hardest to get along with her, but ever since he accidentally punched her in the hallway when he was a kid, she wanted nothing to do with him. If Liam had it any other way, he would just ignore her, but when Cassie's best friend is dating her, he had to at least try with her. He had tried, but she just threw it back in his face every time - he was tired of it at this point..

"She'll get over it soon." Cassie told Liam, knowing that Hayden had to forgive him at some point, she couldn't be annoyed at him forever, surely? "Just give her some time." She said, smiling up at him as he frowned at her words.

"What makes you think that?" Liam asked her.

"Who can hate you?" Cassie then asked, "You're you." She told him, as he brought her in for a quick kiss. "Just give it some time, she'll come around." She said.

"This is why I love you." Liam told her, as the two leant in to each other kissed by their lockers - they didn't care about anyone seeing them together anymore. They had originally kept their feelings a secret because of Scott and Stiles, but it didn't matter anymore, so they were free to show their feelings in public, now.

The couple quickly pulled away, when Ellie had approached them, and made a noise of disgust that made them pull away quickly. "Get a room." Ellie joked, watching with a chuckle as they quickly pulled away from their kiss and look towards her.

Liam smiled at Ellie's presence, glad that she now knew about the life of supernatural. It now meant that Cassie had someone she could talk to freely, instead of him or her brother. He liked Ellie, and he was glad that she took this whole thing in well.. "Gladly." Liam replied, smirking at Ellie, before looking back at Cassie, who rolled her eyes playfully, slapping him on the chest. "I have practice." He announced, remembering that he had to shoot off, "I'll see you at lunch?" He asked Cassie.

"Yeah." Cassie agreed, leaning in to give him one last kiss.

"If anything happens. Anything at all, you come to me, or Scott, okay?" He then spoke, becoming completely serious. He didn't want anything to happen like it did at the club that night, he was terrified that the dread doctors would come and get her.

"I'll be with her, don't worry." Ellie told Liam, knowing that she had most of her lessons with her. Now Ellie knew about everything, she knew about what was going on with her best friend, and she was going to do everything she could to help. That's if, her friends let her. She was new in this whole world, but if they let her, she would like to be involved...
Liam nodded, knowing that Ellie would help Cassie. He gave Cassie one last peck on the cheek, before he rushed off to practice, leaving the two girls to themselves. He was worried about leaving Cassie, but he also knew that the pack were in the same building as her, so he hoped that nothing would happen to her.

When Ellie saw that Cassie was looking at Liam walking away with a worried look planted on her face, she linked her arm through hers. "Don't worry, nothing will happen while Scott is around. Isn't that what you told me?" She asked, remembering back to when Cassie had told Ellie about the supernatural life.

Cassie put on a fake smile, "Yeah, that's what I said." She told Ellie. Even though she had full faith in Scott, it didn't make her any less scared than she already is; she could die, and that terrified her. "Let's just go." She told Ellie, dragging her along to the next lesson - to which she abided by.
Ellie didn't exactly understand everything of what is going on, but she knew that Scott and 'the pack' would do anything for her, and she should feel safe near them. But, then again, she hadn't been experimented on by the Dread Doctors.. Or had she? She shivered as the thought went through her mind, and instead of worrying about it, she put her attention onto her best friend, hoping that she could take the girls mind off of everything that is going on.

Isn't that what best friends are for?