"the last chimera"

THEY DIDN'T EVEN GET TO see the body. His sister was dead, and her body was taken away before he even got to say goodbye, he got that he and Scott were arguing, but he should have told him about his sister dying. This whole day, he was out and about trying to find everyone, when Cassie had been dying in the animal clinic, then the hospital, alone. Ellie had found him sitting outside of his dads hospital room and told him the news, but by the look on Ellie's face alone, Stiles knew that something was terribly wrong. He went back to where Cassie had died, but her body was gone, Parish had taken it away, like he did with all of the other bodies — he had let Parish leave the police station, but little did he know that he was on his way to pick up Cassie's body. Noah hadn't woken up yet, he was still under and recovering, and right now Stiles was truly alone for the first time in his life, he didn't even have Scott; he didn't want Scott. He wanted Cassie, but she was gone, and she wasn't coming back to him or their dad. God, he didn't know how he was going to tell his dad when he woke up — 'hey dad, glad you're healing well. By the way, your daughters dead'. What had happened?

Stiles couldn't stop crying no matter how hard he tried to stop, people stared at him as they walked by in sympathy, looking down at the boy in sadness that he had clearly lost a family member. Melissa had come to see the boy shortly after she had brung Scott back to life, letting the boy know that she was by Cassie's side the whole time until the girl took her final breath, and that she thanked her for being so good to herself and Stiles — she missed out the mom part, knowing that it would make Stiles even more guilty for not being there; not only had Cassie called her, her mother, but so had Stiles, both times the kids being in critical condition. No matter what anyone said, the woman considered Stiles and Cassie her own kids as well as Scott, and loosing Cassie hurt just as much as when she thought Scott had died the night before. The girl didn't deserve to die, she was one of the kindest souls Melissa knew, and she deserved to die from old age, not from mercury poisoning at the mere age of fifteen. He should have been there, and if he hadn't have left his phone at the station, then he would've known to be with her, he would've known.

Stiles felt like he couldn't breathe, and when the receptionist asked if there was anyone else being the next of kin, his heart shattered when he claimed it was just him. He couldn't say he had a sister anymore, because she wasn't alive anymore. It hurt thinking about the fact that she wasn't around to bug him anymore, that he wouldn't be able to scare boys away from her anymore, (more so Scott), he was utterly heartbroken, and he knew that he had to tell his dad when he woke up, making it even worse.. When Scott came up the elevator to check on Stiles, he hadn't expected to see Noah in the hospital bed passed out, a breathing tube in his mouth to help him, and Stiles shouting at the doctors for some answers that they didn't have, that they weren't giving him. But the second he saw Scott, he walked forwards, slamming the door open and slamming Scott against the wall, bringing them both to the ground, Stiles on top. "Where were you, huh? Where were you!" He yelled, taking his anger out on his friend who he thought he trusted, "You didn't tell me when she was dying!" He added, just as the security guard came and pulled him off of Scott.

"Your dads not the only one that got hurt." Scott told Stiles, knowing that the pack suffered a major loss last night; not only was Cassie dead, but Lydia was in hospital along with Noah, Liam was awol and Kira was nowhere to be seen..

"Oh you'll heal." Stiles sneered, not knowing how he could compare his dad and Cassie to himself.

"I'm not talking about myself."





Liam was a complete wreck, he couldn't handle the fact that the girl he loved was dead, he didn't want to deal with the fallout, because he didn't believe she was actually dead. No matter how many times Mason had told him that Parrish took the body, that Cassie was gone, she was dead in his arms, Liam just wouldn't take it for an answer, he didn't want to admit that he would never see the girl again. Mason had been running after him for most of the night, making sure Liam didn't do anything else stupid like try to kill Scott again — he hadn't seen him like this, ever. He was completely broken, like he was just a shell of the boy he used to be. "I killed her." Liam stated, finally landing on the floor as he stared forwards at the police station; he didn't know why he had ran here, he thought that maybe it had to do with the fact that Noah worked here, and the man deserved to know about his daughters death, but Melissa had probably already told him, so he didn't actually know what he was doing.

"No you didn't." Mason told him, shaking his head, "And while the last few hours haven't been your best.. Running around aimlessly and blaming yourself isn't the way to fix it. Her dad is probably with Stiles right now, mourning together, okay? It's not going to hurt less hearing how it happened from you." He tried to reason, knowing that Liam wanted to explain himself to the girls family about how she died and how he thought it was his fault. Stiles and Noah were grieving enough as it was, and they didn't need Liam butting in with their healing process.
Mason helped Liam stand up, holding onto his arm as he did so, the boy feeling weak from the day he had had, but when Liam turned around, beginning to breath heavily and looking around their surroundings in confusion, Mason furrowed his brows in pure confusion at what the boy was doing. "What is it?" He asked Liam, as the boy touched the car next to him.

"It's Cassie." Liam finally spoke up, after sniffing and thinking through the smell that had suddenly overwhelmed him. "It's her scent. She's here!" He told his friend, turning around to see Mason looking at him like he belonged in Eichen House.

"Liam, you held her body in your arms. You.. You watched Parrish carry her out of the hospital. I'm sorry, but she's gone." Mason told Liam lightly, knowing that it was hard to fully process what happened to Cassie, but they had to process it, because she was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

"I swear I smelt her. It was like she was right here, man." Liam mumbled, looking around in confusion again, when he thought to see a familiar lock of blonde hair in the car windows reflection, but just as he turned to get a look, it was gone.

"Come on, let's get you home." Mason said, placing his arm over the boys shoulders and pulling him along with him. Although he was grieving Cassie, too. Liam needed him.




When Mason agreed to help Liam come to terms with the fact that Cassie was dead, he didn't expect to be deep in the woods trying to find the tree of where Parrish took all of the dead bodies. But the boy wanted to find confirmation that she was really gone, because he was sure that he had smelt the girl back at the police station — Mason felt terrible that Liam was practically breaking down over this, he knew how much the guy loved Cassie, hell, everyone loved Cassie. But she helped Liam through a lot, and he knew that Liam didn't think he could make it in this life without her; he just had to show him that he could..
"I couldn't save her." Liam broke the silence, crouching down on the floor when they had failed to find the tree with the bodies. He knew now that he was just trying to create reasons for Cassie to be alive, when she wasn't; he needed to realise that she was actually gone. "I should've fought harder for her." He added, shaking his head.

"No one could save her, Liam." Mason said, sighing as he looked down at his friend, "I was standing right there, Melissa did everything medically possible, the woman was completely broken over not being able to save her.." He began to explain, as Liam interrupted him.

"Whilst I was trying to kill Scott." Liam scoffed, not knowing what the hell he was thinking, why did he do that? He left the girl he loved after promising her that he wouldn't, and attempted to kill his alpha who was just trying to help. He was angry, and he didn't have his anchor to calm him down because he was dying, and he lashed out, that was the only way he could think about what he did.

"You can't take all of the blame." Mason told him, knowing that it was the dread doctors fault and no one else's. Everyone tried to save the girl, and they couldn't, it wasn't Liam's fault. "I mean, there was like, eight-hundred extenuating circumstances." He said, knowing that the full moon had a big part to play in all of this, too.

Liam shook his head, "It wasn't just the moon." He said, knowing that he couldn't blame the moon for this. This was his fault, his actions.

"Then it was loosing Cassie. It was not having your anchor by your side." Mason said, knowing that the blonde girl was always the reason as to why Liam stayed calm most of the time, keeping his anger in check; now she was gone, he was going to have to step up. "It was fear, anger, and Theo took advantage of it." He said, knowing that what he was saying was true, Liam just didn't want to accept that he didn't have anything to do with her death, he didn't want to feel any better about himself because he knew it was his fault.

"Or maybe it was just me." Liam mumbled,

"Look, Liam. Cassie wouldn't want you beating yourself up over this, and you know that. If she was here right now, she'd be beating your ass for even thinking this." Mason told Liam, smiling slightly at the thought of Cassie having a go at Liam like she used to. But then the smile quickly faded when the thought of never hearing her voice again came back, and he frowned. He'll never see Cassie again.




——




Cassie shouldn't be alive, she knew that, she died, her heart gave out, she remembered it happening, she remembered seeing Melissa's face looking down at her as the light faded before her eyes. Then the next thing she knew, she was standing in front of Theo, the boy saving her life yet again, which is more than she could say for Scott and the others. She was glad she was alive, don't get her wrong, but after everything that happened, she was just exhausted, and she just wanted the pain to stop. She died alone, with no one but Melissa by her side, as everyone else had abandoned her, and the girl hurt. The first thing she did when Theo let the pack go off and catch a break, was see what Liam was up to — the boy was going through a lot, yet the girl couldn't exactly find it in her system to care. He left her just like everyone else, and from what Theo told her, she shouldn't really forgive any of them for what they did. Cassie just wanted to see her dad, and no one else; she wanted to find out if he was okay, finding out through Theo that one of the loose experiments from the dread doctors had attacked him, and if it hadn't been for him, her dad would be dead. Let's just say, she owed Theo her life.

"I just want to see if my dad's okay." Cassie told Theo, as he stood across the room from her, not really listening to what she was saying as he was thinking through his next plan of action. "I'll be in and out before anyone even knows I'm there, I promise. I just have to see him." She said, before Theo finally turned around and gave her a sympathetic look, striding across the room and bringing her in for a hug, the girl returning it as he stroked her hair.

"You remember what I told you, right? About what they all did to you?" Theo asked her, needing to make sure she believed every word of his before she left this place, knowing that he couldn't trust the girl talking to any of the other pack without what he said plaguing her mind. He couldn't risk her making up with any of them.

Cassie's face fell at his words, her heart breaking once again at the fact that they had all left her to die without a care in the world, and that Scott had refused to save her life, because he didn't care about her. "I do. And I know you're telling the truth, I don't want anything to do with any of them anymore. You're my alpha now, Theo." She said, as the two pulled away from the hug and the boy smiled down at her with a knowing smirk.

"Then go and see if your dad's okay." Theo gave the girl his permission, knowing that she was telling him the truth and she truly didn't want anything to do with any of the pack anymore.

Cassie smiled, "Thankyou! I won't be long, I'll come back when I see for myself that he's okay." The girl said, as Theo nodded.

"I hope he's recovered." He told the girl, as she rushed out of the room and into the tunnels, knowing that she would make it to the hospital in no time by just running there. Now she was no longer a failure, Cassie felt powerful, more powerful than she had even felt even before Theo had brought her back to life — she was thriving.

So it didn't take her long to get to the hospital at all, arriving in just half an hour, rushing up to the front desk and asking about what room Noah was in. As soon as she got the answer, she carefully maneuverered her way through the hospital hallways, careful not to bump into anyone that believed her to be dead, keeping her head down as she finally found the room number. Looking through the window, she saw Stiles asleep on the side of their fathers bed, the boys face wet from the amount of tears he had shed throughout the night over his dad and the loss of his sister. Cassie didn't hate her dad and brother for leaving her alone whilst she died, she knew that her dad was being attacked and Stiles was with him, but it didn't hurt any less knowing what she knew, because she still died alone, minus Melissa.

The girl crept into the room and tiptoed towards her fathers bed, smiling when she realised that he was going to be okay, leaning down to kiss him on his forehead. But when he stirred in his sleep, the girl froze, "Cass?" Noah whispered, his eyes peeling open and looking up at the girl in pure confusion and sorrow. Having been told that his daughter was dead a few hours beforehand, he was now hallucinating her. "But you're.. You're.." The man stuttered, unable to say the word. "I'm dreaming.." He mumbled.

Cassie smiled sadly, knowing that it was for the best for the man to believe that she was dead, at least until she knew it was safe for him. "I love you, dad. So much." She whispered, a stray tear falling down her cheek as she tried to keep as quiet as possible, despite how hard it was. She just wanted to wake him and Stiles up completely, tell them everything that happened and to show them that she was alive; but Theo had forbidden it, and he was her alpha now, she owed him everything, and if that meant doing everything he told her too, then so be it.

"I miss you." Noah whispered, his eyes threatening to close every time he spoke, the man exhausted from the poisoning he had been injected with just a few hours beforehand.

Cassie sighed, "You'll see me soon enough." She told him, backing away when she saw Stiles begin to stir in his sleep, "Just know that I don't blame you for what happened." The girl said, not wanting him to feel any guilt for not being there for her, especially not while he was trying to heal.

"I love you, dad."