CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
A LITTLE DEATH
(trigger warning: violence, gore and death)

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WAKING UP ON D-DAY was like something straight out of an action movie. Sam and Emily's kitchen was sombre as Mae sat at the bench beside a silent Kim and a brooding Jared. Not too far away was Embry, always watching but saying nothing, and Mae couldn't look at him for longer than a second as she forced down bites of the muffin Emily had given her. It was quiet, too quiet, and Mae couldn't help the feeling of fear that crept in.

"Want the rest of this?" she asked Jared, who, for the first time since Mae had met him, refused an offering of food with a solemn shake of his head. The muffin sat half-eaten in front of Mae, her stomach twisting and turning. She couldn't stand the thought of another bite.

Since Alice's vision, nothing had been the same and Mae had known to expect it. Embry was suddenly distant and Mae hated the thought that they were back at square one. He spent most of his day training with the pack and the Cullens, often creeping into Mae's room at the dead of night when she was too tired to force a meaningful conversation out of him. He'd throw an arm around her and hold her tight, their heads sharing one pillow, and Mae would let him as sleep took them both, just craving the affection she knew would be gone in the morning.

Deep down, she had expected this too.

Still, it hurt.

(There were no band-aids for a slowly breaking heart.)

It was decided that Leah would stay behind to guard the imprints. It would be Mae, Maggie, Emily, Kim and Zeke stuck in a house waiting for lovers, brothers, friends and family who might not come back. Once again, Mae compared those dwindling moments, those final decisions to a movie scene. A realistic dream she could not wake up from. Better than the truth of it. Leah and the pack's newest addition — a boy named Collin Littlesea (coincidentally, he was Jia's baby brother, though he was nothing like her at heart.) He was younger than Seth, who was practically a toddler in Mae's eyes... she didn't have much hope that, if Victoria really did find them, she wouldn't finish Maggie off then and there.

Far too soon, time ran out.

Mae stood without realising. Embry was beside her in an instant, his hands warm as they cradled her face. The words wouldn't come even though there was so much she wanted to say. So much she should've said. Instead, she bit her tongue and kissed him once, and let him look at her like it was the last time.

"Don't be a dumbass, okay?" she mumbled, because silence wouldn't be enough.

Maggie and Paul were standing nearby. Maggie was smiling as she kissed him. I love you, her words were searing, scalding even to Mae. She tried not to look at them as Paul didn't say anything back. It felt raw, bruising, to see the way Maggie composed herself when I love you too didn't follow. Mae couldn't fathom it, what she would do if she and Embry were in that position... Momentarily, Mae's fearful gaze flickered to her boyfriend, but he didn't seem to notice the parting couple, or the look in Mae's eyes as he brushed some of her wild curls back from her face.

"I'll take you on a date after this," he promised, the first (and last) genuine smile tugging at his lips. A morsel of hope cradled between bloodied hands. Too weak to stand a chance. "Whatever you want. We can cliff-dive, or we can learn how to surf. You'll love it."

"Okay," Mae said, heart frozen, lost in the cavernous space of her chest. "I'll hold you to it."

He looked back only once as he and Quil disappeared out the door. Mae knew it was better this way. She wasn't sure she could conceal the rot of her terror anymore, the gauntness of guilt she knew would only distract him when he needed his head to be clear. Sam impatiently called Paul's name, forcing him to leave Maggie standing alone; then, the two of them and Jared disappeared too, snow covering their footsteps like they were never there in the first place. 

It was real.

They couldn't deny that any longer.

"Come sit, Mae," Emily urged in a soft but hesitant tone. She didn't seem to know what to do with herself without Sam at her side. Mae pitied her, but the idea of sitting and waiting was almost worse than the thought of Maggie's blood on the carpet, Victoria's haunting red eyes, and the fear that nothing would ever be the same again.

"Zeke, I need you to promise me something," Mae heard Maggie say to her brother as she paced the length of the living room. Kim had joined Emily when Mae refused, whispering over a magazine in a weak attempt to distract themselves, but Mae noticed the tautness of their shoulders as they listened. She felt it herself, the way her whispered words seemed to echo into a scream that ripped apart the silence. "When Victoria gets past Leah and Collin—"

When. Oh, Maggie.

"Maggie, don't," Zeke began with a shake of his head. 

Mae wondered what he was thinking. What she would do if Lina was in Maggie's position. Mae hadn't even thought of her sister waiting on the other side. Selfishly, she had thought of no one but herself. The text from Allison still went unanswered, an oblivious picture of Spot from Kira, a random text in the groupchat from James about the car needing an oil change. Life around her existed, but for the love of everything holy, Mae was drowning with no way out.

"When she does," Maggie's stubborn tone snapped her out of her thoughts. "You get the girls and you run like hell to Paul's truck. Here, the keys—" A weighted pause followed. Mae didn't have to see Zeke's expression to know he felt the ache of it. "You take them to Billy's place. Uncle Everett is waiting there, okay? He'll know how to tell Paul."

Mae couldn't listen anymore. Maggie had accepted the odds that she would die that day. She didn't fear it, not like Mae did. She was the bravest person Maeve Cooper knew, stronger than any vampire just from the warmth of her heart. Mae was lucky to call her a friend. A best friend. She wasn't prepared to leave her to Victoria's clutches.

"Just promise me you'll go, Zeke," Maggie cut off whatever her brother was saying. She sounded exhausted, drained, lifeless already. "Please. It makes no sense for all of us to die. I'm okay with it."

Emily looked ready to sob.

"Well, you shouldn't be," Zeke exclaimed. Still, he didn't hesitate to hug her, his knuckles bone white as they gripped her shoulders. "I promise."

"Thank you."

In the movies, those moments in-between — when time dragged and nothing seemed to happen — were always cut out. Mae was already at her wit's end having experienced every second, on the brink of ripping her hair out at the roots, pale-faced and sickly and wishing to be anywhere else on the planet. Several times, she stared down at Allison's unanswered message in disbelief.

Allison: I've got this crazy idea and I think you're rubbing off on me, but my friend has invited me on a road trip and I want you to come with us. I think you'll really love it, Mae—

Classic Allison Cooper; somehow knowing to send Mae a long-winded essay of a text when Mae was neck-deep in crisis. The idea of being anywhere but Washington was painfully appealing to Mae, but how could she even begin to consider it when nothing about the day's end was certain?

Sighing, Mae glanced down at her watch for what felt like the billionth time in the past minute. She'd stopped her pacing, now standing in the corner rereading Alison's text and failing to find the words to respond. At least she wasn't scared anymore, but the fear wasn't all that far away. It came back in full force, hitting her like a freight-train when they heard a wolf suddenly howl from the edge of the property.

"Mags, get away from the window—"

Whatever else Zeke had to say fell on deaf ears as the door shattered off its hinges. Mae flinched, heart lurching into her throat. She was rooted in place, staring wide-eyed at the redheaded figure invading Emily's home. The girl in question was screaming in fright, ducked down behind the counter with a trembling Kim beside her. They were safe at least, but there was no one in the way to stop Victoria from getting to Maggie. Leah's wolf form lay limp in the snow, eyes wide open as she whined in weak protest. Collin was nowhere to be seen, not that Mae had expected much from him in the first place. The odds were that he'd run away, tail between his legs, leaving Leah to fend for herself and giving Victoria the perfect opportunity.

"It's over, Maggie," she said, hands wrapped around Maggie's throat and squeezing.

Maggie fought for breath, eyes blown wide, and Mae swore she was looking at her from across the room, seventeen years of life draining away as Victoria latched onto her wrist with her teeth.

Just like that.

Gone.

Zeke blocked her view then, tears staining his face as he latched onto Mae's wrist and dragged her towards the door. Emily and Kim followed them, still screaming, but Victoria didn't seem to notice them, intent on taking every last drop of Maggie's blood. There was no door to block their view of the gory scene. Even as they reached Paul's truck, Mae caught the moment Maggie Sullivan stopped fighting.

"Mae, get in—"

Her feet moved of their own accord. Heart pounding in tune with each step, she sprinted for the house fast enough that Zeke couldn't stop her. His hand wrapped around the back of her jacket, tore at the material, but Mae was bearing down on Victoria before she knew it. Desperate, she grabbed the first thing in her line of sight and catapulted it at the vampire's head. Glass shattered, and Victoria barely flinched as Maggie's limp wrist dropped from her mouth. Crimson stained her chin as she smiled. Tauntingly slow, she bit into Maggie's skin again, watching Mae like she wanted her to remember every last detail.

And so Mae jumped on her. It was the first thing that came to mind. The air was knocked from her lungs as she flew across the room, slamming into the wall as her vision blurred. She expected pain, the agony of her own blood draining into Victoria's mouth, but no bite came. Vaguely, she heard a snarl and forced her eyes open, hand clutching her ribs to see that Leah had tackled Victoria out of the house.

Mae crawled to Maggie, frozen at the sight of her corpse, blood sticking to every part of Mae's skin that it could reach. The following moments were a haze of crimson, agony, and fear that burned like gasoline. Emily, Kim and Zeke returned when Victoria took off running into the woods. Zeke collapsed at the sight of his sister, leaving Emily to take charge, barking orders at Kim to put pressure on the wound as she beat her hands against Maggie's chest.

Even when her heart stuttered to life again, Mae remained motionless in time, shocked and scarred and numb. 

Selfish to the end, Maeve Cooper wasn't sure she could ever be okay again.

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A/N: So this has already been written in Maggie's book but here's Mae's perspective of it! Honestly I struggled to put into words how she's feeling while also trying to set up the end of this act and the main issue of the next one, so if it seems forced that's why. Did y'all pick up on the comparison of Maggie's perspective where she insists she's okay, and Mae's whole world seemingly ending where she isn't. I'm lowkey proud of that lol. Interlude coming soon ;)