"Oh my god, Riley. Riley? Wake up."

I groan and finally open my eyes. It's dark, so it's not hard to adjust to what's in front of me. At once, my mind goes back to Liam, and then Hayden, so I sit up with a gasp.

"Liam," I mumble worriedly, facing the people next to me. Scott is the first one I see, then Mason, who is kneeling down beside him. Lydia and Malia are standing behind those two, and they all bear anxious expressions. "And Hayden. They're..."

"They're gone," Lydia finishes solemnly.

"We have to find them. It was the Dread Doctors. They were here, and they attacked them, and then one of them hit me, and I-" I take a deep breath, feeling a lump in my throat and tears threatening to spill. I haven't felt this scared in a long time. The reality is that Liam has actually been taken by those men, and based on what happened to their past experiments, I'm freaking out. Hayden has most probably been taken with him, too, and they're obviously going to do something horrible to her as well.

"It's all going to be okay," Scott says, placing a hand on my shoulder. I try to nod, but my head hurts- it must be from when I was hit with that awful cane. I'm surprised at how many times I black out due to being hit on the head because of supernatural-related beings.

"Will it really be okay?"

Scott sighs at me. He isn't one to hug people a lot, but knowing that we both feel very defeated at the moment, I don't question him when he engulfs me in a very comforting hug instead of answering me. I'm still fighting those worried tears as I wrap my arms around my cousin, seeing the upset faces of my friends behind him.

"What else do you remember?"

"That's just it. The doctors just came in, destroyed the machine, then knocked us all out. I-I don't know anything else," I answer helplessly.

"It's okay, Riley. I'm sure... I'm sure they're alright as of now. We'll find them."

"Of course we're gonna find Liam," Mason suddenly says. "We're gonna find both him and Hayden and they'll be okay."

"Mason's right," Lydia agrees. "They're strong. And if we're just gonna mope around here, nothing's gonna happen. We are going to do something and find them no matter what."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I didn't expect to find Liam at once. I tried not to get my hopes up and think that we'd find him that exact night, but I couldn't help but imagine him walking through the doors unharmed and safe as if he wasn't kidnapped. Unfortunately, there wasn't a clue of either him or Hayden, and I had to be taken home that night by Scott in disappointment.

My parents were furious with Scott. With them being major worriers, I wasn't surprised when they claimed that they thought I could've been killed, but I explained- okay, so it was a lie- that Scott and I lost track of time when we went out to the movies and he took me out to places in Beacon Hills I've never seen. In truth, we basically just stayed at school, waiting for some murderers to arrive. For the first time since I've been here, I started to doubt that the good would always win.

The next morning comes, and there's still no sign of Liam and Hayden. Anxiety eats me up as I wait at Scott's house with Stiles, Theo, Lydia, Mason, and a boy from our school named Corey. Mason suspects that he's a chimera, so he brought him here while we wait for Scott and Malia to come back home after another search for the ones missing.

Now, Mason, Lydia, and I stand in Scott's room with Corey who sits on the edge of the bed. He's currently reading another photocopy of the book on the Dread Doctors, and we're trying to see if he remembers anything. If he does, he can help find Liam. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so impatient while watching him leisurely read, and I just want to yell at him to hurry up, but of course, I don't.

I sigh softly, glancing at Mason. No words are needed to be said, and he just sends me a reassuring look, patting my shoulder as well. I bite my lip and face Corey again, having the urge to say something rude.

Instead, I simply start up a conversation, saying, "So, anything interesting happen so far after reading?"

Corey looks up at me as I speak. "Uh, no," he responds, shaking his head. "Nothing."

"What chapter are you on? Are you almost done?" asks Mason.

"Sorry, I'm only on chapter two. I'm kind of a slow reader." Obviously.

"Oh, that's okay, Corey." I raise my eyebrows at Mason in annoyance. He puts up his hands in mock surrender and before I can say anything to him, Scott walks into his bedroom.

"Oh, hey Sc-"

"He's right," is the first thing he says, stalking over to Corey in a rush. "We don't have time for that anyway."

"No, Scott, don't!" Lydia warns. I frown in confusion at first, but suddenly, Scott lets his claws out in his right hand and digs them into the nape of Corey's neck. I clap my hand over my mouth in shock, watching as Scott's eyes glow a bright red whereas Corey's face contorts in pain.

"What's happening?" Mason asks nervously.

"He's looking into his memories," Lydia replies quietly.

"Is it a bad thing to do that?"

"Not really... but it isn't safe either."

While we fall into silence, footsteps can be heard from outside as Stiles, Malia, and Theo run into the room.

"Don't get too close," Lydia informs them.

"What is he doing?" asks Theo.

"Tapping into Corey's memories," she repeats. "It's usually something only Alphas do."

Theo cautiously walks closer and observes the scene. "Is it as dangerous as it looks?"

"Probably more," Stiles mutters.

"Does anyone know if it's working?" Mason questions.

Without any warning, Scott gasps loudly and let's Corey go. He stumbles backwards and is about to hit the ground, but Stiles jumps into action, catching him with Theo's help. Since Scott is being assisted by them and Lydia and Malia, Mason and I hurry over to Corey, who scoots as far away from Scott as possible in this room.

"Is he okay?" I hear Scott say concernedly.

Corey on the other hand, is outraged. "What the hell did you do to me?" he demands, pointing a finger at my cousin.

"You'll be all right."

"There's blood."

"You'll heal."

"Scott-" Stiles tries to reason with him.

"He'll be fine!" Scott yells. His shouting automatically causes us to quiet down. He grabs a notebook and pen on his desk nearby and begins drawing on it, but from where I stand, I can't see what it is. "Listen, I think it worked. I saw something. There were tunnels, pipes along the walls... there were these huge blue pipes at the entrance, two on both sides."

Stiles carefully approaches his best friend and stares at what he sketched on the paper. When a look of realization comes over his face, my hopes are brought up again just like that.

"Wait a second," he says.

"Do you know it?" I ask eagerly.

"Yes. I've seen this before. That's one of the tunnels I used to skateboard in. Remember my dad caught me one time and told me to never go back?"

"It's the water treatment plant," Lydia finishes knowingly.

Scott nods at us. "That's where they are. That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

He doesn't give us another chance to speak and walks out of the room as if nothing happened. While Corey watches him angrily, the rest of us follow him out and down the staircase.

"Where are you going?" says Stiles.

"I'm driving over there right now."

"Scott," Stiles goes on, but Scott doesn't pay attention. "Scott, slow down. Just think for a second, okay? Mason and Riley should be going."

"Liam's my best friend," Mason states. "I'm going."

"Oh, did you suddenly get super wolf powers? I wasn't aware of that development."

"Well, if you're not going, I could use the help," says Scott.

"No, I'm coming, just as soon as I talk to my dad. They're moving the body and he wants to make sure that this time, no one steals it."

"How's he gonna do that?" Malia asks.

"I don't know, but whoever took the last one was strong enough to flip my jeep."

"We can bring Theo."

Everyone turns to Theo after Malia's suggestion. "Maybe I better stay here," he says. "You know, in case the Doctors decide to make a house call for Corey."

This time, we face Corey, who apparently decided to follow us down here as well and is now standing behind us, still looking as puzzled as ever.

"Scott, Stiles is right," Lydia joins in. "We need to slow down and think."

"I am thinking about how Liam and Hayden could already be dead."

"You could've hurt him, Scott!" she exclaims, referring to what he did to Corey only a minute ago. "Really hurt him."

"I have to find Liam."

"Yeah, I do too. So I'm going," I announce and Scott turns to me in disbelief.

"No, you're not."

"Why not?"

"You're going to get hurt again like last night."

I can't help but roll my eyes. "I know you're just looking out for me, but I want to go. Mason's going, so why can't I?"

"Your parents got mad at me last night, too," Scott reminds me. "That just made me realize even more how much danger I put you in every single time."

"I don't care."

Scott sighs and ignores me, facing the others. "Stiles, you can go to your dad but you gotta come back here with Lydia and watch over Corey. Theo, make sure Riley doesn't leave and if her parents call, you'll be the one to take her back to her house then-"

"You're talking as if I'm not even here!" I cut him off exasperatedly.

"Because I want to make sure you're safe! If I let you go with me everywhere and every time, you could already be dead, okay? You're staying here, and that's final."

I grumble under my breath, waiting for him to calm down so that I can reason with him again in a more relaxed way. Instead of saying another word to me, my own cousin walks out the door with Mason and Malia at his heels. I know fully well how irritating I may be at the moment due to my persistence, but I don't want to stop. I take a step towards them and want to follow them out, but Theo sticks his arm out in front of me, blocking my way.

"I think you should just listen to him, Riley," he tells me in a soft voice.

"But-"

"Believe it or not, he's right."

I can't fight with Theo. I know he's too strong, and since he badly wants to be part of Scott's pack, I know he'll do anything to follow him, and that means making sure I don't leave. He's going to stay here and watch me like a hawk, ensuring that I won't escape and find Liam myself.

A/N: How odd is Scott in this chapter? Who made him so overprotective and unconfident here? Like, who does that? Whoops, I'm the one who did that HAHA I'M LAME.

So, I've seen things online about many people not liking Scott's character this season because they claim that he's weaker and more unsure about everything than usual, so I tried to show that here... I hope I succeeded 😂 (P.S. I STILL LOVE SCOTT OK I DON'T HATE HIM) (P.P.S LIAM ISN'T EVEN IN THIS CHAPTER SO I DON'T LIKE IT VERY MUCH BUT I HOPE YOU ALL STILL ENJOYED READING IT).

Comment your thoughts and don't forget to vote! Thank you 💘