82|merged
I can't believe I've nearly written the whole series, this is crazy.
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We had been waiting in the classroom for hours in almost silence. We all felt nervous waiting to see whether Quinn would show up or not.
When we finally heard a door open in the hallway, the sun had set and the classroom was dark. We all shared a knowing look, realising what was about to happen.
"That's her, isn't it?" Mrs Finch asked, noticing all of our reactions.
Scott nodded, watching as Liam approached the door cautiously. I wasn't a werewolf so I couldn't pick up on chemosignals, but I could tell he was more anxious than Scott or me.
"Well, what are you planning to do?" the woman questioned Scott.
"Shh," Liam instructed, trying to listen to what was going on in the hallway.
"You- you're not going to try to hurt her, are you? That's my daughter."
"We're gonna do what we have to do."
Mrs Finch moved closer, nervous. "What exactly does that mean?"
"Just stay back," Scott told her.
The three of us stood staring at the door, waiting for Quinn to arrive. I notice Scott with his hands at his side, preparing to take his claws out. Following his lead, I began to focus and draw the air towards me.
"Liam? Ri?" Scott said quietly.
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready, Scott."
"Ready," Liam agreed.
Suddenly, Mrs Finch came up behind us all and threw wolfsbane in our faces. The boys began coughing uncontrollably, dropping to the ground under the influence of the dust. The woman threw it at me also, clearly not knowing that I wasn't a werewolf, before running out the door.
I knelt beside Scott, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said between coughs. "Go after her, stop her before it gets to her."
Nodding, I stood up and moved quickly, ready to go after the woman. I grabbed the handle of the door, only to find that Mrs Finch had locked it on her way out.
"Dammit!" I hissed as I shook the handle. Shaking my hands, I focused, knowing we didn't have time to waste.
"Alright, come on, Riley," I mumbled to myself, trying to hype myself up. "If Lydia can scream down a reinforced door, you can deal with one high school door."
I gathered my strength, eyes glowing silver as I took a deep breath. Putting as much physical and supernatural force behind it as I could, I walked up a kicked the door like I had seen them do in shows like Criminal Minds.
I wasn't exactly FBI or a Banshee, but with the force of the air behind me, I managed to break the lock and the door swung open. I stood for a moment, quite proud of myself, before remembering what I was supposed to be doing.
Rushing out the door I ran down the hall in search of Mrs Finch and her daughter. I stopped for a moment, forcing myself to listen so I could find them faster. Focusing my hearing, I heard the echo of footsteps bouncing off the walls and lockers.
Running in the direction of the noise, I turned a corner and spotted Mrs Finch on the ground with someone standing in front of her. I couldn't see her face, but it was a safe bet to assume that it was her daughter.
"You killed her. You killed my daughter," Mrs Finch said as she tried to crawl away from the Anuk-ite's half, blood streaking the floor. "You killed all of them."
"Tell me who it is," it instructed her, its voice echoing strangely.
As she grabbed Mrs Finch, I ran to get over to them before it could kill her. Just as I was about to grab it, the Anuk-ite dropped Mrs Finch back to the ground, an inhuman screech escaping it.
I quickly ducked around it, grabbing Mrs Finch by the arm and trying to help her to her feet. "Come on," I said in a panic.
The Anuk-ite stumbled away, leaning against a wall as its breathing grew heavy. Its eyes were glowing purple, shoulders heaving as it glared at it. It must have heard the footsteps, too because instead of attacking us, it ran away.
I dragged Mrs Finch over to the wall carefully so that she could sit up. She was bleeding quite badly and holding her hand to a cut on her neck that seemed rather serious. It looked like she may bleed out, but if she was a werewolf like we had assumed, then as soon as she turned, she would heal.
Scott was by the woman's side in seconds, assessing her injuries. He looked over at his beta, nodding in the Anuk-ite's direction. "I'll stay. Go find Quinn."
Liam shook his head, "We need to face her together."
"I can't leave her. Go."
"What if she finds Aaron first?" Liam asked, panicking. "How am I supposed to fight both of them?"
The Alpha looked in my direction, telling his Beta, "You won't be alone.
When I realised what he was saying, I almost scoffed, "What? You're crazy. You're the True Alpha, you should be fighting it."
"You can't take her pain away and Liam might not be able to handle this much," Scott pointed out.
I gave Scott an uneasy look, not too keen on feeling the fear that the Anuk-ite was able to instil again. How were we supposed to fight it?
"Look," Scott said to us both, most likely feeling our anxiety. "It's okay to be afraid. Just don't let it stop you, okay? You've got this. Go."
Taking a deep breath I nodded and stood up, placing a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Let's go."
He still looked unsure but came with me either way. We followed the sounds of strangled screams through the halls, me trailing Liam since he had slightly better hearing being a werewolf. Although the Anuk-ite was injured, it still seemed to be moving quite fast.
When the noise stopped we went off of Liam's sense of smell. Trailing it for a bit longer, we arrived at the library.
Liam and I shared a look. We hadn't really spent a whole lot of time together, especially not alone, so fighting alongside each other like this was new. But that didn't matter to me - I would trust any of the pack with my life.
We pushed the doors to the library open together, to see Quinn - the Anuk-ite - standing at the other end of the library. It turned around slowly to face us, blood on its hands from Mrs Finch and its own injuries it had somehow accumulated.
"Stay afraid. Stay afraid," Liam was mumbling to himself as we walked in.
"Two on one," I said softly. "Maybe we have a chance."
Quinn turned back around, only for a boy to come out and begin to walk down the stairs. I was afraid I already knew the answer, but I asked the question either way.
"Who is that?"
Liam didn't even look at me, his eyes widening as he said, "That's Aaron."
"Fuck."
Aaron walked down the stairs until he was standing beside Quinn. They looked at each other before turning simultaneously to stare at us. Two on two. Our odds were slightly less optimistic.
Liam's eyes slowed as he flicked his claws out and roared at the two while I gathered the air around me and had my eyes glowing silver, my hair lifting from my shoulders.
"You take him, I'll take her?" I asked Liam.
The boy nodded, jumping up onto the table and running across them all to reach the front. I opted to just run down the middle aisle.
Liam leapt from the final table, claws out and ready to rip into Aaron. The boy was quick to bring up a fist, punching Liam square in the stomach. The boy went flying backwards several metres and I could hear him hit the ground behind me.
I didn't stop though, running until I got to Quinn. I tried to do what I did with the door, putting strength behind myself as I brought my first forward. Quinn only grabbed it and twisted it behind my back, almost breaking my arm as she threw me away.
Rolling to my knees, I turned to see Aaron and Quinn kissing. They pulled away and smiled at each other before Quinn headbutted the boy.
They began to struggle, fighting each other to be the winner. Quinn shoved the boy against the end of the shelf, her hand at his throat. Aaron mirrored the action, grabbing the girl by the throat also.
He smiled at her again before bringing his other hand up and grabbing the back of his head. In one smooth movement, he moved his hands quickly in a fluid motion and snapped the girl's neck. Quinn hit the floor, eyes wide, the life gone from her body.
I brought a hand to my mouth, gasping as I stumbled backwards a bit. My eyes went to Liam, who was watching in shock also.
Aaron knelt down beside the body and placed a hand on her cheek. His eyes glowed purple as spiders began to crawl up his hand and arm until they reached his mouth.
Once he had ingested them all, he stood up, purple dust beginning to surround his body. He made struggling noises as he went between the shelves.
Liam had ran over to me, helping me to my feet. He looked like he was getting ready to go to fight the now merged Anuk-ite, when someone suddenly came up and grabbed Liam and me. I turned to see Lydia who was telling us that we needed to leave.
She pulled us out the door of the library, letting it shut behind us all. "We have to run," she said quickly.
"What are you doing?" Liam asked as we followed Lydia out of the library and into the main halls of the school. "Quinn and Aaron have merged, we have to stop them."
Lydia shook her head, "You can't. You can't look at it."
"What? Why not?" I asked.
"If you do, it'll kill you."
We went into a closet and Liam leaned against the door in hopes of stopping it from opening if the Anuk-ite tried to get in. I looked over to Lydia, who had what looked like mercury on her clothes.
"What happened?" I asked quietly.
"Malia and I went to the morgue and I got into Halwyn's head. He was alive. We manage to get the bullet out, but it only killed him," she said softly. "The last thing he said before he died, was to not look it in the eye. That it could kill you with a look."
We waited almost ten minutes before leaving the closet. Walking down the hall we came across the body of two hunters. The strange thing was, was that they had appeared to have turned to stone.
"How do we fight something we can't look at?" Liam said, asking the question we were all thinking.
"I have no idea," Lydia admitted.
"We have to learn to fight without our eyes," Scott answered as he walked up behind us.
Malia was with him, nodding, "Fight without seeing, that means. . ."
"Deucalion," I said, my stomach dropping at the thought of the man.
Scott looked over to me with an empathetic frown on his face. "Riley, I know you don't trust him and I understand that. But right now, we need to see the big picture."
"I see it, Scott," I told him, staring down at the hunters. "Call Deucalion."
♧♤♢♡
After making sure that Mason had gotten home safely, Isaac had offered to pick me up from the school. Charlotte was home now but she was still in recovery, Iris not leaving her side.
Isaac had asked if he could spend the night since Malia and Scott were planning on going back to the McCall house. I was about to ask him why but after my conversation with Scott about Malia, I was quick to put the pieces together.
Understanding that he didn't want to be in the house while they were spending time together, I told him he was more than welcome to stay at my house.
"You okay?" Isaac asked as we walked over to his bike.
I nodded, "Yeah, I think so. It's just. . . the Anuk-ite. It found it's other half and it's merged now. Meaning that this is all coming to an end soon."
"Good," he nodded as he climbed onto his bike. "We all need to get back to our normal lives."
I found myself smiling as I climbed on, also. "Does that mean you've decided what you want to study? Or just do in general?"
Isaac laughed as he handed me a helmet, "Maybe, but no guarantees."
"A helmet?" I asked as I accepted it. "You know we can both heal, right?"
"Yes, but you can't exactly heal if you lose your head."
"Fair call," I nodded, sliding the helmet onto my head and putting my hands on his waist.
Isaac started the bike and we were off. I hadn't been on his bike since my last time in Beacon Hills. It was nice for a change; it felt more freeing than driving in a car.
Speeding through the streets I could feel my connection to the air so strongly. After making the men at the zoo pass out and then what I'd done in the school it had more than confirmed what we had already guessed; the experiments done by the Dread Doctors had made me stronger.
Being on the back of the bike with the air against my skin and flowing through my hair that sat beneath the helmet, I knew there was probably even more I could do. I had never felt so powerful, so in control.
It was also probably the calmest I'd felt since coming home to Beacon Hills.
But then again, moments like that could only ever last so long.
Driving along the road we were almost three streets away from my house. As we turned a corner there was a loud popping sound before Isaac lost control of the bike.
We were both thrown off of the vehicle, the bike skidding down the road. I rolled along the ground, coming to a stop when I hit the curb. A pained gasp escaped me as my eyes pinched shut.
Sitting up slowly, I looked around. "Isaac?"
Spotting him further down the road, I got to my feet and stumbled over to him. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he groaned as he moved to his knees. "What the hell just happened?"
"I'm not sure," I mumbled as I got to my feet. Getting my phone out I turned on the flashlight and walked down the road.
Moving the phone slowly as I walked, my mouth fell open when I reached where we'd crashed. Someone had laid down a spike belt across the road, one's like what police used to stop cars.
"Isaac, someone did this on purpose," I said, leaning down to look closer at the spikes.
Isaac was finally on his feet, rushing over and grabbing me by the arm. "That means it's a trap. We've got to go. Now."
We began to run down the road, leaving the bike where it had crashed. Moving quickly, we were forced to stop when a car began driving towards us, headlights on high.
"Isaac?" I said softly, noticing that they had slowed to a sop in front of us.
He grabbed my hand tightly and turned us both around, running back the way we came. The car followed us as we went, driving at a steady speed in order to stay behind us.
Another car appeared at the other end of the street, stopping just before the spikes so that they wouldn't pierce their tyres.
"I was expecting Scott to be the one taking you home. Tell me, where is he?" a voice askd from behind us. I felt my heart clenching, realising that I recognised the voice.
Turning around, we saw Gerard climbing out of the car, accompanied by several hunters and ordinary Beacon Hills resident. Isaac reached an arm out, pushing me behind him protectively.
"He left town," Isaac said in a low voice.
Gerard smirked, "Now, Isaac, Riley, we all know that's not true. Otherwise, you wouldn't still be here."
"This is my home."
"Maybe yours, Isaac. But, Riley, if I'm correct you live with the Sheriff's son in Washington," Gerard stated, knowing he was right. "Bit of a far distance to travel if your best friend isn't in town, wouldn't you agree?"
"Why can't you just leave us alone?" I said, feeling my heartbeat begin to accelerate.
"No, you have it around the wrong way," the man told me. "It's you- you monsters who won't leave us alone. You have polluted our town long enough."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to pass a message along to Scott," he smirked. "Tell him that I know he didn't leave town. Tell him that it doesn't matter, because no matter where he goes, I will find him."
Isaac soffed, shaking his head, "You can't beat him. You've tried that already, remember?"
Gerard nodded, a dark chuckle escaping him. "Look around you. This isn't like the last time."
I looked over my shoulder to see that people had filtered out of the other car also, all of them holding automatic weapons.
"Isaac, should I do something?" I whispered.
He shook his head lightly, "It's too risky. We don't know if you can take this many down without accidentally killing them."
"You don't need to worry," Gerard said, seeing us whispering amongst ourselves. "As long as you pass that message along to Scott, you're free to leave."
My eyes narrowed as I looked at the man, knowing he wasn't someone who we could trust. But Isaac, who I did trust, didn't think I'd be able to control myself against this many people.
As a show of faith, Gerard waved the hunters on the other side of the spikes away. One of them picked up the spikes and then they all piled back into the large car and drove off, leaving just Gerard and his group.
Isaac's grip tightened on my hand as he looked down at me. "Let's go, before he changes his mind."
We began to run in the opposite direction of Gerard, planning to circle back to my house once we'd reached a couple of blocks. I just hoped that Iris and Charlotte were okay.
"One more thing," Gerard called to us as we were leaving.
We both slowed down enough to look over our shoulders and see a man on either side of Gerard pointing their weapons in our direction. Before I could even register what was happening or the sound of gunfire, Isaac had shoved me to the ground.
I looked back up to see the bullets flying, Isaac's body reacting as several of them hit him. I tried to get closer to him, but there were to many bullets from the two men shooting rather widespread across the road.
"No!" I screamed. "Isaac!"
Gerard held up a hand and the gunfire stopped. "Tell Scott I'm coming for him. Tell him I'm coming for all of you."
I went to stand up and follow him, planning to kill all of them, when I felt a hand on my wrist. Looking down, I saw that it was Isaac.
"Don't- don't leave me," he managed to get out through laboured breaths.
My eyes flitted from him to Gerard who was getting into his car. For a moment, I was stuck. I wanted nothing more than to rip the air from his lungs. Or maybe even just take a knife to his throat - I didn't need my abilities.
"Please," Isaac pleaded.
Gerard got into his car with the rest of the hunters and then they drove away. Knowing there was no point in trying to go after a moving car, I dropped down beside Isaac.
"Why did you make me let them go?" I asked, tears in my eyes as he fell against me.
He shook his head, "You're not a killer, Ri. I'm not going to let them turn you into one."
I moved my hand to get my phone, turning the flashlight on again. Shining it over Isaac, all I could see was his previously green shirt completely covered in blood. There were several holes in his shirt, making it clear that he'd been hit more than once.
"Why aren't you healing?" I whimpered, dropping my phone to press my hands to two of the wounds, unable to cover them all.
"It's Gerard, so I'm assuming wolfsbane," he mumbled. "Some pretty lethal wolfsbane by the feels of it."
"Isaac, I-I don't know what to do," I said to him, feeling myself beginning to hyperventiallate.
Bringing one hand away from his chest I picked my phone back up. I unlocked it quickly, covering it in blood as I did so. I went straight to Scott's number, dialling it quickly.
"Come on, come on, come on," I whispered, praying that he would answer.
When the call went to voicemail, I moved on to Malia's number, knowing that the two had gone back to the McCall house together. Again, no answer.
"Fuck!" I yelled.
"Hey, it's okay," Isaac told me, putting a hand on top of mine on his chest. "It's going to be okay."
My jaw clenched as I tried to keep from crying, moving on to Lydia's number. It rung for a moment, before she answered with a tired sigh. "Riley, what's up?"
"It's Isaac, he's been shot. I need you to get here with your car right now. He needs help," I said quickly in one big mouthful.
"Wait, what?"
"I'm sending you my location, get here now! He's dying!" I yelled before hanging up. I was quick to send my location to everyone in the pack, along with an 'SOS'.
Once that was done, I realised that maybe there was a chance Melissa or someone on our side was at the hospital. I just needed a way to get him there.
"Help!" I screamed. "Help, please, somebody!"
I looked awaound at the houses, a few lights turning on here and there. I noticed a few people either look out their windows or opening their door a crack before shutting it and turning their lights out.
They were all against us.
"Do you think I'll see Allison?" Isaac asked quietly.
My eyes went to him immediately. He was pale, sweat beading across his face. "Isaac-"
"Do you think I'll see my family again?"
"Don't talk like that. Please don't talk like that," I pleaded, unable to hold back my tears any longer.
Isaac raised a shaky hand, placing it on my cheek. I leaned into it, letting him run his thumb across my skin.
"Isaac, I can't take your pain. That's not something I can do," I sobbed as I held my hands to his chest, desperately trying to stop the blood loss.
"I know, it's okay," he said softly.
"None of this is okay," I told him. "Why didn't you get down?"
Isaac gave me a sad smile, "He wasn't going to let us both leave."
"You should've ducked, you shouldn't have pushed me out of the way," I said through angry tears. "Why would you do that?"
"This wasn't your fault," he told me as he continued to move his thumb over my cheek gently, that being the only thing keeping me anchored in that moment.
"Those years after I lost my mum and Camden. . . when I was alone with my dad. . . finding you. . . being loved by you. . . you saved my life. . . it was my turn to save yours."
His breathing was so unsteady, the words barely a whisper as they left his lips. As his eyes began to shut, I reached my hands up to his face, "No, don't you close your eyes. Don't do that. Don't leave me."
"I love you, Riley" he said softly.
"I love you, too," I cried. "Please, please, please stay with me Isaac."
His eyes were beginning to close again, a small smile on his lips, "Thank you for saving my life."
"Isaac," I pleaded.
His hand fell from my cheek and hit the asphalt. I pressed my ear to his chest, praying to hear something. Anything.
"No," I whispered as I pulled back. "No."
There was nothing.
"Isaac!"
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