*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧—chapter nineteen: the plan

August 23, 2021
Hackett's Quarry
Upstate New York, New York

IT WAS RAINING. Cassidy could see the raindrops falling from the sky behind Laura as he stares at her. The blonde has a few scars on her face as well as an eyepatch covering her left eye.

"So, uh..." Dylan starts, "why didn't you come?"

"Where have you been for the past two months?" Ryan asks, the gun still pointed at Laura.

"We did come. One night early," Laura answers. "That was our mistake..." She steps over the threshold and closes the door behind her.

As soon as she enters the pool house, Cassidy lunges forward and quickly disarms Laura, the gun falling from her hands and clattering loudly on the wooden floor. An alarmed look was in her eyes as he seizes her by the throat and slams her body against the door, a threatening look in his own eyes.

"You- You killed her! You fuckin' killed her!" he yells, tightening his grip. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you! I'm gonna rip you to shreds and I'm gonna—"

"Cass, that's enough!" Sawyer's voice is stern as she walks over to him to intervene, grabbing his hands and trying to pry his fingers from off of Laura's throat. But Cassidy wouldn't let go.

Ryan comes over and grabs Cassidy by the collar of his shirt, pulling him away from Laura. He squirms in his grip, trying to get away from him.

"Cass, stop. Trying to kill her won't solve anything."

"She killed Kaylee," Cassidy hisses, now trying to kick Ryan. "Let go of me!"

Ryan loosens his grip of Cassidy, but the Hackett boy doesn't try to go after Laura again, just simply glaring at the Graves girl and the Erzahler boy instead. Sawyer shakes her head at him before gesturing to Laura. "Let's hear her out first, then you can do whatever the fuck you want, all right?" She tells him as she grabs the shotgun from off of the floor and hands it back to Laura.

Cassidy doesn't respond as he crosses his arms.

Laura moves away from the wall, a hand rubbing her throat as her other hand holds the gun firmly. She heads over to the corner where the other teens had been just moments before. Abi had not moved from where she was after Nick had left, but she kept her gaze focused on Laura the entire time.

Laura sits down and the others sit near her. She starts recounting the events, telling them first about how she and Max almost hit something on the road; how they crashed the car; got pulled over by the sheriff; the sheriff told them to head to the Harbinger Motel—

"I was there that night," Cassidy interrupts, not meeting the blonde's gaze as he speaks. "I- I remember you and Max said you were headed to camp, but my dad didn't want you two goin' that night. But after we found you two at camp, he took straight home after, so I don't know what he did to you."

Laura furrows her brows. "You're the sheriff's son?"

"Yes."

"That makes sense..." she trails off in thought, sitting up a bit straighter.

She then explains how she and Max never went to the motel; they went straight to camp; Max got attacked in the cellar, Laura was drugged, and then she wakes up in a jail cell several cells down from Max, who was also in a jail cell. Once they had woken up and were fully aware of their surroundings, the sheriff had interrogated each of them (Max first and the Laura), yet the information he was searching for neither of them could give, they had not understood. Shortly after, they found out the sheriff's badge read 'Sheriff Hackett'. And when the sheriff left the two of them alone in their cells, they tried to piece together the events leading up to that part of the night. Max had discovered something that had made complete sense, yet Laura hadn't believed it at first.

"Are you out of your goddamned mind?!" Ryan interrupts, an incredulous look on his face. "Werewolves? Seriously— What the fuck?"

Laura looks down as an amused grin forms on her face.

"What?" Ryan asks. "What- What- What's so funny?"

"I said literally the exact same thing."

"Okay..." Ryan says as he sits up. "Do you... you got anything better? I mean like... Zombies? Aliens? Time-hopping Draculas?"

"Dude, she's tellin' the truth," Cassidy admits, frowning.

"How the fuck do you— Is that why you snooped—"

"Yes," Cassidy replies through gritted teeth. "Look, even I didn't believe it at first either. But I saw— In the woods. There ain't no other explanation for it. The things that attacked Nick and Abi, that thing that attacked Dylan and then ran off after you played that feedback loop that blew the speakers, those weren't fuckin' bears, Ryan! Those were... Those were goddamned werewolves! And if you still don't believe it, oh boy, do I have somethin' to tell you..." he says, laughing. "Kaylee, Gabe, and Caleb, you know, your best friends... And Chris... they're werewolves."

"What the hell, man!" Ryan groans, shaking his head in disbelief as the others just stare at Cassidy in a stunned silence.

"Ryan, right?" Laura asks calmly as Ryan nods. "Look, your friend here—Cassidy—he's telling the truth. And if you want answers... I've got answers. Interrupt me again, you're on your own."

"Whatever..." Ryan mutters under his breath.

"Would it really be so crazy?" Dylan speaks up next. "With all the shit we've been seeing— With Nick... With that thin on the roof... Okay, it would really start to explain a lot of stuff..."

"Dylan..." Ryan tries to interrupt.

"I'm just trying to keep an open mind, okay? This is like your ghost stories you and Cass listen to. How is this so different to your ghost stories?"

Ryan starts stumbling over his words as he speaks. "Those- Those- Those... are just... campfire stories. Like, there has to be a rational explanation... for everything. For all of this."

"What part of this you ain't understandin'?" Cassidy mutters, glaring at Ryan.

"Okay, you were not talking so rational when you separated my hand from the rest of my body," Dylan continues.

"You told me to!" Ryan exclaims.

"'And if it's bite with which you're faced, cleave limb from torso with great haste'," Laura recites, a thoughtful look on her face as Ryan gives her a confused look. "You did the right thing."

"See," Dylan says, smirking as he turns to look at Ryan, "she's got a whole poem about it."

Laura gets up from the chair and steps closer to Ryan. "There's more to all this than you think. Just let me finish. Then you can decide for yourself if you believe me or not. I don't care. But, I think you should hear all of it."

"Okay," Ryan nods, leaning back against the window. "I'm all ears."

She heaves a sigh before sitting back down in the chair.

"The next few weeks were long. The cop kept us fed and let us take showers, but aside from that, we barely saw him. Max and I, we talked... a lot. As much as we could about what happened that night. It was like trading conspiracy theories. We talked about the cop, the camp, the accident, the woods, the thing in the basement, what happened to Max. We just kept... going over it all again and again, and nothing was making sense... All we knew is that we needed to get out of there."

For there on, there was a lot to take in. Laura tried explaining the past two months to the best of her ability. After a failed attempt of trying to get on the sheriff's good side, Laura had ended up finding out firsthand how serious their little predicament was. This ended up in her losing her left eye to Max, who had turned during the night of last month's full moon. After that, Laura got to escape her cell and roam the sheriff's office before the sheriff returned. She found several clues and a way to escape—she had found a syringe with quite possibly the same drug that Travis had used on her two months ago. Once she returned to her cell and the sheriff came back, she drugged him with it, knocking him out, and in turn, locking him in her cell. From there, she took a gun filled with silver bullets and left the station with Max.

"... and I made my way here. To the camp. Left Max at the island. Seemed like the best place for him, surrounded by water and all."

"What's that?" Cassidy questions, pointing to a rectangular object sticking out of Laura's pocket.

"This?" she asks him, pulling out a red leather pocket journal and handing it to him. "I think it's a diary. I'm not sure; I didn't read it or anything. Just picked it up was all."

'The Martins' Guide to Lycanthrope Hunting' were what the debossed words on the cover read. Cassidy furrows his brows as he stares at the cover. Well, there's something I didn't know, he thinks. Looks like Mom's family were werewolf hunters at some point. "Huh." He puts the journal in his back pocket. He would have to read it later.

"So, that's it. That's the story," Laura says, glancing around the group gathered around her. "Don't all jump in at the same time."

Silence follows after she speaks. The other teens letting her words sink in, either lost in thought or at a loss for words.

"Wait," Dylan says after a moment. "The island, like the- like our island? Like, the one in the lake?"

"Yeah. Why?" Laura asks him.

Dylan looks toward Cassidy, Sawyer, Ryan, and Kaitlyn with a concerned look before speaking. "'Cause Jacob, he went back there looking for Emma and he hasn't come back yet. Neither of 'em has. Oh, shit..."

"Well, as long as they didn't go poking around where they shouldn't have, they're probably fine."

"'Poking around where he shouldn't have' is Jacob's middle name. This is very bad. Oh..." Dylan sighs as he leans back against the wall, sharing a concerned look with the others. It was highly likely Emma Mountebank and Jacob Custos were in danger, but they all had to help the two of them were safe somewhere.

Tension and worry lingered in the air. The silence was suffocating.

"After you saw me at the pool... after I shot Chris- um..." Laura starts again, sparing a glance toward the other teens, "I went back to the island expecting Max to be back to normal... But... when I saw him, he was still a werewolf. So, the werewolf I killed can't have been Chris," she says as she stands up and starts to head to the door.

"That wasn't a werewolf," Ryan tells her as he gets up from the bench. The others start to stand too, "it was Kaylee Hackett. Chris' daughter."

"Whatever I shot... that was no girl," Laura insists. "Unless... I guess... it turned back after I shot it. When I went to the island."

"Wait, so... how come Max didn't kill you then?" Dylan asks, looking up at Laura.

"He tried," Laura answers, raising her left arm and pushing her sleeve up to show them her arm. It was bloody, a large gash stretching across her forearm, the same black stuff coating it like what Nick's wounds had. "I got away. I need to end this."

Ryan lunges forward, snatching the shotgun Laura was holding. He aims it at her, a serious look overcoming his features as he stares at her. Cassidy stays where he was beside Ryan, but Dylan, Kaitlyn, and Sawyer take a step back. Laura doesn't move from where she's standing, keeping her gaze on Ryan and Cassidy.

"We don't have much time," she says. "Where is Chris Hackett?"

"Shut up," Ryan snaps.

"Unless you want to suffer somethin' worse than that bite, I wouldn't bother lookin' for answer," Cassidy threatens.

"Wow," Laura mutters, shaking her head. "Rude."

"Guys," Ryan turns to the others, glancing at them for extra support. "She murdered Kaylee!"

"We have been over this!"

"Uh, Cass," Ryan says, glancing to his best friend. "What do I do?"

"Oh, wow. Real strong showing on the leadership front," Laura says sarcastically.

"You want to explain to me why you're goin' around killin' people?" Cassidy demands, glaring at the blonde.

"People— Look, that was not a person when I killed it. That was a fucking werewolf. I- I was looking for Chris Hackett!"

Cassidy scoffs, shaking his head. "You might as well murder my entire family then, 'cos you ain't gonna kill my uncle like how you killed my cousin."

"I need to do this. We already went over this," Laura tries to reason. "I need to save Max."

"Is your boyfriend all you care about?"

"What? Am I not allowed to care about my boyfriend or something?"

"You claimed an innocent life tonight," Cassidy steps closer to her, narrowing his eyes at her. "Killin' more people to save your stupid boyfriend ain't gonna fix any-fuckin'-thing. If you and Max had just listened to my dad, you wouldn't be in this mess and Kaylee wouldn't be dead. I think," he glances behind him to look at Ryan and the others, "I think we should kill this blonde bitch, before she fuckin' commits a mass murder—"

"Cass, please. That's enough, okay?" Sawyer steps forward, walking up to him. "Just... tone it down a bit? I know you're angry and upset because Laura killed Kaylee, but..."

"No, no, I ain't just angry and upset. I am livid. Absolutely fucking livid, you know why?"

"Cass—"

"Do you know why?"

"Come on, dude... You're taking it too far," Dylan says.

"I know exactly what the hell I'm sayin'—"

"Just listen to them, Cass. Please," Kaitlyn demands.

"I don't need to lis—"

"Cass, shut up!" Ryan snaps, turning around to face him. Cassidy narrows his eyes at him as he sends a glare his way. "Sorry—"

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

Ryan sighs. "Look, like they said, you're taking this too far, man... And I was handling this perfectly fine on my own before you decided to butt in," he answers. Cassidy mumbles something along the lines of you literally asked me for help, but Ryan doesn't bother responding to him. He turns back around to face Laura. "You... You said you heard a woman crying? When you escaped?"

Laura stays silent for a moment, taking a moment to recollect her thoughts as she looks at Ryan. "Why? What do you know?"

At the mention of the woman, Abi rises to her feet and crosses the room, coming to stand by the others. "It's the ghost story he told us about, right, Kaitlyn?"

"This isn't a ghost story," Laura says, starting to lose her patience. "It's a creature feature. It's really happening, and you're all in it."

"Technically, it's both, but whatever," Cassidy mutters, as Laura turns to face Abi.

"Your bracelet..." she says, walking over to the red-haired girl. Abi holds out her wrist out for Laura to inspect.

Ryan shifts on his feet anxiously, the gun still held in his hands, but he wasn't as keen to use it anymore. "What are you doing?" he asks.

"I'm trying to help," Laura replies, not looking back at him. She takes Abi's silver bracelet and unties the band, dumping the beads into a shotgun shell. "Worst case scenario, this should give you a fighting chance."

"And this will kill them? For good?" Abi questions.

"Yep."

"But what if it's Nick or someone?" Abi asks then as Laura hands her the shotgun shell.

"Like I said. Worst case scenario."

"Ryan, put that fucking thing down before you hurt someone," Kaitlyn snaps, glancing at the gun that the Erzahler boy was still holding. Laura turns around and walks over to him, taking the shotgun from out of his grasp before slinging it over her shoulder.

"So. Come on. Where does Chris Hackett live... when he's not at camp, I mean," she says.

"What makes you think we know that?" Ryan questions.

"You guys are counselors, right? You've spent the last two months here," Laura replies. "He's not in the storm shelter... I'm clearly getting nowhere hunting him in the woods. I need a place to start."

Silence fills the pool house and no one saws anything for a good while. It's only when Cassidy starts to speak that Laura's question is answered.

"The house in the woods," Cassidy blurts out.

"Dude!" Ryan exclaims.

"I'm stressed, okay?" Cassidy admits, shaking his head. "Oh, God... Okay, um... I mean— But that ain't mean you should go there, Laura. There's- There's gotta be another way to go about this... I- I ain't want you goin' to my house just to... Look, it's—"

"He's right, there could be another way. Have you thought of anything?" Ryan asks Laura, pleading.

"I've spent the last month thinking about nothing else," Laura says, her tone gentle but firm. "Look, when the sun comes up, I'm stuck until the next full moon. So is Max. So is anyone else he's bitten."

"How is that our problem?"

"Why don't you ask your friends in the woods?!"

"Don't forget about Nick, dude," Kaitlyn says. Tension was still in the air and neither Ryan nor Cassidy had moved from where they stood in front of Laura. "Okay. Any closer and we're gonna have to spray you three with cold water. Ryan, Cass, let's just get out of here."

Laura glances out of the window, seeing the full moon shining brightly in the nighttime sky. She looks back over at Ryan and Cassidy. "I'm running out of time. And if I can't find Chris Hackett... then a lot more people are going to get hurt."

Both boys take a moment to consider her words. In all honesty, neither of them wanted Laura doing what she told them, but there was no other choice. Ryan sighs, looking up at Laura. "We're going with you."

"What?!" the others exclaim.

"Uh, yeah... what they said." Laura's eye was wide as she stared at Ryan.

"I'm going to show you that Chris Hackett has nothing to do with this. He wanted us to stay inside tonight. He wanted us safe," Ryan says. Despite his tone, it was clear he wasn't budging.

"Ryan—" Cassidy starts, but Ryan shakes his head at him.

"I don't care what you think," Laura replies.

"I don't care what you think," Ryan shoots back.

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"Fine. Do whatever you want," Laura mutters, rolling her eyes.

"You saw what happened to Nick..." Kaitlyn speaks up then, glancing between Ryan and Cassidy. "He was bitten."

Cassidy frowns. "I just don't think killin' Chris is the right way to end this."

"Everything's gonna be fine," Ryan whispers to him in reassurance, before turning back to Laura. "That cop car you stole. Where is it?"

"Ditched in the lake."

"Why?!"

"It was a stolen cop car!"

Ryan sighs and turns to Dylan. "You're gonna have to try and fix the minivan. Get somewhere safe."

Dylan nods.

"How long do you have?" Ryan asks Laura.

"An hour or two... I dunno... it doesn't seem like an exact science."

"Then we'd better get going."

Cassidy nods in agreement, but a single thought lingered as he follows Ryan and Laura out of the pool house.

What if this doesn't work?

author's note
things are happening
and cassidy is not
liking it at all 👀

08.02.22