Strange Encounters • [Dunbar]

Damnatio Memoriae •

"I'm sorry, Dr. Valack is not receiving any visits at the moment." The creepy receptionist told Kelsey.

"I'm family. I'm pretty sure he can receive family, right?" Kelsey lied with a smile. She knew that it was going to be hard to see Valack, saying that they were related was the first thing that came to her mind, thinking that maybe that way the guy would let her in.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Valack is not-" The guy repeated like a weird robot.

"I know, I know. 'Not receiving any visits at the moment'. Can you at least call him and tell him Linda Duval is here? Maybe that'll change his mind." If Valack thought that Linda was here, maybe he would let Kelsey in. It was her last chance to see him.

The guy started at her blankly for a few minutes and then he picked up the phone and said, "Dr. Valack? There's a Linda Duval here to see you." without taking his eyes out of Kelsey. After being on the phone for a little while, he hung up.

"Follow me. Dr. Valack will see you in his office." He said.

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Valack's office was everything Kelsey expected it to be: creepy and dirty. And so was he.

After they creepy guy left, Valack just stared at the girl.

"You're not Linda." He said to her.

"I'm her daughter, Kelsey. I'm here because I know that you and my mom were friends. And I need some answers." Kelsey said with determination in her voice. And it was true, she wanted to know more about the Dread Doctors, and Valack was the only person -other than Theo, but he was even creepier than Dr. Valack- who knew a lot about them.

"You really look like your mother. I found out that she died, I'm very sorry. She meant a lot to me." when he said this Kelsey couldn't help but tear up a little, she missed her mother so much. "But back to the reason why you're here, I hope I can be helpful." The man said. Truth was, that if anyone else asked for answers about anything he would just ignore them, or ask them for something in exchange. But seeing how much this girl looked like her mother, made him remember how much she helped him in the past. And that made him want to help her daughter.

"Is there anything else about the Dread Doctors that me and my friends need to know? Something that is not in your book?" Kelsey asked.

"They've been successful. They created the beast. And now, not just you and your friends, but everyone in this town is in danger. Even their so called 'failures', all of them."

"But they're all dead. The failures. They killed them." She remembered her friend Hayden. She just lost her but she missed her a lot.

"You don't know it yet, don't you?" Valack asked her.

"Know what?" Kelsey said confused.

"One of the chimeras -Theo, if I'm correct- woke them up. They're all alive because he wanted a pack."

She couldn't believe it, Hayden was alive. It was insane.

"Do you know what happened to your mother? Before she died?" He asked Kelsey.

"She got really sick, she started coughing really weird blood and-" She started saying.

"It wasn't blood. It was mercury. You're mother was a chimera. When we found out the Dread Doctors were back we did the impossible to be one of them, one of their experiments. But your mother was the only one of us who had what they wanted. People with some kind of decease. She was asthmatic, just like you, I would guess." Kelsey couldn't believe it, her mother was dead because of them. They deserved to die now more than ever. "So they modified her. Half were-coyote, half kitsune. But she wasn't the one, she was a failure. So when they realized that, they killed her. I thought you would want to know the true behind her death. I'm truly sorry, Kelsey." Dr. Valack said.

"I should- I should go home now. Thanks for the help." She said. It was better for her to go home before she broke down in front of Valack.

"It was nothing, not after everything your mother did for me. And Kelsey, remember. True evil only comes by corrupting something truly good." He said.

And with that, she left more confused than ever.

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"I know you're mad at me, but I just wanted to let you know that Hayden is alive. I'll see you tomorrow at school." Kelsey read on Liam's text when she got home last night.

The only response he got from her was a "Thanks." The amount of 'I'm sorry' texts she has been getting from him, was huge. She wanted to forgive him already, but she was still mad. No, not mad. Disappointed. She thought that Liam was the kind of guy who would never betray his friends, but he proved her wrong.

But deep in her heart, she knew that if those messages kept coming, she would forgive him. At least, that's what Mason told her a million times. Because she missed him. A hell of a lot actually.
But she would never admit that to him. Or to Mason.

Walking the halls of the school, the first person she saw was Hayden. The girl didn't text Kelsey even once, to let her know that she was okay. They were best friends, that meant she was supposed to tell her that she was alive.

"Why didn't you tell me you were alive?" She said to Hayden once they were standing in front of each other.

"I guess I forgot, I was a little busy." Hayden said with coldness in her voice.

"Busy enough to not tell your best friend that you were not dead anymore?" Kelsey sarcastically said. "What happened to you?" This wasn't her friend, she wasn't like this before.

"I died Kelsey. And even if I'm alive now, something inside me, stayed dead. So, sorry if I forgot to tell you. I have to go to class." And she left leaving a shocked Kelsey standing in the halls alone.

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"Are you gonna follow me until I talk to you?" Kelsey said turning around.

"Wha- I was not following you. Not at all." Liam said awkwardly. He had been following her home for ten minutes, thinking she couldn't see him. But Kelsey knew it the entire time. Not just because Liam was horrible at hiding, but because Mason told her.

When he saw the knowing look that Kelsey had in her face, he said, "Okay, yeah. Maybe I was following you. But just to make sure you got home safe."

"Really?" Kelsey said, "That's the only reason you've been following me?" She knew the other reason. But she wanted to hear him say it.

"No. I was following you for that, but also because I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I disappointed you. I'm sorry that I tried to kill Scott -which was very stupid by the way-. I'm sorry that Hayden died, and that now she's evil. And I'm sorry that I left you alone that night when you needed me, and everything because I was blinded by the power. I'm really sorry Kelsey, and I know that maybe you will still be mad at me after this, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, because I'm-" before he could keep rambling Kelsey grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him.

She missed him so much that she forgave him. Because she realized, it was the super-moon, and that he would never do that again. Not to his friends, not to her.

"I forgive you, but please shut up." Kelsey said laughing.

And then they kissed again. And Liam was so glad they did. He needed her, and she needed him. It was inevitable.

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KIAM IS BACK!! They're so cute I can't handle it.
I had a huge writers block with this story, I wanted to make this chapter perfect and I think it turned out the way I wanted to.
So, now that they're together again, the happiness will come. And Hayden will be okay with Kelsey again eventually, I promise. I'll update again tomorrow, because I'm free for the first time in weeks.
Dedicated to Crystalskies_Swift JadedDiamonds1 niamhmicks1234123 and jm_music1314 because the support they give this story is amazing. And also thank you to everyone who reads this story because it's almost 3K and I can't believe it, this makes me so happy :)
Please comment and let me know what you think!! Love you guys- Em