THE HUNGRY MERMAID. ❪ Brett Talbot ❫ ✓

eight

On the lacrosse field, Lorilee was introducing Zia to Kim properly, as well as Liam and Corey. When Liam heard the news, he looked at Kim, remembering what she said on the last day of school about a mermaid in Beacon Hills.

"Kim, can you predict the future?" Liam asked.

She gave her boyfriend a pointed look. "Last I checked, I'm human. But if it makes you happy, I'll test out that theory for you." She pressed two fingers to both sides of her head. "Ooooo, Liam is going to get his ass kicked by Brett and his girlfriend in one day."

Liam rolled his eyes at her. "This is an abusive relationship, Kim. I think we need to see a psychologist."

"Do you not like Brett?" Zia questioned.

Liam scoffed. "He's a douchebag, but he does come through."

"No, he's a dick, period," Kim retorted.

"I think he's nice," Zia mumbled. "He takes care of me."

Kim sighed softly. "Yeah, I saw that. You stepping in front of him made me realize that. Sorry about that, by the way."

Zia shrugged slightly. "It's okay, I guess. At least you weren't trying to eat me."

"Wait - what?"

Back in the parking lot, Brett used his keys to open his car, putting his lacrosse equipment in the trunk - minus his lacrosse stick before Monroe showed up

"I think you dropped this. I saw you playing. You're something else, aren't you?" She gained his attention, holding up the lacrosse ball she found earlier.

Brett appreciated her accolades on his lacrosse skills. "Something like that, yeah."

She returned the ball to Brett by throwing it. Brett touched the ball and frowned when he saw purple smoke coming out from the claw marks in the ball. He collapsed and fell on his stomach on the ground. The purple smoke was powdered regular wolfsbane. Monroe faked her emotions toward Brett and slowly walked toward him with an unpitying expression as he gathered enough strength to push himself in a seated position.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you. It's wolfsbane," she mocked. "I have nothing against you personally." She broke his lacrosse stick's net with her foot and pointed it at him. "But you don't deserve to have this much power. You don't deserve to terrify people."

Brett was bleeding black blood from the wolfsbane. He glowered at her in despise, wishing he could claw out her throat. Monroe stabbed him in the chest with the sharp end of the stick, then removed it and swung it across his face.

She watched his accelerated healing in awe. "That's incredible!" She held up the large knife she had in her office. "No one should be able to do that."

Monroe tried to stab Brett with the knife but he partially-shifted, dodging the blow and scratching her neck with his claws before he escaping a near-death experience. Monroe touched her bloody neck marks and gasped in pain before looking around, noticing Brett was long gone.

She huffed in annoyance, running after Brett to finish up the mess she started. She was obviously trying to find Brett in the woods. Her sleeve was covered in blood from her wounds from her encounter with Brett. He was expecting her to show up. Monroe was being too predictable. Brett jumped from the tree behind her while she was distracted and knocked her to the ground, disarming her from her knife. She grunted in pain and annoyance. She tried to get away, but Brett stopped her by grabbing her in a choke-hold with one of his hands. He was still bleeding black because of the wolfsbane.

They both crawled up to their feet while Brett kept a hold on the woman trying to murder him in cold blood. Monroe was unable to break free because her feet couldn't reach the ground. She was dangling in the air. Brett growled at, trying to slash her with his free hand, but suddenly, he was shot in the chest by an arrow, dropping Monroe. Brett chose to run instead of fighting, growling as he fled the crime scene.

"Who's there? Who are you?" Monroe questioned.

Gerard stepped out from the line of trees. "Someone who has been doing this a lot longer than you."