The lacrosse ball soared through the air, narrowly missing the goalie, and scoring the first point for Devenford Prep. As their fans jumped to their feet cheering, I threw my hands up in the air, annoyed that they were the ones to score the first point of the night. My sight of the field was cut off by Coach as he passed by in front of the bench, grumbling under his breath about how much he hated the opposing team.
"Coach, move!" I waved my hands out in front of me, gesturing for him to step out of my way, frustrated.
He incoherently said something under his breath about how I needed to respect my superiors. With a swift roll of my eyes, I waited until he moved out of my way to rediscover my friends on the lacrosse field, sighing in relief when all of them were accounted for.
My eyes narrowed on player seven on our team, lip curling in disgust. If only Garrett had been the one to eat all of those cookies. He was the one that paid for the keg at the party, which meant he was the one to have the hidden dagger in the bottom on his lacrosse stick. Right now, because of him, all of the people I cared about on the team were in danger. That gave me plenty of reasons to hate him.
Coach almost threw his clipboard to the ground when he saw the number change to '1' on the opposing team's score. The two teams jogged back to their positions. The two captains, Scott and Brett, crouched down at the center of the field over the ball that the referee set down.
"Brett," Scott lowly spoke to the player across from him. "I know you guys feel, like, you owe Liam some payback for what he did, but could you just hold off for one night? Trust me. One night."
I easily eavesdropped on their conversation. Maybe Scott would be able convince Brett to go easy Liam tonight, something we desperately needed, considering our new beta was a bit of a ticking time bomb. His temper would make it harder for him to control his shifting.
Brett nodded his head once, readjusting his grip on the handle of his lacrosse stick. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Really?" Scott asked, sounding a tad surprised.
"No," Brett chuckled in amusement.
I rolled my eyes at his comment, muttering under my breath, "Asshole." My attention quickly shifted over to Greenberg, who abruptly leaped up from the bench a few feet away, arms wrapped around his stomach.
His face was unusually pale. A loud groan emitted from the back of his throat. "Coach, I--" Greenberg stumbled away from the bench, deserting the few remaining laxative laced cookies on the plate near his own lacrosse gear. "I don't feel so well..." He broke out into a sprint, headed back to the school, groaning every few seconds.
I covered my agape mouth with my hand, quickly figuring out what was going on with him. Those laxatives were not that fast-acting, but seemed to have surely gotten the job done. None of the other players were running for the bathroom, leading me to believe Greenberg practically ate the whole plate by himself. Part of me honestly felt guilty for bestowing that issue onto him, yet I couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled out of my throat.
"Greenberg!" Coach screamed at his retreating figure. His hand waved at the teenage boy that ran, like, his life depended on it. He glimpsed down at me on the bench. "What the hell was that about?"
I simply shrugged my shoulders, pretending I was just as clueless as he was about the whole situation. The whistle blew back on the field, bringing both of our attentions back on the game. Brett scooped up the ball from the ground and sprinted for their goal, avoiding being attacked by our team. My fingers threaded together in my lap as I watched Liam chase after him.
Two other Devenford students joined together behind Brett, standing side by side. They slammed their shoulders and lacrosse sticks against Liam's chest, forcefully sending him flying backward in the air, landing flat on his back. Brett scored another point. He purposely glanced back over his shoulder, quietly chuckling at Liam on the grass. My eyes widened with worry as Liam jumped back to his feet, ripping his helmet off of his head, heart beating erratically. He was furious.
"Liam!" I jumped off of the bench, fully prepared to storm onto the field and stop him from attacking the two other students.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Coach speedily cut in front of me, arms folded over his chest with the clipboard still held in his right hand. He raised both of his eyebrows at my sudden advances toward the field. "Only Coaches and players allowed on the field, Lahey. Last time I checked, you were neither."
I huffed in response. Around his shoulder, I was able to see Scott and Isaac grasp onto either side of the freshman's body before he could lunge at the students, holding him back. My lips pressed together in annoyance while my nails dug into the palm of my hand. Another deep sigh blew out of my nose as I shuffled back until the back of my legs hit the edge of the bench. I sat back down, wishing I was allowed to help my friends out.
Coach shook his head in disbelief, walking back down the edge of the sidelines. I guess being Coach 2.0 only counts for practices. My brother helped drag Liam away from the two boys. The game barely just started and he was already losing control of his temper.
"Chloe, you okay?" Aiden crouched down behind the bench on his toes. He gently placed his hand on my shoulder, speaking in a calm voice. "Scott and Isaac can handle this, okay?"
The words from his mouth sounded foreign, mainly because he was only acting somewhat decent to Scott because we had an assassin to worry about. Otherwise, Aiden wouldn't have included him in that sentence. I was grateful they were able to put their differences aside just long enough to focus on the game instead of the hatred Aiden and Isaac felt toward Scott.
I bent over, resting my elbows on my knees and setting my chin on top of my fists. "I'm just scared. This game shouldn't even be going on right now. The stakes are too high."
He rubbed my shoulder once before he slid his hand down to wrap around my left hand. I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down a bit more, not wanting my nerves to eat me alive on the inside. Stiles would be safe, considering he was human, but that left everyone else as tempting bait for Garrett, not to mention how I still feared Stiles would somehow end up in the crosshairs of it all.
The referee stood above the two opposing team players. Stiles crouched down on the grass across from another Devenford student, much like Scott had done with Brett. The whistle hug out of the referee's mouth, ready to bring the game back to life.
"You guys know that anabolic steroids are illegal in the United States?" Stiles questioned the guy in front of him.
A small giggle erupted from my lips at his absurd question. Hearing his joking attitude helped my mood lighten up a bit. I squeezed onto Aiden's hand tighter, thankful he chose to leave the bleachers to be next to me instead.
"You wear a lot of facial hair for a teenager. What are you on, seriously? HGH? Gamma radiation?"
The referee blew his whistle. My grip on Aiden tightened once again, however, for a different reason this time, as a large smile broke out on my face when I saw Stiles scoop the ball up from the ground first.
"Yes!" I pounded my free hand into the air, excitedly. "Go, Stiles!" I cheered him on from the sidelines.
My voice carried over the field, causing his head to snap in my direction. If I hadn't known any better, I would have sworn I saw the corners of his lips turn up in a bright smile. Stiles refocused back on the game. He ran across the field, noticing a wide open shot to Kira, who was not too far away from him. With a swing of his lacrosse stick, he tossed the ball into her net with ease.
Kira froze in place, gawking at the ball in the net of her lacrosse stick.
"Run, Kira! Run, Kira, run!" Stiles yelled at her.
The trance she was in shattered. Kira twisted on her heel and raced toward the goal, dodging the players headed at her. I laughed once again at the sound of Stiles whooping with joy. As much as I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the game, I knew the main thing here was to pay attention to where Garrett was at all times.
Isaac was closely behind Kira, making sure none of the Devenford players interfered with her race to the goal. I smiled at my brother's racing figure, proudly. In France, he often talked about how much he missed playing lacrosse. This whole week, Isaac had excitedly been talking about playing in the scrimmage, despite the worry of an assassin being on the team.
"Pass it!" Coach yelled at Kira as she ran. "Kira, pass the ball!"
Instead of obeying his orders, Kira did a fancy spin in the air before she whipped the ball at the goal, successfully scoring a goal. I threw my hands up above my head, dropping Aiden's in the process, to cheer for the team, scoring their first goal of the night. The crowd cheered along with me in the bleachers until mine was suddenly cut short by a quick glare shot at me by Coach. I lowered my arms back down, confused by his behavior.
"Yukimura!" He hollered at her from where she hovered near Scott and Isaac on the field. "Get over here!"
Excitedly, Kira raced over to Coach, peeling her helmet off to reveal a large grin on her face, lighting up her whole facial features. She came to a stop a few feet away from him, expecting some sort of praise.
"Take a seat. You're benched for the rest of the game." Coach pointed to the bench, where Aiden and I sat on it near the other players that were standing.
Her face fell at the words that left his mouth, shocked by the command. "What? Why?"
"You didn't pass."
"I had an open shot," Kira quickly tried to defend herself.
Coach waved his arms around in the air on his sides. "The play was for you to pass. This is a scrimmage. It's about teamwork, Yukimura." He gestured with his left arm at the bench. "So, you're benched."
Defeated, Kira's shoulders slumped. Her eyes met mine before she glimpsed over her shoulders to look at Scott. I worriedly peered at him as well, knowing we just lost an important player in our own game of protecting our pack. Garrett passed by Scott, smirking underneath his helmet while kept his blue eyes locked on the alpha. I nervously swallowed at the silent interaction between them.
While Kira sat down on the bench on my other side, my hand reached out to grab onto Aiden's, needing a sense of comfort more than ever now. Both of his hands wrapped around mine as he decided to officially sit down on the bench beside me, assuming Coach was too focused on the game to pay attention to the non-players on the bench. A complain never came from him as he let me hang onto his hand for dear life, fearing for the lives of my brother and friends.
"Isaac, please be careful," I muttered lowly under my breath.
Ever-so-slightly, Isaac bobbed his head in the air, reassuring me of all of my fears and concerns now that Kira was taken out of the game. There was a part of me that was mad at her for not listening to Coach. Her stubbornness just increased our chances of someone getting hurt on the field.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," Kira apologized, tossing her helmet to the grass by her sneakers. "I didn't mean to."
"It's fine," I grumbled.
Both of us knew that it was anything but 'fine'. The two words were enough to stop her from uttering another apology or defending herself. She sunk down on the bench, not wanting to upset me anymore than she already had.
Garrett was only one person, but it was impossible to always keep an eye on him when he was constantly on the move and often blocked from the line of sight by other players. The fear and anxiety continued to bubble up within my body, reminding me of how any of my friends could be injured by the end of the game. Any of them could be stabbed.
Once again, the shrill sound of the whistle echoed in the air by the referee. Explicits spewed from my lips as soon as I saw Liam and Garrett run directly at Brett after the ball was passed to him. My nails cut into Aiden's hand from the tight hold I had on him. The three of them slammed right into each other, roughly. Liam flew over Brett's back, stretching his arm out to catch his fall until a sickening crunch echoed through the air, followed by a pained groan.
"Liam!" I screamed, fearfully.
Behind me, the entirety of the bleachers gasped over the intense collision on the field. The three boys laid flat on the ground, all equally in pain. I ditched Aiden and Kira on the bench without a second thought, just a few seconds behind Coach. I ran faster than the remaining team on the sidelines as they ran out to the their teammates as well. My heart pounded against my chest, absolutely terrified Garrett had cut him with the hidden dagger. This whole situation was exactly what we were trying to avoid by getting the game canceled.
"Okay, back off! Back off!" Coach commanded when he reached Liam on the ground. He watched as he was brought up to his feet with the help of Scott and Stiles. Once he assumed Liam was okay, except a few bruises, he moved on over to Garrett and Brett.
"Liam!" I exclaimed, accidentally colliding into my brother's side, unable to stop myself so abruptly from the fast speed I was going. I pushed my body forward in the small circle, standing in front of Liam with Scott beside me. "Are you okay?"
Despite the bit of tension that remained between us before he was bitten, Liam was still my beta and I did not want him to be hurt in any way. My hands grabbed his shoulders while my eyes ran over his body, worried I might find a cut on his body from Garrett.
"How hard did you hit him?" Scott asked him, voice laced with concern.
"I didn't," Liam spoke through gritted teeth. He panted heavily, struggling to deal with the intense pain he was in. He angled his arm to show the bone that was clearly broken from the harsh fall. "He hit me."
"Ow," Stiles quietly mumbled. His hand fell on my shoulder as he purposely looked away from the prominent broken bone in Liam's arm.
My heart sunk at the thought of Liam being in so much pain. He may have annoyed me at the beginning of the year, but he was a part of this pack now. I was part of the reason he had the burden of being a teen wolf and injured because Garrett was hunting him down. I slid my hand underneath his helmet, setting my palm on his cheek, startling him from my cool touch until he realized I was concentrating on taking away some of his pain. I was afraid to do it out in the open and have someone see the black veins.
"I heard the bone snap from across the field," I whispered to the group. My face scrunched up in a grimace from the wave of pain crashing through my body.
Scott looked around the field before he shed his gloves. He grabbed onto the area where the bone was broken in his arm. "Close your eyes."
As Liam shut his eyes, my hand was yanked away from his cheek, slightly banging against the inside of the helmet in the process. Stiles' fingers were locked around my arm, silently staring at me, like he knew I had every intention of helping with Liam's pain when the bone was snapped back in place. A cry of pain came from Liam from the bone moved back in place with a swift twist of Scott's hands.
Another loud, pained scream filled the air from nearby. Our heads turned in the direction they came from, spotting Brett flat on his back, yelling. The force of the other two seemed to have caused the most damage to be placed on him.
"Alright, Brett," a paramedic addressed him, sliding an arm underneath his back. "We're gonna pick you up now."
With the help from the referee, they pulled Brett up from the ground to place all of his weight against their shoulders, leaving him to barely balance on his left leg. His right leg dragged across the grass, like dead weight. The sound of metal against metal caught my attention through the mix of concerned voices and yells from Brett. The noise reminded me of the reason I ran out on the field. I craned my head around my shoulder until I spotted Garrett, currently standing in the place he had landed a few minutes ago. He was completely unharmed, yet he had a smirk on his face underneath his helmet, like he was proud of what he did. Garrett met my gaze, not intimidated in the slightest when I heavily glared at him, eyes filled with fire.
"Are you cut? Did Garrett cut you?" Scott's voice broke me out of staredown, bringing my attention back on our beta.
"No, no," Liam answered, shaking his head. He glanced between the two of us, reassuring us that he was okay aside from his arm. "I'm okay."
"Then he missed," Isaac stated.
Liam frowned, "What do you mean?"
"It's you, Liam," I nervously swallowed.
Scott nodded, peering down at him. "You're the one he's after--"
"Lahey!" Coach's voice cut through the air.
"Yes, Coach?" Isaac and I asked in unison, sighing. The field was beginning to disperse as the teams wandered off to different areas, discussing what just happened. Near the bleachers, Brett was seen being helped to the school building, no longer allowed to play in the rest of the game.
He stomped over to our group, eyes darting to Liam, double checking he was okay. Coach waved his finger at me. "What did I say about you being on the field?"
I sighed, "Sorry, Coach." I half waved to my friends, knowing I had to retreat back to the bench with Kira and Aiden. I gave all of them a look, mentally telling them that we needed to keep an eye on each other with the game still going on.
"Off the field, Lahey!" Coach yelled as he followed behind me.
"I'm going!" I glanced over my shoulder to shout back at him. My eyes caught on Garrett's instead, a frown creeping on my lips when the same proud look was on his face. I looked back around at the sidelines, befuddled by the look on his face.
Why would Garrett look so pleased when he didn't actually hit Liam? I focused on my advanced smell, instantly catching the scent of blood nearby. Liam wasn't bleeding, though. I slowly sat back down on the bench between Aiden and Kira, blocking out their questions as I tried to figure out what we were missing here.
"Something's not right," I announced after a minute of thinking. I turned to Aiden. "Garrett seemed so confident that he hit Liam?" I glanced back at him on the field. After a few seconds, my eyes widened in realization. "What if Garrett didn't miss?"
Aiden frowned, brows furrowing together. "But he did."
I wildly shook my head, hands copying the movement. "No, I'm not talking about Liam. Brett was hit, too, and in a lot of pain." I bit down on the inside of my cheeks and jumped to my feet. "This whole time we thought Garrett was going after one of us, but he could have been after Brett this whole time. That's why he looked so pleased with himself! I've got to go see if Brett is still at the school!"
Aiden climbed to his feet. "Chloe, I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Aiden, if Garrett is stuck on the field with the rest of the team, then I'm perfectly safe." I half waved to where the killer was standing on the field. "He probably stabbed him with a dagger laced with wolfsbane, thinking it will slowly kill him if nobody helps him. Just- Just keep an eye on Garrett, okay?"
Without another word, I ran for the school without looking back at the paused game. I pushed myself to run as fast as I could. If Garrett had stabbed Brett instead, then he had a higher chance of dying if nobody got to him fast enough. Deaton would surely help us in a moment like this.
I slammed the doors of the school open, shooting a quick message to Deaton about we would need his help at the school with a possible wolfsbane situation. I ran down the hallway, skidding to a sudden stop when I saw the paramedic who had helped Brett to the school, laying flat on the ground, halfway out in the hallway. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A faint burned, red line was seen around his neck.
I creeped closer to the boy's locker room door, eyeing the unconscious paramedic. I crouched down beside their head, fingers checking for a pulse. If Garrett was still on the field being watched, then what the hell happened in here? My eyes trailed over the rest of the man's body until I spotted Brett on the floor of the locker room, head turned away from the door.
Garrett had a partner.
Cautiously, I stepped over the paramedic's body and into the locker room. Suddenly, something was looped around my neck and drawn back, speedily cutting my airways off. A wire pressed against the skin of my throat. My hands flew up to wrap around the wire while my face turned red from the lack of air in my lungs. Violet, another freshman and a girl I had seen hanging around Garrett often, stood behind me, gripping onto the wire tightly.
The wire began to burn against my hands, smoke sizzling out from them and the areas where the wire touched my neck. I gasped for a breath, feeling myself begin to grow dizzy. My eyes darted around the room for anything I could use. Luckily, I spotted a familiar baseball bat nearby. I stretched my arm out as far as I could, choking and silently crying from the burning against my hand and neck.
My vision turned blurry. Violet was too focused on the wire choking me, and exceptionally determined to decapitate me, much like she must have done to Demarco. My fingers wrapped around the handle of the bat and I swung it to the side with as much strength as I could muster. The wire around my neck slightly loosened as Violet stumbled to the side with the breath knocked out of her.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want to kill me," I managed to choke out. I yanked the wire off of my head and tossed it to the other side of the locker room. My throat burned from the wire, along with my hands, but I ignored all of it while I brought the bat up, ready to slam it against her head.
"I didn't come unprepared," Violet stated, grabbing a small dagger from the inside of her boot. The tip glistened with a purple liquid that I recognized as wolfsbane. "That's right. It's wolfsbane and I'll stab you just like he stabbed Brett on the field--" She lunged at me.
I jumped out of the way before the blade could slice my arm open. Without a moment of hesitation, Violet jumped at me again, managing to rip my jeans open with the tip of the blade, cutting a long gash in my thigh. I screamed out in pain, stumbling backwards. I swung the back against her ribcage, surely breaking a few bones.
The locker room filled with our grunts of pain. The wolfsbane seeped into my bloodstream within seconds. The bat collided into Violet's body a few more times, landing several great blows. She barely ducked in time when I swung at her head, attempting to knock her out. The wolfsbane was weakening me with every second that passed. Soon, I wouldn't be able to stand on my own.
The sound of a door slamming shut from out in the hallway caught both of our attention. With Violet slightly distracted, the bat flew through the air, colliding right into her chest, forcing her to drop to the ground, coughing from the blow. The bat slipped from my fingers as I fell to the ground as well, too weak to hold myself up anymore.
My vision blurred as the room spun around me. My face pressed against the cool floor of the locker room, one hand wrapped around the base of the bat in case Garrett was the one to run into the locker room next. All I hoped for was that Scott, Aiden, or Isaac ran into the locker room instead.
"Bitch," Violet muttered, slowly clambering to her feet. She dashed across the room, scooping up the wire and hiding behind a row of lockers to remain hidden from the person in the hallway.
Hesitantly, Scott sneaked into the locker room, noticing Brett on the floor first until he heard me mumble his name in warning. His head snapped in my direction, eyes filled with concern at how weak I sounded. "Chloe--"
Violet leaped away from where she was hidden, looping the wire around his neck while he was distracted, choking him. His hands flew up to wrap around the wire, attempting to prevent it from cutting against his neck, like Violet was trying to do. My body grew weaker from the wolfsbane in my bloodstream and I struggled to stay awake. Blood soaked through my jeans from the cut.
"He said we shouldn't try, but now, I've got you," Violet sneered into his ear. She pulled harder on the wire, smoke sizzling off of it and around Scott's hands. "I've got two Alphas."
Eyes glowing, Scott kept one hand held onto the wire, easily pulling it away from his neck, and slowly turned around to face Violet, lowly growling. Violet grew panicky at the sight in front of her, startled by his strength. She struggled to hang onto the wire. Scott broke the wire and wrapped his hand around her throat. Her boots barely touched the ground as she stretched her legs out, kicking underneath her, seconds before Scott slammed her head against the wall, just enough to knock her unconscious.
Her body dropped to the floor by his feet. Scott pulled the wire from around his neck. Suddenly, Stiles and Isaac slid up to the locker room door, his attention falling down on the paramedic in the doorway.
Stiles jumped over the body on the ground, freaked out. "Chloe?!" He dive bombed to the floor, knees slamming against the ground by where I laid. "What happened?"
I released my hold on the bat, groaning in pain as he gently pulled me into his lap, cradling my head, gently. Their voices mixed together while my head rolled around on my shoulders. Isaac's lips moved wildly, trying to gain my attention, face full of concern. He shed his jersey to press it against my bleeding thigh. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, weakened by the wolfsbane moving throughout my veins.
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AHHH this chapter! I've been looking forward to publishing this chapter ever since I've been working on it. I knew I wanted Chloe to go to the locker room first instead of Scott.
Also, this was over 4,000 words. it was nearly 5,000!
I loved this chapter. I hope you guys did, too. I really wanted to upload it tonight.
Question: What did you think of this whole chapter? What do you think about what happened to Chloe?
So, yeah!