The front door of the McCall House opened as the pack sauntered out to the front lawn, in mid-goodbyes and plans for what time to arrive the hospital. Stiles stressed the importance of not being seen for the plan to properly work, in case the Benefactor happened to realize something suspicious was occurring under their nose.
My right foot barely crossed through the threshold to follow behind Aiden until a hand latched around my shoulder and spun me around. Scott stood behind me with a weak smile and bobbed his head to the side while his eyes trained on the pack outside. I worriedly followed him to the kitchen, concerned with his odd behavior as he flicked the faucet on. We only turned the faucets on in a conversation when we didn't want other werewolves to overhear our words— like the three werewolves out in the front lawn currently.
The simple action encouraged my heart to race, paranoid he purposely held back information from the rest of the pack in light of the plan. We both knew the only reason I hadn't called off this plan yet was because Kira reassured us that, with her mother's help, Scott would be perfectly fine. If anything proved that there would be a fatal ending for Scott, I'd immediately pull the plug.
"Scott?" I peered up at his taller figure, intrigued to know the reasoning for his current actions, yet plagued with fear he left out some key information of this plan from the pack.
He heaved a sigh. "Sorry," he apologized and released my arm. His warm brown eyes shifted toward the opened door as our friends' voice filled our ears with our advanced hearing. "I just needed to talk to you alone."
My head automatically cocked to the side at his words, confused. "Okay, what's going on?"
Scott moved his gaze away from the door to fully focus on me in front of him. "I need a favor," he breathed. "Alpha to Alpha."
I remained silent.
"I know you think this plan is an awful idea—"
"Because it is," I interrupted, followed by an eye-roll.
"— but I need you to put your true feelings to the side tonight. I need you to act like everything is under control and will be okay," Scott finished, ignoring my comment.
I narrowed my eyes at his face. "Why?"
"The pack is already freaked out, Chloe," he explained with a head nod toward the door. "Liam, Aiden, and Isaac can feel the anxiety from everyone, including you. They look up to you and, while I'm doing my part of the plan, they are going to be relying on you to be levelheaded and give them the confidence they need to go through the plan."
My own eyes shifted to the door with my ears perfectly tuned to the pack whispering about their uncertainty over the plan. They were terrified the plan would fail and how Scott could potentially be killed if we messed up.
"If they know you're uneasy, they're going to feed off of your emotions and..." Scott trailed off.
There was no need for him to finish that sentence. We knew the consequences of what would happen if the plan went wrong.
"They need you to be strong, Chloe," he concluded. "I know we can do this. I just need your help."
Everything he said made sense. The pack would look to me tonight, especially with Scott out of commission. Things fell into my hand. If I had any fear or anxiety held within my body tonight, the werewolves of the pack would sense it, and our worst fear for this plan would come true.
A minute or two passed before I reluctantly locked eyes with Scott, sharply exhaled through my nose. We shared eye contact for a brief seconds before I nodded once in agreement.
The increasingly growing anxiety within the four walls of Scott's bedroom overwhelmed my supernatural senses until a pounding sensation in my skull occurred from the intensity. All the fear and paranoia I internally felt was mentally shoved into a tiny box and tossed to the back of my mind. My ability to shut off my emotions after the incident the other night was used to shut off the parts of me that weren't allowed to see the light of day today.
No one in the room felt comfortable with the first step of the plan, not even Mrs. Yukimura, who was in charge of showing her daughter how to properly do it. She didn't have to utter a word for me to guess her thoughts on the plan. Her pheromones spoke for her. She had her own level of anxiety, along with doubt because she more than likely believed we were all stupid to even consider this plan.
I understood why she potentially thought that way. We were stupid.
My focus switched between the two boys in the room; Scott, who laid in the middle of his bed, ridden with his own slight anxiety, yet smothering it with false confidence, and Liam, who hadn't stopped pacing since we entered the bedroom.
"Are you guys totally sure about this?" Liam broke through the uncomfortable silence. He momentarily stopped pacing to briefly look at Scott across the room.
My hand stretched out to the far right until my fingers latched around Liam's bicep before he began to pace once more. I pulled him close to my side until our shoulders bumped. His right leg speedily bounced to relieve the stress he felt inside. My hand remained wrapped around his bicep as I held him close by my side to comfort him in whatever way I could. I secretly felt better with Liam by my side, too.
Kira's eyes widened as she glanced from Liam to Scott. "I think Liam's kind of nervous," she softly spoke with her gaze settled on Scott. "Maybe you should tell him it's going to be all right."
Scott cracked a weak smile. "It's going to be all right." He briefly peeked in my direction as if he needed to confirm I would remain strong.
"I don't know about you, but that didn't make me feel better," Isaac commented as he entered the room with his hands buried in his pockets. He stopped in the doorway and leaned against the wooden frame.
Scott rose a brow at his surprise appearance. "I thought you two were going to get ready with Stiles?" He directed the question at us.
I nonchalantly gestured to his body on the bed with a slight smile. "Someone has to be here to call 911," I pointed out, grateful I rid myself of negative emotions, otherwise he would have seen how I dreaded the upcoming moments I placed upon myself. "And we both agreed it would be more believable if we were there when they try to restart your heart."
Scott's eyes softened when he realized what I meant. Isaac and I would be in the vicinity when the doctors and nurses pronounced Scott dead. Along with Mrs. McCall, we planned to act devastated about his demise when the doctor broke the news to us. We thought the three of us would make his death more believable.
Liam looked over to Mrs. Yukimura. "So, you've done this before, right?"
"I've seen it done," she responded, coolly.
Liam side glanced at me, confused. "Is-Is that just as good?" He questioned.
"No," Mrs. Yukimura deadpanned with a stone cold expression.
Liam's face paled.
"Mom!" Kira exclaimed with a slight shake of her fists by her sides. "You're not inspiring confidence."
Mrs. Yukimura met her daughter's gaze. "Good," she stressed and peered down at Scott. "This is a terrible idea."
"Do you want us to do it without you?" Kira countered.
The mother and daughter held eye contact from across Scott's bed. The air grew tense. Everyone else in the room awkwardly switched their gaze at them. The panicked expression on Liam's face grew at the ongoing silence.
Mrs. Yukimura lowered her eyes and stretched her right arm out over Scott's chest by a foot. "Put your hand over his heart," she instructed.
Kira nodded at her mother's decision to help. She cautiously placed her right knee on the edge of the bed and used the position to hover her hand over Scott's chest.
Scott rapidly grabbed her wrist with both hands before her palm came into contact with his skin underneath the unbuttoned shirt. I jumped in shock by his quick actions, startled. Liam flinched beside me.
"Hold on," Scott breathed. He pushed himself up on his elbows and turned to Kira's mother. "What happens while I'm out? Am I gonna feel anything?"
"It might feel like you're dreaming," she responded, softly.
Scott furrowed his brows with confusion. "Good dreams or bad?"
Liam held his breath beside me.
"I suppose that depends on you."
A fear grew within Scott's eyes as he lowered himself back down on the bed, yet not before he locked eyes with me once more. I shot him a reassuring look, hoping to ease his nerves. There was a feeling in the back of my mind that believed his dreams wouldn't be peaceful liked he hoped.
Mrs. Yukimura nodded at her daughter to continue. Kira flexed her fingers and took a deep breath. My fingers pulled Liam closer to my side as I latched my other hand around his forearm. Flashes of lighting flew off Kira's hand when she returned it to Scott's chest. Lighting ran across her hand and over Scott's chest, rapidly.
Scott's eyes squeezed shut from the sensation he felt from the bolts of lightning. The lights in the bedroom flickered. The top of my left hand was covered my Liam's right hand when Scott arched his back, dramatically gasping for a breath.
I sucked in a deep breath, unable to tear my gaze away from him. The way he gasped for a breath sounded as if the air was pulled from his lungs. The lightning abruptly stopped and Scott collapsed back on the bed, eyes closed and completely still.
Like he was dead.
XXXX
This chapter isn't too long. It just didn't make sense to continue where I planned to pick it up from because the ending would be weird for the next chapter. This way, it will just flow smoothly when the scenes just blend in together.
The next chapter will be a lot of fun. I hope I'll have it up in a few days or so. I really want to start working on my Shadow series again as well and perhaps this secret Stranger Things story I have going on. Maybe, one day, I'll post the first chapter if anyone is ever interested.
Question: How do you think the next chapter will go?
So, yeah!