"One of these days, I'm going to kill you McCall." Clarissa muttered angrily as she sprinted through the school. She was attempting to find her brother amidst the chaos, but the hallways were slowly filling with human beings. "Shit."
She knew that their plan would be ruined like it always was. That horrible feeling had returned in her stomach the moment that she had stepped foot in the hallway, and she didn't need to be a banshee to tell that someone was going to die.
It felt like she was running through a cemetery. Every person she had passed had blurred together until it was all a giant mass of unidentifiable faces.
She no longer knew where anyone was because Scott had ushered them into the madness and prepared to fight for their lives.
Clarissa froze in her place as she heard the unmistakable clicking noises that had begun to haunt her dreams late at night. It had started the night that Theo brought them all back and it had yet to go away.
"Where are you?" Clarissa whispered as her eyes darted around the hallway in paranoia. She had somehow ended up near the library in her panic endured sprint and it was surprisingly empty in the chaos. "Come on you ugly son of a bitch. I'm ready to stick that arrow of yours into your side this time."
Clarissa couldn't believe that they hadn't thought of the possibility that the Dread Doctors would be there when the beast was released. It was their creation and she should have known that they would want to witness the destruction that their science experiment caused.
"There you are." Clarissa cooed mockingly as the three beings rounded the corner of the hallway, their mask covered faces staring her down. "How are you boys doing today?"
The auburn-haired teenager was surprised that she was able to stand and stare at them without turning and running away. It was frightening to see them again when no one had seen them since the night she had died.
"Are you guys?" Clarissa moved her hand up to wave around her face, mocking the masks that had haunted her dreams constantly. "I can't really tell because of you know."
"Clarissa Bane." The robotic voice that came from the being grated on the girl's nerves like nails on a chalkboard. "Success but failure."
"Yeah yeah." Clarissa waved her hand once again, smirking as her claws slowly began to form where her fingernails were. "We've been over this before. I'm weak because I care but I'm still a monster. You guys really need to think of better insults."
The doctor with the crossbow took a step forward, slightly in front of his counterparts, and Clarissa couldn't help but take a step backwards from the beings. Her hand involuntary moved to her side where the arrow had pierced her skin, the side that her brother tried to hold her intestines inside of her body as he cried tears of sorrow.
"He brought you back and in doing so, made you less of a failed experiment."
"You really know how to woo a girl." Clarissa declared harshly, her fingers twitching as she gathered the rage in her body. The energy crackled underneath the edge of her skin, warming her body as it gathered in her clawed hands. "Now let's just cut to the chase here. Who's the success?"
"He is the success." The being with the crossbow spoke in his robotic voice, the sound beginning to bring fear into Clarissa's eyes as the being stepped towards her once again. "He is the one that will bring him back."
Clarissa felt confusion cloud her brain as the words registered slowly. Someone was going to come back through the beast and the auburn-haired teenager didn't know if she truly wanted to know who it was.
The sound of an object flying towards her snapped her out of her thoughts, her hand flinging up and catching the arrow before it could imbed itself inside of her eye socket.
Her breath came out in short puffs as she looked at the arrowhead that was covered in a dried metallic substance. Clarissa's stomach turned at the realization that it was her blood that she was staring at. The blood from the night that she had died was staring her right in the eyes along with the thing that had killed her.
"That wasn't very polite." Clarissa snarled angrily, her hand slowly turning the arrow in her hand so that the reminder of her death was facing the thing that killed her. "I was trying to have a civilized conversation, but I see that cannot happen tonight."
Her lips pulled into a horrifying smile, her canines glinting in the light as she dropped the arrow from her hand. It floated in the air over her outstretched palm, hovering threateningly as it pointed towards the man that shot it.
She could feel the pressure of trying to keep the object there, knowing that the dread doctor was attempting to pull it back to him. Though it did not fly towards him even though he struggled to get it to reel back in on the wire.
"I don't think so." Clarissa declared lowly, jerking her hand forwards harshly. She poured all of her rage and energy into the motion, watching with satisfaction as the arrow flew towards the being in front. A squelching noise met her ears as the arrow made impact through the thick jacket that the being was wearing. "Payback is a bitch."
Clarissa turned on her heels in the opposite direction towards the library as a loud roar reverberated throughout the school. She was planning to go find the beast and attempt to tear into the thing.
Her adrenaline was pumping in her veins and she felt like she was on top of the world. She had just landed a blow on the Dread Doctors and she couldn't feel happier. Though one thing would give her a little bit more satisfaction which is why she paused suddenly, turning to look at the three beings that were still stood in their place.
"I almost forgot something."
Her hand jerked towards the three beings, her focus entirely on the arrow that had her blood caked on it. As she raised her hand up and moved it towards her, she was satisfied when the arrow came to rest in her hand once again.
"I'll be taking this." Clarissa declared smugly as she yanked the crossbow away from the being with her strength. It landed in her hands neatly and the auburn-haired girl didn't bat an eyelash at the grime that now coated the object. "You'll also be going that way."
Clarissa flung her hands out again, her eyes narrowed as she poured her energy into her hands once more and focused. It was cracking in the air around her as more energy went into the force.
The force knocked the Dread Doctors back forcefully and a sadistic grin crossed Clarissa's face as she watched them crash through the wall. The sound of aggressive clicking and metallic groans didn't faze her as she turned away once more with a little more pep in her step.
"That was for my brother Corey and for Theo." Clarissa called back to the beings mockingly as she strolled away from them, not caring in the slightest that she just caused a giant hole in the wall of her high school. "You should have listened to him when he said to stay the hell away from me."
Clarissa ignored the clicking for the first time since she could recall hearing it. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders when she watched the arrow pierce through their covering. If she could do damage to them, she could kill them, and she really wanted to kill them.
If she wouldn't have tuned out the clicking noises though, she would have heard three robotic voices repeating the word success over and over again.
━━━━
Clarissa had the crossbow clenched tightly between her hands as she jogged down the hallway towards the library. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the Dread Doctors as possible even though she felt like going to the library was a bad idea.
It had gotten eerily quiet in the hallway and she could hear the sound of her panicked heartbeat in her ears the closer she got to the large room. It sounded like a hummingbird had taken up residence on her shoulder with how loud the sound had become.
She slowed down as she saw the entrance to the library, the double doors making her pause as she eyed them warily. It was only when she paused that she heard the sound of four thrumming heartbeats, three of them sounding horrifyingly familiar to her.
Clarissa panicked slightly as she smelled Corey and Brett's scents along with the one that she associated with Nolan. The fourth scent though was someone that she didn't know.
She stalked towards the sounds quickly, ignoring the blood that was rushing to her head as she tried to figure out where Stiles, Lori, Josh, and Evelyn had gone. They were split across the campus and Clarissa could feel the anxiety grow inside of her as she realized that she couldn't find them in that moment.
Clarissa was so lost in her anxiety ridden thoughts that a yelp left her mouth when she was dragged into the alcove that was underneath the cement stairs. The auburn-haired girl turned on the person quickly, preparing to swing when she finally caught sight of who had grabbed her.
"Oh, thank you God." She breathed out as she wrapped her arm around Corey's trembling body. She took a headcount and was relieved to see Brett, Nolan, and the boy that Nolan had pointed out to her all hidden in the back of the hideout. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you two? I'm upset that Del broke his arm but I'm glad he's not here right now because of it."
"I lost Mason." Corey whispered in horror as he tightened his arms around Clarissa. The auburn-haired girl sighed heavily as she moved her hand up to run her fingers through his hair. "I couldn't find you and then I lost him. Brett and Nolan found me by the busses before we grabbed Gabe and hid out here."
"Well I'm glad that you guys are alright." Clarissa declared lowly, her eyes looking at Brett earnestly. She mouthed her thanks to the boy before tightening her grip on Corey. "But we need to get inside of the library because there's more places to hide out."
"There's something out there." Nolan stuttered out, shaking his head quickly in denial to her plan. He was leaned up against the farthest corner of the wall, Gabe's arm tightly wrapped around his noticeably shaking shoulders. "People were hurt."
Clarissa sighed lowly as she looked at the two boys who knew nothing of the supernatural world.
Nolan was visibly shaken by the events that were unfolding in the night and Clarissa knew that he would not come out of the night mentally unscarred. She met his terrified eyes and wanted to cry at the terror that she saw in them. She didn't want another person's innocence to be poisoned by the supernatural world like her family was. Especially not the sweet boy that was always smiling.
Her eyes swiveled to the taller of the two and narrowed slightly at the look that he was giving her. She had never spoken a word to this teenage boy that was tightly wrapped around her younger friend. This was the first time that she had been within feet of him and she couldn't figure out why his eyes were looking at her with suspicion. He was observing her in a way that made Clarissa's skin crawl and she made a mental note to do a little background research on the boy.
"Where are the others?" Clarissa questioned Brett lowly, her eyes narrowing slightly towards Gabe before turning to look into the darkened hallway. "Stiles was with you on the field, Lori and Josh were in the bleachers, and Evie was talking with her friend from the news station."
Clarissa knew she had to be careful with what she said around the two humans that had no idea about the supernatural. She just had to figure out a place to stick them where they wouldn't see anything if she had to protect them.
"Stiles and Lori went with Liam and Hayden." Brett whispered to the older girl as he moved to stand next to her, peering into the silent hallway. "He got hurt in the stampede. He was trying to help people."
Clarissa sighed as she instantly figured out what the boy meant. She knew that Liam would be one of the first people to charge at the beast. He was too much like Scott and she hoped he snapped out of that before he ended up in a body bag.
"Do you know how to use that thing?" Gabe questioned lowly as he nodded his head at the grime coated weapon that was resting against Clarissa's thigh.
"My friend used to compete in archery competitions. She taught me a few things." Clarissa's heart hurt at the mention of her deceased friend, but she was glad that Allison had taken her and Lydia into the woods to practice shooting years ago. Lydia had never bothered to learn but Clarissa loved learning from Allison. "Why? Do you know how to?"
"My dad taught me a few things before he died." The teenage boy shrugged his shoulders slightly, voice tightening up at the mention of his father. "We used to use crossbows when we went hunting."
"What exactly did you hunt?" Clarissa attempted to make her voice sound nonchalant, but she knew that she was caught when Gabe noticed the way her eyes narrowed at him as she spoke. "It's not the most popular activity in the area."
"Different things here and there." A smirk creeped across the boy's face as he and Nolan moved to stand with the trio at the entrance of the alcove. "Wolves on occasion."
"There hasn't been wolves in California for years." Brett declared slowly, looking at the boy with dawning apprehension and clarity.
"I think we both know that's not entirely true." Gabe declared with a knowing look, his eyes darting away from the horrified trio to a very confused Nolan. "But we need to get out of here."
"He's right." Corey murmured softly as he looked up at Clarissa with a terrified expression on his face. "We're out in the open and we'll be spotted by whatever's out there instantly."
Clarissa knew that the boy wasn't worried for himself. He could turn himself invisible if he wanted to escape easily but he wouldn't leave them behind. He also wouldn't expose himself to their extra guests after the conversation that they just had with Gabe.
Clarissa couldn't tell exactly what all the teenage boy knew or thought he knew. The hunting comment had set her nerves on edge, but the wolf comment slammed the nerves in overdrive. She was suspicious of him and didn't know how she felt about him hanging all over Nolan the way he was. Though he had to have known something about her before because he had looked at her and Brett with suspicion before the conversation.
She was almost eighty-five percent sure that the boy came from a family of hunters that would string them up and cut them in half. The other fifteen percent was stocked into the idea that Scott and Stiles were talking too loudly one day, and their names came up in the supernatural conversation. She really didn't know how the whole town didn't know at that point with how loud those two believed their whispers were.
"We're going to the library and then you four are going to hide in there while I go find Stiles." Clarissa declared firmly, her heart hammering in her chest at the idea of leaving Corey and Brett in the presence of a potential hunter. Even the idea of leaving Nolan in his presence left a sour taste in her mouth. "Now turn around and march."
"Aye aye captain." Brett saluted the girl with a bright grin on his face which brought the barest hint of a smile to Clarissa's lips. She could always trust Brett to use his humor to make detrimental situations seem less horrific. "Lead the way."
Clarissa nodded firmly as she surveyed the group once more, looking for something that would not be found among the teenagers that stood behind her.
There was no resilience that she could see in their eyes. No courage that was coming to the surface and it terrified her to admit that the same look was probably in her own eyes. They seemed to be resigned to their fate and the fear in their eyes was a punch to the face.
Gabe was the only person who looked somewhat brave and the suspicion was still firmly in his eyes whenever he looked at her and Brett. The teenager raised an eyebrow towards her, and a small smirk grew on his face as he seemed to find what he was looking for in her eyes.
She turned on her heels and pulled Corey with her towards the direction of the library, her arm firmly placed around his shoulder. Their footsteps were too loud. Everything they did was way too loud in the silent hallway.
The auburn-haired chimera sped up, pulling her brother along with her as the low growl of the beast broke the eerie silence once again. She could hear the others' footsteps as they tried to keep up with the siblings.
A breath escaped her lips as she shoved Corey through the double doors of the library, ushering in the other three teenagers with a grim look on her face. She waited until they were all inside of the doors before entering herself. Though she wished she hadn't as soon as the doors closed behind her, the sound loud and ominous.
Her eyes darted around the large room, taking account of the teenagers that were hiding in various spots in the room. She saw people that she had shared classes with for years. She saw people that Brett and her brother played lacrosse with. Every single person in the library had a face that Clarissa could pinpoint easily in her life. She might not have talked to them, but she couldn't let them die because of a supernatural beast.
"Okay." Clarissa looked around the library slowly, her anxiety skyrocketing as she realized that her plan was not the best one. These people were sitting ducks. "Everyone needs to hide now. Whatever that thing is, it won't hesitate to rip us to shreds."
"Why do I get the feeling that you won't be hiding with us?" Corey questioned warily as he turned his face away from her. "You're going to get hurt."
"Hey." Clarissa turned towards him, the palms of her hands gripping his cheeks and forcing his eyes to meet hers. She rested her forehead against his and she wondered when he had gained the extra inches that made him slightly taller than her. She had never noticed it before, and it terrified her to recall that she couldn't remember the change. "You're going to go with Brett and Nolan. I'm going to be fine, but I need you to hide upstairs so that I can do what I have to do without worrying about you."
He nodded slowly, the action bringing a prickle of tears in the back of her eyes. He was terrified and she knew that once he learned everything, once he figured out what she had, he would be broken in a way that Clarissa could not begin to fix.
"You better watch them." Clarissa turned to look at Brett with pleading eyes and nodded towards Corey and Nolan. She knew that she should include Gabe in that statement, but the boy still set her nerves on edge which was a feeling that the auburn-haired girl despised. "Now go hide and be safe."
"I hope you know how to use that thing." Gabe's voice grated against her nerves and she turned and looked at him with a fire in her eyes that wasn't there before. "Don't get yourself killed playing hero."
"I'm going to make sure that I aim for the head." Clarissa hissed lowly, her eyes narrowing with an unspoken threat as she looked at the teenage boy that had stayed while the others scurried away to hide. "I would do anything to protect my family, so you better keep that in mind. I've grown very fond of Nolan in the past few weeks and I won't let anything hurt him."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Clarissa didn't acknowledge him after that, even as he moved away from her towards the stairs. Her eyes were locked on the door, waiting for the moment that her plan would get shot to hell like all of their others.
She didn't know where her friends were. She didn't know if they were injured or even dead at that point. It terrified her to admit that she cared to herself. She wanted to run out and find them all, but she couldn't leave everyone in that room defenseless against a being that they couldn't even begin to comprehend.
Since she had come back, she felt like something was wrong with her. It was a type of emptiness that went away day after day, the darkness slowly getting sniffed out by the memories of happier times.
Clarissa thought of her brothers and their smiling faces. She thought of Stiles and Lydia with their shy dance around each other. She thought of Josh and the emotions that he had for Corey. Of Lori and Evelyn, her sisters that had worked their way into her beating heard. Of Brett, who would more than likely be her brother in law one day. She thought of Nolan who was too innocent and shy to be killed at sixteen by a creature that shouldn't even exist. She thought of Theo and how she knew what he was doing was wrong, but she couldn't seem to abandon him as her feelings grew deeper.
The darkness that surrounded her heart was slowly dimming to a grey shadow. It was no longer a twisted pattern of thorns and nothingness. She was slowly fixing herself day by day, but something would eventually ruin her progress.
Clarissa steeled herself in that moment as she thought of Mason Hewitt.
A part of her felt like she knew it all along but wanted to deny it because of the way it would break her brother if the teenager didn't come out of this alive. He was never in sight when the beast was around. He smelled like the chemicals that had been in the Dread Doctors workspace, the smell bringing back the horrible memories of when she was turned.
"Please don't make me kill you Mason." Clarissa thought warily as she positioned herself in front of the doorway, crossbow firmly clenched between her hands.
She ignored the looks that she was getting from the humans in the room. She ignored the eyes that were staring at her from the second floor of the library. If she looked up there, she would see Corey's face and she didn't know if she could do what she needed to do if she looked into his sad eyes. She had a feeling that he also knew who the beast was but was in denial because of his feelings.
Clarissa scowled at the doorway as she heard the harsh howl of the beast from the other side of the school. She had a feeling that it would come here, and she needed to be prepared to protect the people in the library when it did without exposing herself.
"Please Mason, don't make me kill you. Don't make me do that to him."
unedited
word count:4250
A/N
so clary knows that mason is the beast or at least has the general idea that he is stuck in her mind. she's a smart cookie so of course she would figure it out first. i have yet to decide if gabe came from a family of hunters or if he just overheard things but he's very suspicious of clary and brett. so she's going to be keeping a really close eye on him from now on because she cares about sweet innocent nolan. i would also like to give a warning for the next chapter because it is sad and it is bloody because she's in the library where scott fought the beast. she's also going to fight because three people she cares about are in that library. if blood bothers you then please be aware that there are some very bloody scenes in the next chapter. it's a bit longer and i would keep some tissues on hand because i love a good heart wrenching moment. clarissa is on a high from beating the dread doctors and of course will get knocked down a few pegs.
thanks for reading loves xoxo,
christina