─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

it had been forty-seven hours since anyone last saw moonee. after she and mason had been knocked cold by xan and theo, the girl was taken to the dread doctors. there was a police search out for her though it wasn't very effective as sheriff stilinski was in a fatal condition.

scott and melissa both had trouble coping because they had no idea where she was. when scott wasn't trying to solve mysteries, he was searching for her.

liam was a total mess as guilt from the night at the high school had consumed him. he would do anything to hug moonee and apologise to her a thousand times. so, he and mason would take time out of their days to look for her too.

moonee has been injected with many different serums and had gone through a few procedures. during those forty-seven hours she was taken, she was also unconscious. meaning she didn't have any time to mourn her two friends or witness that her older brother had survived the attacks of his beta and old childhood friend.

when moonee finally woke up, her brain was adjusted, and her mind wasn't stable. she shot up from the metal table, wheezing for air. she had large bags beneath her eyes, her skin was more faded, and her hair was unkempt. the most significant modification was how much dimmer her eyes were.

she glimpsed down at her arm to see multiple scars and blotches. cringing in repulsion, the dark moonee hauled herself off the desk and stood to her feet. surprisingly, she had enough stability to stand securely.

"hello?" her voice croaked out, "is anyone here?"

a figure trekked out of the shadows, it was xan fisher. moonee let out a sigh of reassurance as she rushed over to the girl. once she was near enough, she threw herself into the girl's arms.

"i'm so glad you're here." dark moonee shut her eyes and beamed, "where's theo? has everything gone to plan?"

xan couldn't help but grin. the last time she saw moonee, the girl wanted nothing to do with her- their relationship had ended and moonee hated her guts. but this new dark moonee was on her side and seemed to still love her. her memory and thoughts had been altered: scott was no longer a brother to her, but now he was the enemy - a target.

"everything is great, scott's dead, the sheriff is hospitalised and theo is continuing his part in the plan." xan filled her in.

"great." dark moonee nodded, "and the two girls?"

"they should be up by now." xan explained.

"so what do we need to do?" dark moonee questioned.

"wait for theo's command." xan told her. "but we need to get out of here as your treatment is over and the dread doctors are finished with you."

"what do you mean by that?" dark moonee's face fell as she followed her out of the dread doctor's operating theatre.

"after theo and liam versus scott, you were knocked unconscious." xan told her.

"what happened?"

"liam dunbar - the beta. he hit you, hard." xan lied, avoiding eye contact.

"an eye for an eye, right?" dark moonee inquired.

"exactly. when you next see him, what's stopping you from returning the favour?" xan smirked, knowing moonee would listen to anything she said.

"you're right." dark moonee nodded.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

hayden, franchie and theo walked through the darkened railway depot in search of the newest chimera, noah patrick. they walked in uneasy silence, the two girls had been holding hands and trailing behind their leader. the two girls had been concealed from everyone else since their death.

"he was here." hayden announced.

"how do you know?" franchie spoke out, her voice laced with confusion.

"i-i saw it."

theo didn't seem surprised at her exclamation, and hayden noticed that. "what else can you tell me?"

"why don't you tell me how i know that?" hayden questioned, her eyebrow raised.

"noah's part-berserker. you're part-jaguar." theo stated, "you'll be drawn to each other."

"is that why i'm here with you?" hayden gave him a look.

theo returned the glance, his being amused yet slightly threatening. "i saved your life." he reminded her, "both of you."

"why am i here too?" franchie asked.

"well, you're part cheetah-"

"that doesn't have any link." franchie frowned.

"if you let me finish." theo groaned, "there's no link, i invited you because i knew hayden would come if her little girlfriend tagged along."

"i'm not her girlfriend!" "she's not my girlfriend!"

"whatever." theo rolled his eyes, clearly being able to see their connected hands but not caring about their labels.

hayden concentrated on her berserker sense once again and shuddered, "i think he's dying. that means they're going to find him."

theo sighed, "probably already have."

the trio continued to stroll down the prolonged and filthy path in silence. theo noticed a small puddle of modified mercury on the ground and sighed in disappointment. they all crouched down and the two girls observed as theo reached over to the liquid.

"you're gonna touch that? we don't know what part of him it came from." franchie grimaced.

theo glared at her, silently telling her to be quiet before placing his index finger into the silver puddle. "we could have used him." theo shook his head.

"for what?"

theo didn't answer her and instead shook his head. although the two girls had no idea what theo was talking about most of the time, they owed him a lot. unfortunately, they hadn't realised theo wasn't on the right side.

the brunette boy glanced up, slowly rising to his feet. in front of the three was a large symbol carved into the corrugated metal wall by what looked like werewolf claws. the sight of it made theo pause in disgust and the girls could tell by the look on his face that he was not thrilled by what he was seeing.

"what is that?" hayden inquired.

"a symbol." theo stared at it, intently. "the symbol of an alpha and his pack."

"whose pack?" franchie interrogated.

"scott's."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"any available units, beacon hills telecom is requesting an eleven-five at the communication towers off cypress lame."

"ten-four dispatch." valarie romero spoke back, "i'm in the area."

"copy, unit five. a technician was sent over an hour ago, and telecom hasn't heard back."

"co-opt. i'm ten-seventy six." valarie concluded before placing her radio onto the dashboard.

"how do you remember all those numbers and meanings?" franchie asked in disbelief.

valarie chortled at her interest and shrugged, "took me a while. years of schooling."

"you're gonna drag me and fran to work every night?" hayden groaned from the backseat.

valarie gave the girl a stern look through the car mirror, "if i have to."

hayden sighed and rolled her eyes, "you can't keep an eye on us twenty-four-seven."

"you guys disappeared for three days! i'm keeping an eye on you for the rest of your natural-born life." valarie exclaimed. "and fran, you're stuck with us due to melissa's wishes."

franchie shrugged, "that's fine by me."

"i told you, we were with liam." hayden lied. she felt guilty for lying to her sister, but she continued to ensure valerie's safety by shielding her from the supernatural world.

"which doesn't improve your argument!" valarie pointed out.

"liam has a girlfriend!" franchie shouted out, hoping it would help.

"even worse!" valarie cringed.

"it's moonee." hayden concluded, attempting to sugarcoat it.

"so you two have been with a boy while his girlfriend's still missing?" valarie questioned.

"we're his friends."

"we were comforting him."

"he's going through tough times."

"hayden, maybe you think you can do your own thing now." valarie sighed, "i don't care... you still need me. we look out for each other, remember?"

franchie squirmed in uncomfortableness. she was happy that hayden had her sister to look out for her and protect her, but was just upset that she didn't have hers. her parents were still out of town so she would stay with hayden and valarie in the day, and sleep at the mccall house at night.

"for all i know, you could have been dead." valarie muttered.

hayden and franchie shared a glance, both their expressions were melancholy.

they pulled up to the telecom station, where valarie immediately put the car into park before giving the two sophomores a warning look. "stay here."

"is everything okay?" franchie leaned forward as the older girl stepped out of the car.

"i'm not sure. but stay here."

"okay."

the two watched as valarie pulled out a flashlight and began inspecting a nearby car.

"moonee is liam's girlfriend?" hayden broke the silence.

franchie smiled to herself, "i had to say something! and it's going to happen anyways."

"that's true." hayden nodded. although she was staring and talking to franchie, she had been using her chimera enhanced hearing to listen to her sister.

"would you rather her think you like liam?" franchie asked her.

hayden laughed, shaking her head, "no, no, no."

"exactly."

the romero girl's face slowly fell and she looked at franchie seriously. she reached over, placing one of her hands on franchie's lap and the other in her hand.

"how are you feeling? about the chimera thing... and moonee." hayden asked her.

"i don't think i've had much time to process it. i was kinda launched straight into it." franchie shrugged.

"i'm sorry."

"it's not your fault." franchie comforted her. "and with moo? it just doesn't make sense. she wasn't in the library with her mom, mason or scott but she wasn't with us."

"do you think if theo took her, he'd tell us?" hayden hummed.

"i hope so. i just hope she's safe." franchie sighed.

hayden desperately wanted to display affection to the girl: soothe her, hold her or even kiss her. but she knew it wasn't the right time or place. so she gave franchie's hand a squeeze and stepped out the car.

"come on."

"i think valarie's only instruction was 'stay in the car'." franchie reminded her, yet followed her regardless. "are we going after her?"

before hayden could even reply, she spotted a reflection in the window and reflexively swung her fist at them. the person yelped and ducked to avoid getting struck.

"hey liam..." franchie waved, sheepishly.

"liam!"

"fran?!" liam's face fell as he got to his feet, holding his hands out in defence.

instantly, franchie grabbed the boy's hands and drew him into a tight embrace. liam sighed out in relief, glad that she was alive and wasn't as cold to him as hayden was. the girl dug her head into the boy's shoulder as he tightened his grip. they were both just delighted to finally see each other.

"what are you doing here?"

"i sent you like a hundred texts." liam admitted.

hayden pressed her lips together and franchie could scent how uneasy and awkward she was feeling around the boy. "i saw."

liam was taken aback but the blank reply he had received from hayden. he hesitated for a moment to process before he began to speak.

"y-you saw?" he gasped out, "that's it?"

hayden glanced down at the ground, unable to hold eye contact with her best friend as liam's voice made the two upset.

"how could you not tell me that you're alive?" liam whispered.

"maybe because you left us for dead?" hayden shot back.

liam made a confused face, "you-you were dead... wait, is moonee here with you guys?"

hayden witnessed franchie wince at the mention of the elementum's name and started to lose her patience. she decided to end the conversation, quickly.

"liam, you need to go."

⎯ ❃ neens speaks!

HEY GUYS IM BACK YAYYYY
dark moonee era is going to absolutely slay because moon will be going CRAZYYYYY!!