─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

liam gently placed moonee onto the top of the house's staircase, away from the loud music and laughter. the party was in full swing, but liam was more concerned about moonee's state of mind. if the ghost riders did come, she wouldn't be able to protect herself. liam didn't mind having to protect her, but he knew if she found out after she'd be annoyed at herself.

"here, drink this." liam said softly, offering the water bottle he had picked up from downstairs. "you've had quite a few drinks tonight."

moonee giggled and leaned into him, disregarding the water bottle. "i'm fine, liam. i'm just having a good time," she mumbled, her eyes slightly unfocused and her words slurring as she spoke.

liam couldn't help but smile at her drunken antics. "i know you are, moonee, but how about we slow down a bit, okay? as franchie said, we're on a mission. we have to keep gwen safe. and if the ghost riders don't come, i want us to have a good time together, and i want you to remember it in the morning."

"i think i like you." moonee nodded. "i mean you're so nice to me. like oddly nice to me. which is weird because i was never nice to you."

liam placed his hands on her cheeks, feeling a surge of affection for her. "i mean, i'd hope you'd like me, we've been dating for months. and i like you too, moonee. more than you know," he whispered, hoping she would remember his words when she sobered up.

"you're so gushy and sentinental when you're drunk." moonee shook her head at him.

"i'm not drunk, you're drunk." liam reminded her. "and you're the one who talks too much when you're drunk. i mean you're saying things you would never say to me."

"drunk words are..." she started.

he rolled his eyes. "yeah, yeah. sober thoughts. just would be nice for your sober thoughts to be sober words."

"you ask of too much." moonee tutted.

"shut up and drink the water." liam smiled and shook his head, opening the plastic bottle.

"no." moonee playfully glared at him. "and don't tell me to shut up!"

he held the water bottle to her mouth and she shut her lips tightly. "moon." he groaned.

"are y-you gonna force me to drink it?" moonee challenged.

"i might."

without liam's knowledge, moonee began to twirl her fingers. she lifted the water out of the bottle and morphed them into little water balls.

"moonee!"

one by one, moonee flicked them onto his face. once she was done, his face and the neckline of his shirt were dripping with water. she began to cackle at her boyfriend's unamused expression. the girl quickly stood to her feet and began to run to the bathroom. once liam had wiped his face, he ran straight after her, her laugh echoing through the walls.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

eventually, the boy caught her. after another laughing fit, moonee had obliged to drink the remaining water bottle and a cup of black coffee. as punishment, she was forced to listen to her boyfriend ramble on about his desire to be lacrosse captain. as he spoke, gwen ran down the stairs of in a panic, hayden following closely behind. she nearly drove straight into the boy, but he caught onto her shoulders to stabilise her.

"what's wrong?" liam asked.

"i saw him!" she exclaimed, turning her head around to the staircase. moonee, now intrigued by what all the commotion was about, looked up. there she saw the ghost rider, skulking in a strong gust of wind as dead leaves blew around him. it slowly made its way down the stairs while gwen grew more terrified.

"he's over there." she told them all, desperately. mason, franchie and corey all glanced up to the staircase, only to see nothing there. "do you see him?" gwen questioned.

moonee blinked her eyes multiple times, not sure if what she was seeing was real. "am i still drunk?" she asked herself.

liam glanced over to her in confusion, not yet making the connection that she too could see the ghost rider. gwen quickly got herself out of liam's hold and began to sprint.

"help me, please!"

"wait, slow down!" hayden ran after her.

"wait!" corey yelled out, but he was ignored. he quickly pushed himself onto the wall and blended into the surroundings. his eyesight became more advanced and he was able to see the ghost rider slowly walking through the crowd of oblivious teens, looking for gwen.

"liam!" corey called out, "it's a ghost rider."

"where?" liam asked, confused as he couldn't see the creature.

"heading to the kitchen. right here." he then grabbed the ghost rider by the arm, making them both visible. corey was seized and shoved into the wall, grabbing everyone's attention. they could now see the strange man standing in the middle of the room.

"everybody get the hell out!" moonee yelled out. after moments of silence, the students obliged and ran out of her house.

as they dispersed out of the room, mason grabbed the jar of mountain ash. the ghost rider had spotted the two girls in the kitchen and was making his way towards them, but mason acted quickly and lined the area between the kitchen and the living room with the powder. the ghost rider raised his hand and touched the barrier, realising he couldn't go through it.

"good job, mase." franchie breathed out in relief.

"we can't let him get through." liam stated, as if that wasn't obvious. then, he grabbed a lamp and slammed it into the ghost rider's head, causing it to break into a million pieces but the creature wasn't even fazed by it.

"that was my mom's favourite." moonee pouted.

its attention was now shifted towards liam, who tried to lunge at him, but the ghost rider simply held the werewolf and threw him into the wall. he diverted his attention back to the other six and lashed the barrier with his whip again.

"guys, he's breaking through."

corey decided to step up and make a move. he went after the tall man but soon found himself in the same place liam once was. the two teamed up and tried to pull the ghost rider down, but were quickly overpowered.

before the ghost rider had the chance to lash his whip a third and final time, moonee threw out her arm. at first, she didn't want to display her abilities in front of gwen, but they were quickly left with no choice. she manipulated the air with the movement of her fingers and managed to draw the handle of the whip from the ghost rider's hand into her own. the whip was heavy and once it reached her palm, she stumbled back at the impact.

now visibly angry, the ghost rider redirected its target to the grey-eyed girl and began to slam his fists against the barrier.

"okay. we're leaving, right now." mason ordered. he grabbed gwen's hand and made a run out of the house.

"moon, go!"

with the heavy whip in her hand, the girl made her way out of the door with the other two.

"stop!" gwen screamed. there was another ghost rider standing in front of the trio.

"come back inside?" mason questioned, not being able to see the ghost rider but choosing to take gwen's word.

"yes." gwen nodded, frantically.
"now!"

the two quickly entered the house and moonee was about to turn to follow them. but the ghost rider had noticed what was in her hand. it grabbed her by the neckline of her shirt and threw her through the doorframe, the whip dropping from her grasp. the girl groaned from the ground, her best friend quickly pulling her up.

now, the first ghost rider had his whip back and used it to successfully break the barrier and clutch onto gwen's leg. it slowly started to pull her towards him as she screamed out.

"help!"

moonee and mason instantly held onto her, pulling her back like a game of tug of war.

"freeze!" deputy jordan parrish stepped through the open door. "let her go!"

"shoot it, parrish!" liam suggested, still recovering from the multiple blows he had taken.

"get down, now!" the deputy ordered. hayden and mason quickly ducked down and the man began to shoot the ghost rider in the back. but like the lamp, the bullets had little effect on it.

fortunately, parrish managed to get the creature's attention and he managed to release gwen. hayden quickly pulled the girl into her arms, mason leaning over them for protection.

"on your knees!" parrish ordered.

unlikely that a supernatural creature would abide by the law, the ghost rider continued to walk towards the deputy. liam quickly pulled himself up and moved over to franchie and gently took his girlfriend in his arm.

"you okay?" he asked the girl, making her nod. "i think my drunkness has been replaced with pain." moonee grumbled, trying to crack her back.

liam then glanced at one of his best friends. "are you okay?" he asked her.

"yeah." franchie whispered back. "you took a few hits."

he groaned. "i'm okay." he assured her. once he looked back at the two men, they were staring at each other for a long moment. suddenly, a strong gust of wind and multiple dead leaves blew past and in the blink of an eye, the ghost rider was gone.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

with a massive headache, moonee had been clearing out the solo cups people had left in her room, completely disregarding the 'do not enter sign'. liam was downstairs filling scott in about that night's event, probably getting an earful. franchie was waiting for liam, since he was her ride home. she was in moonee's room, pacing back and forth in a panic.

"i know it stupid and i know gwen's life is in danger, i get that." franchie explained. she had been filling moonee in on the whole hayden and gwen situation. "which is why i feel horrible for even feeling this way."

"fran, it's okay." moonee told her. "you're jealous, everyone gets jealous."

"you don't-" franchie spoke quickly, not thinking about her words. she glanced over to moonee, who now had a frown on her face. "moon, i'm so sorry."

the mccall girl bit the inside of her cheek, not wanting to get aggravated at the already upset girl. "whatever. it's fine."

"i didn't mean-"

"fran, just drop it." moonee cut her off. "and just talk to hayden about the whole gwen situation, she probably doesn't know how you feel about it."

before franchie could answer, there was a knock on the door, and then another knock.

"come in, liam!" moonee greeted him.

the boy opened the door, a melancholy expression on his face. "fran, is it okay if i just speak to moon?" franchie nodded, she sent moonee an apologetic look and made her way out of the door.

"what's up?" moonee asked, throwing herself onto the freshly made bed.

the boy was holding back tears. "i was in charge and now i've messed everything up. scott, he's so disappointed and he probably won't leave me in charge of any thing every again and he definitely doesn't think i'm fit to be an alpha!" moonee didn't speak, deciding to allow the boy to finish his rant. "i mean, the ghost rider was here and everyone saw! that means we're all marked and now instead of having to keep just gwen safe, we have to keep everyone safe, including ourselves!"

"if it makes you feel any better, i could see the ghost rider before corey made him visible to you guys." moonee told him. 

"no! that does not make me feel better, it makes me feel even worse." liam exclaimed. "if they manage to get to gwen, that means you're directly next."

"liam, i'm not going to let the ghost riders take me." moonee reassured him. "and even if they did, and that's a heavy if because there's a thirty two percent change of it happening, i'm sure you'd be able to remember me because you like me so much, 'more than i'll ever know'." she quoted him with a cheeky smile.

liam placed his head in his hands in pure frustration. as much as he loved her humour, this wasn't the right time for it. "you know what, moon? forget it." moonee gave him a look of confusion. he stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut in anger.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
would anyone read a obx bet trope fic if i published it? the love interests are jj/pope!!