ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ 𓏲˖ 𑁍 ࣪ ִ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗
࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ  ✩◿𝓒𝓛◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE—
that's my way of calling you a dumbass.

"I can smell your anxiety." Liam cringed as he looked at Eli.

"Sorry, I put extra cologne now to try and mask it." Eli looked at him in embarrassment. "I'm worried about Brett."

Liam pulled the arrow from the tee, pointing in the exact route it seemed to fire. "Here."

They walked forward as Liam grasped something from the ground. "I think he set a trap."

"He is a smart one when he wants to be." Eli admitted honestly.

"He's fighting back." Scott looked over at him.

"And now we know he's alive." Lori nodded hopefully, relieved he'd been okay. "But he's still hurt. We need to find him, he needs to know we're here."

Malia stopped her. "You want the hunter to know we're here, too?"

"Maybe I can do my thing on him, relax him enough so we can steal Brett back." Eli inhaled with a hopeful nod. "Maybe it would work."

"It wouldn't work." Malia disagreed. "Nope."

"Fine, nope." he sulked as she rubbed the back of his head.

"He's new." Liam took Loris side. "We can take him."

"What if Brett howls back? We'll lead the hunter right to him." Malia gave him a judgement look.

"No, we can find him first." Scott said it confidently as he looked to Eli. "You've gotten good at transforming, right? If it comes down to it, you can go that route and then do your thing to weaken the hunter. There's no human that can track sound faster then we can. We've got the advantage, we've done this before. We know what we're doing, guys!"

Eli hated to admit it, but Theo would have been a great help in this situation. He didn't know anyone that tracked as good as he had. Considering Theo did practically watch his every move for a few months.

"How come I can't catch his scent?" Malia shifted her nose up, nudging Eli as he shook his head in agreement.

"He's masking it." Lori told her in return.

"Can someone tell him not to?" she huffed in annoyance.

"I can glow and you can make a signal through a shadow." Eli looked at his girlfriend with raised eyebrows. "How's that sound?"

"Yeah, you're already glowing." she grasped his face to look at the green glow of his eyes. "I thought you had that in control?"

"Usually, but it's been an emotional day." Eli blinked a lot of times and mentally focused hard enough to contain it.

"He went this way!" Liam took off quickly.

"I think he went that way!" Eli trusted his best friend as he ran after him.

"Guess he went that way." Malia ran behind him in return. They ran until Liam stopped, making Eli run into the back of him and flip to the ground. Malia pulled him to hie feet quickly. "The trailed gone."

"Uh, maybe he just stopped bleeding." Scott looked for a more hopefully scenario.

"Yeah, now it's my blood." Eli winced as he pulled a stick out of his palm.

"I think we should split up." Liam looked around.

"Spoken like every dead person to exist." the Foxx boy rolled his eyes at his words.

"Lori, Eli, and I go this way, you guys go that way." Liam explained, mainly focused on Scott.

"Or maybe we go in five directions?" Lori spoke, Eli's eyes widened as if she'd been speaking anything but english. Or swedish.

"We should stick together." Malia confirmed.

"Thank you!" Eli agreed with his girlfriend.

"We have the advantage, it's five against one." Liam was lost as to why they all thought it had been such a terrible idea.

"Not if we split up." she pointed out, quoting him.

"I've been doing this the past three months without your help." Liam rose his eyebrows to her in a knowing manor. "I think I can make a decision."

"He's trying to be Alpha." Eli whispered and coveted it with a cough.

"Eli, shut it!" Liam scolded him.

"If you're deciding to do something stupid and die, then go ahead." Malia shrugged, unbothered toward Liam. "Eli and I won't be following in your footsteps."

"It's one hunter, one amateur who doesn't know what they're doing." Liam hadn't been wanting to let it go, arguing as much as he could until he got his way.

"Eli?" Malia looked over as he shook his head quickly. "Scott?"

He was more focused on removing the leaves to reveal shoe prints in the mud. They all leaned closer. "The hunter. He's covering his tracks."

"Maybe he's not as amateur as we were thinking." Eli winced.

"There's another." Scott revealed the other one.

"Two of them?" Malia crossed her arms.

"Maybe more." Scott disagreed.

"How many hunters have you seen out here?" Lori looked around weary like.

Scott hesitated. "A lot."

"Still wanna split up?" Malia scoffed at Liam.

"We can deal with it." he nodded, Eli rolled his eyes. "We just need to find Brett's trail."

"No we don't." Loris eyes casted a few feet away to the rocks stacked up. "Rock balancing. Satomi taught us. It's him, and I know where he's going."

"Lead the way!" Eli announced as he waved her on fast.

After a few more miles, Lori lead them through tunnels where she found her brothers blood. "He's been poisoned. What if he only has a few hours to live?"

"If we howl, we can find him." Liam looked deeper into the tunnels.

"That's too risky." Malia disagreed.

"Yeah, but he could be dying." Eli looked at her.

"He's still moving." Malia pulled him with her as they looked at the trail down the tunnel.

"We just need time to think." Scott shook his head but was clearly falling overwhelmed.

"I need him to know that i'm here, that i'm coming for him." Lori argued with Scott for the sake of her brother.

"Yeah, Lori's right. He has to know we're here." Liam looked over at Scott in desperation.

Malia saw it first. "Liam, wait."

The Dunbar boy roared loudly down the tunnel. Eli exhaled as he waited till Liam stopped, patting his shoulder. "I think he knows now."

"Yeah, and so does the rest of Beacon Hills." Malia mocked as she took Eli's hand and pulled him from Liams side.

"Come on." Lori hurried.

"Lori, no!" Scott saw before anyone else did, too late as he hurried to guard her as a spear came from the wall and pierced his abdomen.

"Scott." Eli filled up with fear as he hurried to stand infront of him.

"Pull it out." Scott moaned in pain. "Eli, pull it out."

"Malia?" Eli looked back at her hopefully. She stepped forward and yanked as Liam and Lori began to help, Scott yelling in pain. Eli walked to his side and grasped his neck, shutting his eyes before he opened them again. The glowing green locked with Scott, relaxing him as the hand around his neck transferred his pain toward Eli. He winced and whimpered in pain as it traveled to his body, but did it long enough for Malia to pull it out and Scott to collapse. Eli did as well as he tried to catch his breath.

"They knew we were coming." Scott winced as the pain began to soak in again.

"Don't talk. Just heal and let us figure this out." Malia shook her head.

"Wise words, lover." Eli announced as he finally began to rid the pain he'd taken, exhaling deeply.

"I'm sorry but I can't wait around. We have to go." Lori announced.

"Lori, we still have to numbers." Liam tried to comfort her. "Four to two. We're faster and stronger."

"They're smarter." Scott looked up.

"I don't care who's smarter or faster or whatever. My brothers gonna die!" Lori was panicking, Eli knew this was far from a situation for him to use his power on her in though. No matter if he wanted to relax, if it had been Stiles, he'd want to feel it all.

"Somethings not right." Scott panted. "The arrow. The tripwire. The poison. These aren't amateurs."

"At least one of them isn't." Eli sat next to him and took only half his pain so they could both bare it.

"They've never fought us before." Liam was trying to stay confident.

"And you've never fought hunters, Liam." Scott stared up at him. "We need to stick together."

"I need to go!" Lori announced.

"Lori." Eli stood up so he could at least stand taller then her. "Unless you want to die and really have no chance of saving Brett, you're gonna stay here. I'll make sure of it myself if you want to test the theory."

It was beyond like him to say that, but between his pain and worry, it was natural to say things you weren't use to saying.

"I'll go with her." Liam cut in.

"Liam, you don't know who they are or what they're capable of." Scott managed to get out through his pain.

"Look, I know who we are." Liam kneeled down next to him. "We never give up. Especially when it's somebody innocent and someone alone. When it's one of our friends."

"Scott." Eli kneeled on his other side. "What do you want us to do?"

He hadn't known how to make his own decisions, that's why he wasn't the alpha. That's why he was okay with being just the beta. Or, the mermaid as he'd mock.

"Okay, go." Scott nodded. "Go, i'll catch up."

"You'll stay?" Eli looked at Malia hopefully as Liam and Lori ran off. "I think I need to be there. Brett is my-"

"Yes, go. Be carful and do not die." she cupped his face and kissed him on the lips. "I'll kill you if you do."

Eli nodded as he kissed her on the forehead before leaning over and doing the same to Scott before he took off after Lori and Liam.

"Which way? There's gotta be something." Liams voice echoed as Eli caught up with them. "Did he leave anything for you to find? Like-like a signal or-or more rocks?"

"I don't see anything." Loris eyes darted around the place. "I don't hear anything."

"We'll find something. He's gonna be okay." Liam exhaled as he looked to his best friend. "Eli? What do you say?"

"I say I agree with you." the Foxx boy breathed out with a nod. "He's gonna be okay."

"How do you know?" Loris eyes watered as she looked to the boys.

"Because he's strong." Liam took a step closer to her. "He's really strong. He's knocked me down on the Lacrosse friend more then once. Now when I see him coming, I do everything I can to get the hell out of the way."

"Partly because he knows I can absolutely take Brett if I needed to." Eli flexed his arms, nothing moved. "Check out those bad boys. I know you're impressed, Lori."

She laughed through her tears as she rubbed them away. "Brett actually started playing lacrosse for me."

"For you?" Liam questioned.

"I didn't have any friends at my old school." she sniffled. "Devenford Prep needed lacrosse players and Brett practiced all summer. He got a scholarship and told them that they had to take me if they wanted him."

Eli frowned as he wrapped his arm around her. Liam reached out and held her arm. "Hey, we're gonna find him."

That's when all three of them got a scent of something deep in the tunnel. "Wait, do you smell that? It's-"

"Sour." Eli cut him off.

"It smells like something's rotting." Lori confirmed what the pair were thinking.

"I think it's poison." Liam turned fast.

"That's how we'll find him." Lori smiled through her pain.

"Yeah, but we better hurry." Eli stated the obvious as he ran toward the direction first, the pair quick after as they followed him.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Lori asked.

"We've gotten lost in here before." Liam told her. "Just follow the scent."

"I hate that scent." Lori shook her head.

"Wait." Liam grabbed both their wrist to make them stop. "I hear something."

Eli focused on just his hearing, trying to tune out the dripping sound. "Heartbeat."

"Brett's." Lori said confidently, the trio running toward that sound now rather then the scent they originally were after.

"Eli!" Liam grabbed his arm to stop him from turning.

"Brett!" Lori dropped down by her brother as Eli sighed in relief and hunched over, glad Liam had stopped him.

"You found the rocks?" Brett asked through his terrible state.

"Yeah, I found the rocks." she smiled sadly as she held her brother.

"Boys?" Brett looked at the two.

"You're lucky I don't take a picture and leak you in this shitty state." Eli joked as he kneeled with him. "You hanging in there?"

"Hanging in." Brett nodded weakly, grasping into his hand. "I'm glad you're here."

"We're gonna get you out of here." Liam kneeled with the three.

"You're a dumbass." Brett told the boy as he pulled him to his feet, Eli got his other side while Lori made sure neither of the boys would drop him.

"Is that you're way of thanking me?" Liam questioned.

"No, that's my way of calling you a dumbass." Brett corrected. "But thanks."

They all heard it, a faint noise. Eli glanced down the tunnel just as it flashed in the biggest white light, backing up in fear as the others had. "Liam?"

"They're coming!" Lori yelled, Eli yelped as the ear piercing nose echoed.

"Go, i'll hold them off!" Liam yelled.

"Go." Eli encouraged the pair as he took Liams side, letting his ears go as his eyes glew green, sharing a look with Liam before they both ran to the smoke. "It's that way."

Liam hurried to grab the monitor, breaking it so their ears could get a rest. Eli looked around, ready to hurry to defend them before he saw no one was here. "Liam?"

"There's no one here." he confirmed, meeting his eye. "Lori!"

The two hurried down the tunnels after the set of siblings, passing more monitors as the ear piercing noise faded. Eli followed the smell of Brett's blood and his racing heart, Liam yelling for them as they finally made it to the manhole the two had climbed up.

"Liam, go!" Eli yelled as Liam climbed up, the sound of a car hitting filling him with worry. "Brett!"

"No!" Liam hurried as Eli went right after, met with Lori sobbing over her brothers body.

"I couldn't take away his pain." Lori sobbed before her life slowly left her body too.

"No!" Eli cried as he fell next to the two, putting his hands on either of them as his shaky hands shut their eyes. Liam roared loudly before the truck shined in their faces, showing all of Beacon Hills Liams werewolf state.

Eli's watery eyes filled in panic as he grabbed hold of Liams hand just as he roared at the strangers at the green light, yanking him down on the ground and tried to shield his face.

•

kylie speaks

welcome back, babies! i've
missed you guys! sorry i had
to take a break, i got overwhelmed but i'm finally
in a good schedule to post again!

*gifs aren't working so just imagine ron here!*