"We're betting our lives on these?" Malia asked in disbelief, grabbing the cables Parrish brought in the back of Lydia's car.

"I think we're beating Hayden's life on them." Lydia corrected her.

"Well, poor Hayden." Eli said, getting a look from Lydia. "Sorry."

"Well, i'm glad I brought my gun." Parrish shook his head, reaching for the bag in the backseat.

"I stole my moms taser." Eli pulled it from his pocket with a half grin. "She doesn't even know."

"You wanna tase men in metal suits and mask?" Malia cleared her throat as she looked at him. "You're suppose to be the smart one."

"Incase a Chimera comes after us." Eli corrected her with a knowing look. "I still am the smart one, thank you."

They went into the school, placing the cables in different parts of the school before Eli had made his way back to the locker room. Looking around, his eyes fell on Hayden and Liam, sat together on one of the benches. He watched them a second, not looking away until Hayden met his eye. Scott found his gaze. "You're not staying with Malia?"

"She thinks I should be in here." Eli said, his voice catching Liam's attention as he turned to him. "I brought a taser."

"He brought a taser." Lydia nodded with a small hum, a point to her finger. "To tase chimeras, apparently."

Eli hurried to look at Hayden. "Not you. Of course, not you."

Liam stood up and walked his way with a weird look. "You're part of the plan?"

"Of course i'm part of the plan." Eli shook his head.

"You're human." Liam shook his head.

Eli rose his eyebrows. "Thank you, Liam, I didn't know."

"You know what I mean." the Dunbar boy sighed with a knowing look. "I don't know what's gonna happen."

"That's why I have my taser." Eli held it up with a half grin. "You fool."

Liam gave a grin, looking back at Hayden. "Can I tell you something?"

"What? About your cheesy enemies to lovers plot line?" Eli nodded toward Hayden, who was analyzing herself in the mirror, a smirk Liams way. "Maybe go try and make sure she doesn't freak out, with the whole, chimera thing."

"You really think it's cheesy?" Liam scratched the back of his neck.

"Go." Eli waved him off, walking over and sitting next to Lydia. She looked his way. "I don't wanna leave Malia out there alone."

"I'm assuming she'll be okay with the whole coyote thing." Lydia gave a sarcastic nod. "Just a guess though."

"Yeah, but they really scared her last time." Eli looked at Lydia with a knowing look. "She won't let me stay with her though."

"She doesn't want you to get hurt." the strawberry blonde shook her head. "Non of us do. That's why you're here and not out there."

Eli sighed, his shoulders fail. "Something just feels wrong tonight."

"I'm the banshee here." Lydia rose an eyebrow his way.

Eli shook his head. "Not with anyone else."

She gave an odd look when he met her eye, sighing. "With me."

Eli leaned his back against Lydia's leg, pulling his laces undone before tying them back, doing it over and over again. Time was moving too slow, slower then any of them could imagine and not being able to use their phones was making if even worse. With zero contact with Malia, Eli stood up every few minutes, walking as close to the door as he could to see if he could hear her from the other side, if she needed him to.

The rustling of chains caught his attention, looking over and seeing Liam holding them up. "What are we gonna do with these?"

"Brought them just in case." Scott turned his way.

"In case of what?" Liam asked defensively.

"In case we had a chance to catch one of them." Lydia came to Scott's rescue, looking over in his direction

"If we can't make the school a fortress, then maybe we can make it a trap." Scott approached Liam as he began to explain. Eli leaned off Lydia, getting off the ground to sit next to her, watching it play out.

"They're coming for her." Liam nodded in Hayden's direction. "Does that mean she's the bait?"

Scott looked at Hayden, who was looking as him in possible fear or betrayal.

"No one's the bait. But we can't be bodyguards to everyone every night." Scott reassured him as Hayden stood up, looking to Liam again.

"Then why aren't we talking to Stiles' dad? Or Eli's mom?" Liam went on in questioning his way. "Why aren't we doing something better then hiding in a school?"

"Because we still don't know anything about them or what they want, okay?" Scott nodded his head, calm but not at the same time. "They're winning and we don't even know what the game is."

"What if they come in here and those things don't work?" Liam yelled at him, walking forward with a point of his finger. "What is you have a asthma attack again?"

"Liam, calm down." Eli got to his feet as he stood by Scott's side.

"This plan sucks." Liam looked up him with a serious look.

"You have a better one? Last time I checked, fighting these things didn't work out so well." Eli spoke to him in disbelief and annoyance. "We're doing what we can."

"We?" Liam rose his eyebrows.

"People have died and Hayden is gonna be the next one!" Eli rose his voice at him with a defensive look across his face. "You're so quick to protect her but won't do the one thing that we actually can?"

"You're just being an asshole. What the hell has gotten into you?" Liam looked in disbelief at him, the pair arguing back at forth not doing any good. "Every time anyone says anything you don't wanna hear, you freak out on them lately."

"Maybe because no one is listening to me!" Eli yelled at him with a crazy look. "I have been telling every single one of you that something isn't right with me and no one's listening!"

"We are listening! We try to help when you with you're anxiety!" Liam shouted as him again.

"It has nothing to do with anxiety! Me somehow showing up at a club, that I would never even go too because I hate even small parties, doesn't make any sense!" Eli took all his anger out on Liam, all the build up words he had been wanting to yell. "And not remembering a single thing? Drinking? Does that sound like me? I freaked the hell out when you gave me one beer!"

"We told you, alcohol makes you black out!" Liam shook his head. "If you got out more you'd know that."

Eli gave him a look of disbelief. "Exactly. I don't get out. But I just happen to stumble into a club when I was waiting for Malia? Something happened to me!"

"Why haven't you said anything then?" Liam threw his hands around.

"Because no one's listening to anything I say! No one cares!" Eli glared, his fist tight in his palms and red in the face. He looked over at Hayden. "All anyone cares about is what happens to her."

Where ever that cruel, mean side came from? No one liked it, he didn't even like it.

"Eli." Scott made him look over. "You're scared. I know, just talk to m-"

"I didn't notice." Eli glared, bumping his shoulder hard as he walked past him. He hated this. He hated acting like this. Why was he? Why was he being a complete asshole?

"Guys." Hayden's voice rung when Eli made it to the sink, leaning over it. "I think I might need a little help right now."

Lydia rubbed Eli's back as she came to his side. "Hey, i'm sorry."

"I forgot my pills." Hayden going on made the two look over in her direction. "I have a bottle in my locker. I can go get them, but-"

"I'll get them." Scott cut her off with a nod of his head. He looked at Eli. "And when I get back, we're gonna figure out what's wrong with you. Okay?"

Eli looked away, feeling guilt in his stomach as he turned back to the sink.

"I didn't mean to push you to the side." Liam spoke to Eli when Lydia went to look for Scott, leaving the three in the locker room. Eli rolled his eyes, keeping his eyes away from him. "You're my best friend. When you said something was wrong I just thought you meant that your anxiety was getting bad again, like you just needed to take your pills or do your breathing things."

Eli's hands tightening on the sink. "I don't know. It might be. I don't know."

"What are you feeling?" Liam grabbed Eli's shoulder. "I want to help."

Eli exhaled, turning his way. "Not normal. Like, things feel so fast, so intense now."

"Intense?" Liam shook his head at him in confusion.

"Like I need to sneeze but can't." Eli loosened his shoulders as he looked at Liam. "But it's not a sneeze. I don't know. Like I need to just... freak out or something."

Liam gave a grin. "That's anger. I know a lot about that by now."

"Then what do I do?" Eli looked in confusion.

"You yell." Liam nodded at him.

The sound of the twisting lock made the two look toward the door, Hayden doing the same. She looked over at the two boys. "They're here. Aren't they?"

"Everyone's still out there." Eli looked to Liam in worry.

The blonde boy approached the door slowly. "Scott? Lydia?"

The door pushed open, one of the dread doctors on the other side. Eli threw an arm across Hayden, pulling her behind him quickly. Liam backed up their way, the dread doctor getting closer and closer as even more came in. The trio pushed against the lockers as the dread doctor knocked the cable off the locker, crushing it. "We're on a frequency you can't possibly imagine."

"Go, go, go now!" Liam yelled, pushing the two as they ran behind the lockers, going to the door and sprinting down the hallways. As they rounded the corner, they came face to face with even more Dread Doctors.

"They're everywhere." Hayden panicked, looking around in fear. "What do we do?"

Eli looked toward the doors of the school. "Liam."

"They're too many, they'll get us by the time we get there." Liam shook his head.

Eli inhaled, turning his way. "I know."

Liam look in confusion, the doctors caving in on them. Eli nodded. "Trust me."

Liam shook his head. Eli gave a knowing look again. "Trust me."

With no other option, Liam did. The trio ran toward the doors, managing to get past the one Dread Doctor in the way. Liam and Hayden hurried out, turning back when they heard the doors shut. Liam looked in a panic at the other side, realizing Eli was the one to shut them with himself still inside the school. "Eli! Eli! No! No! Open the doors!"

He couldn't hear him, only seeing his lips move to mouth trust me one final time. Liam and Hayden both hit the doors, watching the Foxx boy turn toward the Dread Doctors all coming his way.

Eli inhaled, his nose twitched. Anger. The sneeze. It was there. Building up in not just his chest, but his entire body, his head tilting slightly with a shake. It wasn't the time to feel this, it wasn't the time to have this bad feeling. Right now he was about to loose his life for Hayden and Liam, he didn't want to go with this feeling, die with the anger that made him want to yell. Yelling. Liam told him to yell, it would help. One final yell and he'd be okay with dying for them after that, one yell and he could die being himself. With a inhaled, he finally did.

Only when Eli did, it wasn't a yell that escaped his lips. No. It was something so much worse, so much deeper, so much more complicated. The loud roar that left his lips not only took him off guard, but Hayden and Liam outside. The sound echoed through the halls, getting the attention of the ones that Mason had managed to knock out of the hallucination.

Eli stared at the Dread Doctors, the same things that had taken him and whipped his memory not too long ago, with his golden eyes, sharp claws, and bared fangs.

•

kylie speaks

THIS TOOK ME TWO
WHOLE DAYS TO PERFECT
AND IM SO HAPPY WITH IT!
TOTALLY WORTH THE
WAIT.