Marlow rushed into the hospital the next night. Her father had been shot at the station during a brawl between Parrish and Deputy Haigh. She was freaking out. Stiles had told her that their dad would be fine but that didn't make this situation any less terrifying.
She ran up to the front desk. "Hey, sorry. I'm here to see my dad." Marlow told the nurse.
"Who's your father?" the nurse asked politely.
"Sheriff Stilinski," Marlow told her.
The nurse checked her notes. "He's just down the hall in room 250."
"Thank you!" Marlow told her and rushed off towards the room.
She didn't even need super hearing to hear the fight that was going on between her dad and Stiles. Marlow waited in the doorway for the fight to be over. "How the hell else am I supposed to take care of you?" Stiles asked his dad.
"You're not supposed to take care of me! I'm the dad. You're the son. You get it? Dad. Son." Noah yelled. Marlow stayed quiet. "I take care of you," Noah added.
Stiles sat down in the armchair, biting his knuckles. "We're supposed to take care of each other," he said.
Noah sighed and looked up to see his daughter standing in the doorway. "Hey, we're going to be all right," he said to both of his kids.
"How do you know, Dad?" Stiles asked.
"I don't. But the morphine's kicking in. I'm not all that worried about anything right now." Noah said with a slight laugh. He closed his eyes and sighed, then fell asleep. Marlow took a heavy breath. Stiles was silent for a few seconds.
"But I am." he finally mumbled. And Marlow was too. She was young but even she knew the bills from Stiles' MRI and his stay at Eichen House were going to ruin them if they didn't pay soon.
Marlow was still in a funk the next day as she walked into school. Her dad had slept through the night and she and Stiles eventually passed out as well. She didn't want to think about school work, let alone more assassins. She just wasn't up for it that day.
But she also knew that the big bonfire would be that night. Everyone would be there, including alumni. She didn't have to go but there was a chance that Mason would make her so that he could meet cute guys.
And as if he could hear her thoughts, there he was standing with Liam. Marlow walked up to them. "Marls, tell your boyfriend that he's coming to the bonfire," Mason said.
"He's not my boyfriend." Marlow reminded Mason.
"She's not my girlfriend," Liam added instantly.
"Whatever. Just tell Liam that he's coming." Mason said again.
"I'm not coming either, Mase," she told him carefully. He stared at her, mouth wide open. Marlow put her hand under his chin and closed it. "Flies might come in."
He rolled his eyes. "You guys! This is our first party as high schoolers and you wanna ditch me?"
"Mason, my father was just shot at his workplace. My mind isn't on skimpy outfits and dancing right now," Marlow told her best friend.
Mason sighed. "I know your dad got hurt. But isn't that exactly why we should do this? To blow off some steam and let loose?"
Marlow narrowed her eyes. He was right. "Two hours," she said, holding up two fingers to solidify her stand on the matter.
Mason looked overjoyed. "That's all I need! Then you can gladly go home and take a nap or read a book or whatever," he assured her.
"You make it seem like my life is so boring!" she said.
"Because it sort of is!" Mason told her. Marlow smirked internally. If only she could tell him. "Liam, you coming or not?" Mason asked. But Liam's head was elsewhere and Marlow wondered if the dead pool was getting to him. She lightly nudged him back to reality. "Liam?" Mason asked again.
"Huh? Fine, yeah. I'll be there." Liam said.
Marlow narrowed her eyes at him. She was scared that he would snap soon. This was all new to him and she remembered quite well how overwhelming the first year of being a werecoyote was to her. She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"Liam, you're coming." Mason finally said. "And we're gonna find you a nice girl that you can embarrass yourself in front of," he went on, winking at Marlow. She rolled her eyes. "And find me a lacrosse player." "Because statistically speaking, someone on your team has gotta be on my team. All right? Liam?" Mason asked.
Liam was still miles away from the conversation and Marlow was getting worried. "Okay. I'll be there." he finally said and turned to walk away.
Marlow turned back to Mason. "What is up with him lately?" he asked.
Marlow sighed, throwing her hands up. "I wish I could tell you," she said. She looked after him and got worried that this would all be too much for him.
Marlow was on her way home from school when she encountered Liam sitting on the steps of the staircase she was walking down. He didn't notice her coming and he reeked of anxiety. Marlow stripped her backpack off her shoulders and sat down next to him.
"Hey." she greeted. She tried making herself sound a lot more carefree than she was, hoping it would calm Liam down. He fiddled around with his lacrosse stick, not answering her. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Liam," she said. He finally looked up at her.
"Oh, hey," he greeted.
Marlow laughed under her breath. "Hey," she said again. "How are you doing?"
He was still playing with the lacrosse stick. "I'm fine," he answered quickly.
Marlow shifted in her seat. "You don't seem fine," she told him. He didn't answer. "Is it the Berserkers?" she asked. More silence. Marlow didn't know how to help Liam if he wouldn't talk to her. "I know it's scary. Remember, you don't have to fight with us. No one would be mad at you if you sat this one out."
Liam looked up at her. "But there will be another time, right?" he asked. "And another after that?" he added. Marlow sighed. "This won't ever stop, will it?"
Marlow shrugged. "I don't know, Liam. I'm not psychic. I can't see the future. What I do know is that it gets easier with time and that these nightmares and hallucinations go away. But for that to happen you need to talk to someone. Like Scott." she told him.
"Thanks for the advice and all but could you just leave me alone?" he asked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad. I just want to help you." Marlow told him.
"Just go!" he yelled.
Marlow slightly flinched in her seat and got off the stairs. "Fine. Just, come talk to me when you're ready," she said. Marlow walked away from him. If Liam didn't want to talk then she had to respect that. She only hoped that he could jump over his shadow before it becomes his downfall.
Marlow paced up and down her room. She was unsure if going to the bonfire was the best decision after Liam's earlier outburst. But she promised Mason and she had never broken a promise made to him. Marlow dialed his number.
He took the call but before she could even utter out a greeting he already jumped in. "You're not skipping the bonfire!"
"Hello to you too, Mase!" she greeted sarcastically. "I'm not calling to cancel on you. I'm calling to find out what the plan for tonight is."
"The plan is to go to the bonfire. I thought that was obvious." Mason told her.
Marlow sighed as she rummaged through her closet for an outfit. "I meant, what do we do after the bonfire? Are you planning on drinking?"
"I don't know, Marlow. Maybe a little. Everyone's gonna do it."
"I'm not," she said almost immediately. Not only because she couldn't get drunk anyway. The curse of her healing abilities. "And I'm not asking to accuse you of anything. I just wanted to know if you want to spend the night at my place so your mom and dad don't encounter you stumbling into the house drunk off your ass," she explained.
"Oh," he said. He laughed a bit. "Sorry. Yeah, that would be awesome. We haven't just hung out together in so long."
"I know, I'm a horrible friend," Marlow told him with a slight laugh.
"You're not. You're just busy hanging out with a bunch of juniors." Mason told her. She always knew there was a bit of jealousy in his tone whenever he reminded her of that. Mason believed Marlow was busy partying with juniors every weekend when in reality she was running for her life with them most of the time.
Marlow laughed. "Well tonight I'm hanging out with your freshman ass," she said jokingly.
"Ha, ha," Mason said sarcastically. "No, but for real. I'm glad you're coming tonight."
Marlow halted her closet raid for a bit as a smile crept up on her face. "Me too," she said. She let the sweet moment pass for a bit. "So, do you want me to dress like always, or do you want me to dress slutty so you can pimp me out to a lacrosse player?"
Mason was now full-on laughing on the other end of line. "Stop!"
"I'm kidding. You know that. Okay, Mason, thanks for the talk. I gotta go but I'll see you in a bit." she told him.
"See you then."
Marlow hung up the phone and sighed. It was only a bonfire, most of the lacrosse players would probably be wearing their jerseys and the girls wouldn't come dressed up as if they were at the Oscars either. So Marlow simply grabbed some shorts and a shirt and got ready for the night. "Okay, remember, you're doing this for Mason. Two hours tops." she reminded herself. "Alright, let's go."
Marlow arrived at the bonfire a little after it had started. She could feel some of the boys staring at her. When she looked around she noticed that even some girls stared. She narrowed her eyes. Marlow knew she was getting older and that the high school crush thing would start eventually but she didn't know it would happen so early. She walked over to Liam and Mason.
Marlow quickly engulfed Mason in a hug. "Help me, Mase. Everyone's staring at me," she told him overdramatically.
Mason rubbed her back as he hugged her back. "I know, Mar. You're growing up," he joked. "I've tried sheltering you from the bad boys and girls out there but they have obviously breached my security measures."
Marlow laughed with him as she let him go and sighed. "I don't even know what it is today. I look like I always do," she said, looking down on herself. "Well, except for the shorts maybe," she added. She hadn't worn them in so long she didn't even realize just how short they were.
"I think it's something about your hair. You look good." Liam told her.
He somehow seemed much more relaxed than he did a few hours ago. Marlow didn't know what to say so she just smiled at him. Mason raised his hands. "Woah, you guys. Please get away from the open flames before you cause an inferno," he said. He had had a bit of alcohol already.
Marlow lightly hit him in the arm. "Shut up!" she said. She could see that Liam was also drinking. He hadn't been informed of their inability to get drunk yet.
Mason got off the log and turned back to his friends. "I'm getting another drink."
Marlow knew Mason all too well and she knew for a fact he was leaving them alone in hopes of them getting to talking. She almost wanted to applaud him. He was working hard to be a wingman. She shook her head at him. He smirked at her and left.
"Hey Liam, a quick bit of insider information: we can't get drunk," Marlow told Liam as he dumped some more alcohol from his flask into his coke.
He gave her a confused look. "What?"
Marlow nodded. "It has something to do with our healing."
Liam sighed and took a sip of drink anyway. "Good to know."
Marlow scooted a little closer to him. "You seem to be feeling better."
"Eh, not really but I don't want to think about it anymore."
Marlow nodded. "Mmmh, I get it. Do a little soul cleansing," she said. She could hear Liam let out a little laugh and smirked at him. "I see my cheer up techniques are working," she said in a fake evil voice as she rubbed her hands together devilishly. Liam laughed again and suddenly he was leaning in closer.
Marlow's eyes widened but for some reason, she didn't pull back. The two started kissing. Liam tasted like cola and alcohol and Marlow realized that this was her first real kiss. She pushed Liam back and he shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine," Marlow said quickly. She looked past Liam and saw Scott walking over to them. Of course. Stiles isn't there to watch over Marlow once and big bro Scott has to jump in. Marlow sighed. "Oh, my God"
Scott threw himself down on the log. "Hey, you guys," he said in an oddly cheery tone. Scott wrapped his arm around Liam's shoulder. "You two seem to be getting a little cozy."
"Did Stiles put you up to this?" Marlow asked.
Scott laughed a little. "To what? I'm just hanging out with you guys."
Mason walked back over to the trio and gave Marlow a questioning look. "Scott is just being friendly, I guess?" she said, giving him a shrug. "You can go now, by the way," Marlow told Scott.
Scott let go of Liam and got up off the log. "Watch those lips, alright?" he told them. Marlow rolled her eyes. Liam looked mortified.
"Don't worry. Stiles totally put him up to this." Marlow assured him. Liam chugged the rest of his drink. Marlow was unsure if he'd already forgotten what she just told him or if he just didn't care.
"I'm not worried," Liam assured her.
"You are drunk though," Mason told him.
"So are you," Marlow told Mason.
"Only a little," Mason said defensively. Marlow waved him off. He didn't seem that drunk but her vision was starting to blur.
Mason looked up at Liam. "Not gonna tell me to slow down?" Liam asked him after he downed another swig of his drink.
"Actually, I was gonna say, 'Keep drinking'. I think you should get drunk. And I mean stumbling down, fall on your ass, passed out with your face in a toilet drunk." Mason told him. Marlow could hardly focus on their conversation.
"Why?" Liam asked after a slight laugh.
"Maybe then when I ask you what's going on, you'll be too drunk to lie," Mason told Liam bluntly. "I'm not asking this because I want to know. I'm asking because I want to help."
His voice was starting to get distorted. Liam got off the log. "I'm gonna get another drink," he said. "Yeah, I'm getting drunk."
Marlow wanted to protest but the pain was starting to get a lot more evident. She pressed her forehead into her palm, letting out a small groan. "Jesus," she complained.
Mason rubbed her back and gave her a worried look. "How much have you had to drink?"
Marlow groaned out as the pain got even worse. "Nothing," she told him. Something was wrong.
Liam came back with another drink and nearly stumbled on top of Marlow. "Did you two pre-game the bonfire?" Mason asked as he tried to prevent Liam from hurting himself.
"No," Marlow said. She looked over to where Scott was standing with Malia. She also didn't seem to feel well. Scott looked over at Marlow, who was at this point bent over and looking like she was about to throw up.
"I'm gonna get you guys some water. You do not look okay." Mason said and left them momentarily. Scott brought Malia over the two and sat her down next to Marlow.
He kneeled in front of Marlow and put his fingers under her chin to lift her head. His face looked blurry and Marlow didn't like this powerless feeling in the slightest. Mason came back with two water bottles and made Liam drink from one of them. Scott took the other one and gave Marlow and Malia some water. "How much did they have to drink?" Scott asked Mason.
"Him, not enough to get him like this. Her, nothing at all." Mason told Scott. Marlow nearly slid off the log.
"Something's happening. We need to get them out of here. I think we're gonna have to, um..." Scott said. His voice broke off and Marlow wasn't sure if he stopped talking or she just couldn't hear anymore.
"How much did you drink?" Mason asked Scott.
"Nothing. Not even a sip." Scott told him. This wasn't about drinks. Another assassination attempt. Scott leaned on the log next to Marlow. She wanted to tell him but couldn't find her words. "It's not the drinks. It's the music."
Marlow groaned out as the bass players seemingly made her brain shake. She put her palms over her ears. Scott left them and she didn't know where he was going. Mason gave his friends a worried look. Suddenly Marlow's hands were ripped away from her ears as a pair of meaty hands grabbed her arm and pulled her off her seat.
She looked up and saw a security guard grabbing Liam and Malia as well. Marlow tried wrestling out of the guards' grip but he just squeezed tighter.
"Hey, what are you doing? These are my friends." Mason asked the bigger security guard.
"Your friends are overly intoxicated. They need to be escorted out." the security guard answered matter-of-factly.
"Okay, I'll go with them," Mason told them.
"That won't be necessary."
"I said they're my friends-" Mason said angrily before the guard pushed him to the floor. Marlow wanted to help him but the guard that held on to her suddenly dragged her away along with Liam and Malia.
They led the trio inside the school's hallway and pushed them to the floor. Marlow landed on Malia and found herself slipping from consciousness. "What is that?" she heard Scott asked. "What are you doing?"
"It's gasoline." the big guard told Scott. Marlow's heart started racing. "Haigh says we gotta burn you," he added. Marlow felt the gasoline being poured over her and wondered whether this would be the end of them.
Suddenly the music turned off and Marlow could feel her brain beginning to work again. She tried catching her breath as she sat up. Marlow saw Derek and Braeden come into the hall and beat down the security guards. Marlow had never seen Derek fight without his were-abilities and she didn't think she ever would. They got all the guards down and Derek walked up to Scott.
"What happened to the gun?" Scott asked him.
"You're covered in gasoline." Derek reminded Scott.
"Oh, yeah," Scott said. Derek helped him up and then walked over to the other three.
He helped them all up and each of them made sure to ask the other if they were okay. Suddenly the doors to the school were pushed open with force and Mason walked in with a horrified look on his face. "What the hell happened?!"
Marlow had no idea how to explain the unconscious and dead bodies on the floor or Braeden walking around with a shotgun or why the four teenagers were covered in gasoline. Luckily she didn't have to. "I'm a U.S. Marshal. We've been looking for these guys. Don't worry, your friends are safe." Braeden told Mason.
He still gave them all a confused glance but Marlow quickly walked up to him. "I think your two hours are just about up. So why don't we head to my house?" she said.
He nodded, still looking at the others. "Okay let's go," he told her. Marlow pushed him back out the door and gave her friends one last look. She'd have to do a lot of explaining but was sure he'd believe her.
"What happened to the music?" Marlow asked him.
"Scott said something about it made you guys sick so I ripped the cables out of the speakers," Mason told her. Marlow smiled at him and engulfed him in a side hug.