Oh, no, not I!
I will survive.
Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive.
I've got all my life to live.
I've got all my love to give.
And I'll survive,
I will survive.


Chapter 35: Decay


"Get her to the animal clinic," Scott said, and turned toward the exit. "I'll meet you there!" Those last words were wind over his shoulder as the bead curtains rustled, disturbed.

Hayden was standing—she hadn't died on the spot, as Sherry had first feared. Her movements were sluggish as Liam led her out to Theo's car, her eyes blinking slowly open and closed like those of a sleepy cat.

Sherry, feeling useless, reached for Hayden's arm. She wrapped it around her own shoulder to help Hayden support her own weight, although as soon as she did, Theo shoved her out of the way to take over. Sherry gasped in surprise and almost began to argue, but the determined look on Theo's face chilled her enough that she didn't dare.

"Keep her awake," Theo growled as they got Hayden into the car. Liam crawled into the backseat with her, his hands clenched tightly with hers, a worried kiss placed on the back of her hand. Thin veins of violet black seeped from Hayden's pale neck, down her forearm, and into the spaces where the couple's skin met. The veins seemed to pulse, like blood but more sinister, from Hayden to Liam.

As Sherry fastened her seatbelt in the passenger seat, watching them from the rear view mirror, she didn't have to ask to know that at some point, Liam had learned the trick of taking away pain. And from odd way that the veins flowed not from hand to hand like she'd seen with Scott, but from hand to lips, she learned something else. Liam's eyes caught hers in the mirror. Suddenly incriminated, she smiled reassuringly and flicked her own gaze away.

She landed on Theo, who stared at the yellow circles of headlights on the road ahead, and shivered. His expression seemed to grow colder by the minute. Theo glanced back at Hayden, reminding Liam, "I don't think it's a good idea for her to fall asleep."

"Hayden?" Liam whispered, nudging her with his shoulder. "Hayden, you gotta stay awake."

She shifted, eyelids drooping and blinking ever so slowly. "I'm... so tired," she murmured, wisps of her life seeming to escape with each breath.

"Yeah, I know," Liam assured, voice cracking. "But you can't go to sleep." He looked back at Theo, his blue eyes wide and glistening. "How do we help her?"

"I don't know." One hand clenched the steering wheel and the other rested under his chin, his thumb stroking the side of his jaw, almost resembling a cartoon villain. At that thought, Sherry had to reprimand herself—now was not the time to be petty—and... at the moment she couldn't recall why she'd been upset at him to start with.

"When it's wolfsbane poisoning," Theo continued, "You burn it out. But I don't know anything about mercury. Especially a kind that's probably been altered by them."

Liam wasn't satisfied. His fingers were clenched so tight around Hayden's that Sherry noticed the tips of claws resurfacing. "Is she going to heal?"

"The problem is she's not really like us, Liam," Theo sighed. "None of them are. They're more like... like cheap knockoffs. She might not be as strong as we are, or heal like we do." He paused, letting the information sink in as he turned a corner. "She's not a real werewolf."

"What... what if we turn her into one?"

Sherry nearly choked. "What?" To her left, the corners of Theo's lips slightly curled up—and for a moment she thought he might laugh.

"Nice idea," he said instead, without a hint of amusement. "Except you and I can't do that."

Without missing a beat, Liam responded, "But Scott can."


The animal clinic was cold and reflective, the metal tables and sterilized cabinets almost draining in the dark. Liam had his back against the wall, his fingers fumbling around Hayden's neck and cheek. She was balanced in his lap, emitting almost inaudible groans. If it weren't for the noises she could have been mistaken for a corpse.

Theo stood by them, staring intently out the high windows. Sherry couldn't see what he saw from where she was across the room, but she didn't bother to ask and interrupt his focus.

The heavy door swung open and crashed shut, Scott emerging from the clouds of heavy rain, dripping from his hair to his nose to the hem of his shirt.

"She's getting worse," Liam announced intensely. His intent was clear. "I think she's dying."

Scott's gaze flicked around, his eyebrows knitting. "It's got to be some kind of mercury poisoning."

"Scott," Liam began, looking tall despite his position. "Remember what you promised me. You said you'd do everything you could to save her." A deep breath. "If she's a real werewolf, we can save her." He was pleading, every vowel giving away his desperation. "You gotta give her the bite."

Say yes, Sherry urged. All chances said Hayden would die from the poisoning. Not a single chimera had survived the Dread Doctor's kill switch yet, and likely Hayden wouldn't either. She knew the bite was dangerous, but... if there was a chance that her friend could be saved, that chance would be a werewolf bite. She stared at Scott, hoping, but...

"No."

The change in Liam's expression was instant. His eyes narrowed and he seemed ready to pounce at any moment. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"Liam, look at her," Scott said. "She's too weak. It'll kill her. We don't even know what the mercury's doing to her. We don't even know if it is actually mercury." He was weary, bags sagging under his eyes and the drips of rain down his skin almost seeming like sweat, or tears. "This can't be the only way to save her life."

"It saved mine."

"That was different," Scott replied, not budging in his resolve. "You were hanging off a ledge."

"You promised." His voice shook; his eyes glinted yellow. "You said you'd do everything you could."

"Which is why I'm not going to do something I think is going to kill her. There has to be another way to save her."

"Scott," Sherry piped up, her nails digging into her palms. "Scott, he's right." She wanted to add, there isn't another way, but she couldn't bring herself to. Inside, she wanted to be wrong.

Theo stepped out of the shadows. He had been strangely quiet, but now it seemed he'd had enough of arguing. "Guys, I don't know what the statistics are for surviving a werewolf bite, but she's definitely not surviving this." He looked between the two boys, trying to signal the need to work together. "We need to do something."


"Success?" Liam hovered over the shoulder of Mrs. McCall as she sanitized a patch of skin on Hayden's forearm.

Mrs. McCall sighed. "Imminent."

"Okay." He didn't seem satisfied, and shifted his focus to the next thing she picked up. "What's that?"

Mrs. McCall had a light syringe in her hand, filled with an almost-clear amber fluid. It looked much friendlier than the one the Dread Doctors had used. "It's called chelation therapy," she explained. "It removes heavy metals from the blood." She pressed the head of the needle up to a visible vein in the crook of Hayden's elbow, pushing down gently on the compressor. "But," she added, "The problem is, that can injure the kidneys and Hayden only has one to begin with, so—"

Hayden's face scrunched up, letting out a small anguished sound. Liam snatched Mrs. McCall's arm, as though that would save the patient. "You're hurting her," he growled.

Mrs. McCall wasn't impressed. "And you're hurting me."

He jumped. "Sorry!"

"Hey," Scott said, watching Liam suspiciously. "Guys, remember, we're here to save a life. Not kill each other."

Theo glanced out at the clear navy sky. "It's the full moon."

Scott nodded. "We can feel it even during the day."

"And it's a Supermoon."

A chill crawled up Sherry's spine. That could either be very good or very bad, but judging by Liam's already short temper so far, she already knew which way it would go.

"What?" asked Mrs. McCall, somewhat absentmindedly. Her gloved fingers felt for Hayden's pulse. "Is that supposed to make you guys, like, super strong? Super aggressive?"

"Both," Scott and Theo responded at once.


The scratchy blue chairs in the waiting area were comfy, sort of, until Sherry tried to stay in one spot for more than a minute and felt her back and legs cramping up. Scott and Theo occupied the other two chairs, Scott hunched forward with his hands clenched by his knees, while Theo expanded outward in every way possible, his legs wide, head erect, and arms falling over the chipped wooden armrests.

"You know we're going to need help with him," Theo said, mostly to Scott.

"He'll be all right."

"He's 16 and in love," he stated. "First love. You remember what that's like?"

Scott swallowed looking away, or maybe conjuring up an image in his mind. "Yeah, trust me," he replied. "I remember."

"All those emotions mixed with the Supermoon," Theo continued. "Tonight isn't going to be good."

"I know."

Sherry grumbled, and wondered where he was going with this. She recalled, finally, why she'd been incensed at Theo. He'd lied, at least once, about Stiles and Donovan, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something in their relationship felt poisonous. Something that had encouraged her to choose the seat farthest from him and that discouraged her from speaking around him.

"We need help," Theo said, "And I don't mean restraints or chains. I mean Malia, Stiles, Lydia. You need your pack, Scott."

Her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, she looked up at Scott to gauge his reaction without lifting her head. She hadn't seen him this sunken into himself in a long time.

"I'm not so sure I have one anymore."

Theo stood up, his shadow looming over them. "Let me talk to them," he offered. "Let me see what I can do. Okay?"

He began to walk off, but just before he reached the door, Scott lifted his head slightly and called, "Theo."

The boy turned around slightly, curious.

"Thank you," said Scott.


When her eyes opened again, the skinny hand of the clock had shifted ninety degrees and goosebumps spread in waves across her upper arms and bare legs. The spot to her left was much colder than before, and when she looked around, she realized why. Scott was gone.

Panicked, she leapt up and barreled through the half-door meant to keep out pets. Hayden was still in the back room, still breathing, but something was wrong. Mrs. McCall's expression had visibly tensed, her brows furrowed and her eyes compulsively glancing back to the heart monitor. Sherry spun around. Liam wasn't there either.

"Where'd they go?" she almost demanded, pulse accelerating in her ears.

"Scott received a text from Theo telling him to go to the library," Mrs. McCall replied, somewhat distracted. "And Liam is here."

Blinking, she realized the nurse was right. Liam was crouched in the corner, a grim expression hardening his features.

"Oh!" she said, which shouldn't have been surprising, but given the current state of things, every new occurrence resulted in a spike of her pulse. She couldn't keep still. Her knee jiggled up and down, her hands wrung and tapped, her eyes darted—and Hayden's breaths grew shallower and shallower.

"How's Hayden doing?"

"Not well," Mrs. McCall replied, and Liam immediately shot up, forming a crowd of three around the table. Hayden's eyelids fluttered, but stayed shut, and dark leopard spots discolored the skin of her forearm where Mrs. McCall had lifted her sleeve to give her another shot.

Liam touched the back of his hand to her throat. "It's on her neck too." He glanced up. "She's getting worse, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Nurse McCall said, "Which is why we're taking her to the hospital."

Liam retracted his hand, letting it fall to his side. "How's that going to help?"

"We're in an animal clinic," she explained, impatient, "And I need equipment designed for humans." She stepped back, walking quickly out and returning with a crude gurney meant for animals. She had almost a sly glint in her eye. "I said that we're going to take her to the hospital. I didn't say we're going through the front door."

She wheeled the gurney parallel to the operating table and held it still as Sherry and Liam helped to lower Hayden into it. Then, as Sherry held the doors open, Mrs. McCall pushed the gurney at an almost alarming speed out the door and to her car. Hayden was placed in the backseat, with Liam rushing in after her like before, while Sherry grudgingly accepted shotgun.

As soon as Mrs. McCall slipped the key into ignition, slow, dramatic classical music began to play on the radio. Sherry punched several buttons feverishly until one turned the music off. The thumping, rhythm-less beat of her heart was already too much for her to bear.

The hospital appeared, as serene and gray as always, but they didn't stop in the parking lot. The car veered through the parking garage, around the concrete walls, and toward an area that looked almost like a loading zone, a hollowed prism in the back of the building with a sloped floor, crowded with emergency vehicles and painted rails on every side. The yellow chevron arrows screamed urgency, but Sherry didn't need any reminder.

"Get her ready," Mrs. McCall warned Liam as she slammed on the brakes. She dashed out, retrieving a stray wheelchair to sit Hayden in. Liam moved her accordingly and clenched the handles, wheeling Hayden inside after the nurse.

As they waited impatiently inside the industrial-sized elevator, the button for the fourth floor a bright red, Hayden shifted, whimpering. Wisps of mercury rose in her IV bag, the silver sinister in the clear liquid.

"What's happening?" Liam whispered.

Mrs. McCall pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. But it's definitely not good."

"My sister—" Hayden coughed.

"Scott's out looking for her right now," Mrs. McCall responded reassuringly. "He's going to bring her here as soon as he can, all right?"

The doors slid open, bringing them to a sparsely populated floor. Some doctors and nurses strolled from room to room, but no one gave the group a second glance. Mrs. McCall directed them to an empty room at the end of the hall, the lights inside dim with several yellow bulbs serving as the only sources of illumination. Sherry and Liam lifted Hayden onto the operating table.

"This room is almost never used," Mrs. McCall explained. "We shouldn't be interrupted here."

She pulled a syringe from her kit and tapped the side of the glass. A few bubbles rose to the top of the silvery stuff inside. She pressed the needle to Hayden's arm again, noting, "She's getting worse."

Angrily, Liam pulled out his phone and sent an impatient text to Scott, asking where he was in all caps.

Sherry nudged him. "Don't worry. Scott's doing his best."

That didn't appease him. Snarling, almost in a wolfish demeanor, Liam replied, "Well, his best isn't enough. Hayden is still dying." He kicked a cabinet and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. The hinges protested softly in the remaining silence.

"Liam!" Sherry called, too late. She rushed out into the hall, racing to catch up with him, but the elevator doors sealed themselves just as she reached them. "Liam!" She pounded on the doors, jabbing the button for it to reopen. Nothing.

She cursed. Heightened werewolf aggression, the stress of a dying friend—disastrous would be an understatement.

Back in the abandoned surgical room, Mrs. McCall said, "Mason is on his way. Sit tight."

"My sister..." Hayden repeated, her words each so fragile Sherry felt that an accidental breath might whisk them away. "Val..."

She wanted to lay her head on the table, to hold Hayden's hand in her own, to do something, even if it was as pointless as comfort. She wanted to hug her friend and never let go, let her own warmth be traded away so that Hayden's never went cold. But Hayden was so weak then that Sherry feared any pressure might be a death sentence.

The door flew open, Mason panting and every bit as terrified as the rest of them. His arms were filled with supplies, from extra syringes, formula, and rubbing alcohol, to paper towels and a notepad. "Everything you asked for," he said, pouring everything onto a countertop.

"Just in time," Mrs. McCall responded, and pulled supplies to begging another round of treatment for Hayden.

"We have to go get Liam," Sherry told Mason, voice rising. "He's going to do something he'll regret. He's going to hurt Scott."

"Scott can handle himself," he said, not sounding like he quite believed it himself. "But we have to stay here." His gaze fell on Hayden. "We have to be here for her."

She hugged her arms around herself. He was right.

"Uh oh," aid Mrs. McCall, and her stomach dropped. Silver liquid—mercury—appeared at the corners of Hayden's lips and eyes. "Her heart rate is falling! Watch her pulse, watch her pulse—" She pumped up and down on the girl's chest, trying to restart her heart with every press. The heart monitor emitted a flat, unending beep. Mrs. McCall lifted her hands above her head, checking her watch. "I'm sorry," she gasped. "Time of death—"

"No!" Sherry's nails dug into her palm. "People aren't supposed to just end! They don't just end like that! Her story can't just be cut off; it's not—" And she sounded like she was about to cry, and maybe she was, but she wasn't about to let the universe know that. She wasn't about to admit that the Dread Doctors had won.

"We have to tell Liam," Mason murmured. "We have to let him know."

So she turned toward the door, resigned, empty, and said, "Let's go."


A/N: Hi guys! I know it's been like two months since I last updated, but I've been so busy with everything from college apps to AP classes that I've barely had time to write at all. Let me know if you liked this chapter, and if you cried. I did, TBH.

Also, what are some of your favorite lines? I'm kinda curious to know if my writing is quotable :)

Don't forget to favorite, follow, & review! xoxo