<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 - 𝐒 𝐎  - 𝐃 𝐄 𝐀 𝐃   𝐂 𝐇 𝐈 𝐌 𝐄 𝐑 𝐀 𝐒

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"What do you think you're doing?" Mason asked as he pulled Liam back. They were at the police station. Liam glanced in Dax's direction but didn't look him in the eye. Dax had gotten his gym clothes from his locker, and then he used a locator spell to find Liam.

"Someone's gotta tell her about Hayden," Liam said slightly spooked as he looked to Valerie's vehicle.

"Somebody doesn't have to be you," Mason said.

"Especially looking like that. They're gonna think you killed her," Dax said as he looked over Liam's appearance.

Liam fell as he leaned against the cop car behind him, "Maybe I did," Liam said quietly as his voice wavered. He stared at Valerie's car as she drove away.

"You didn't. And while the last few hours..." Mason trailed off.

"Haven't been your best," Dax said knowing that his bluntness needed to be toned down for the moment.

"This isn't the way to fix it. She's going to find out, and it's not gonna hurt any less coming from you," Mason explained, "Come on," Mason said softly as he helped Liam to his feet. Liam still hadn't made eye contact with Dax. Liam took a deep breath before turning around, "What?"

"It's Hayden..." Liam said as he grew confused. Dax took a deep breath, taking in the scents around him only to be super confused when he smelt her, "It's her scent," Liam said as he slowly began walking towards the building. He turned back to Mason and Dax, "She's here."

"Liam, you held her body. You watched Parrish carry her out of the hospital. She... She's gone," Mason said, "Help me out here, Dax."

Dax looked to Mason wide-eyed, but the scent vanished, "Uh, yeah, Mason's right, Liam," Dax nodded not believing what he had smelt.

"I could..." Liam trailed off.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," Mason said as he placed a hand on Liam's shoulder.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"How are you not pissed at me?" Liam asked as his voice wavered, "I almost killed you," Liam admitted quietly.

"If I held a grudge against everyone who tried to kill me, I wouldn't have very many friends," Dax answered.

"That is mildly alarming," Mason said with wide eyes.

"Do we want to keep rehashing what's in the past, or are we going to talk to your dad?" Dax asked as he pointed to Liam's stepdad who came into the hallway from a patient's room.

"Hey, dad!" Liam called as the three boys ran up, "Have any more bodies come in?"

"No there have not been any other bodies brought in tonight, thank God," he answered as they walked.

"No one named Hayden?" Liam asked. Dax cringed.

"Mason, Dax, take him home. It's six in the morning."

"Dad, you're sure there have been no other dead bodies?" Liam asked.

He looked at the three of them like they had lost their minds, "All of you, home now."

"We're not going home, are we?" Mason asked after Liam's stepfather walked away.

"No," Liam answered.

"Well, we all know where Hayden's body is. If you want to find her, you're going to have to find the Nemeton," Mason said.

"Okay."

"Not okay! Have you lost your mind?" Dax asked.

"Let's find the Nemeton," Liam said, ignoring Dax as he walked out of the hospital.

"Great idea, Mason. Fan-freaking-tastic."

"I need to learn to shut up."

"Yes, yes, you do."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"Why are we back here?" Dax asked as he ducked under the police tape.

"I saw a book in here that could help," Mason responded as he walked to one of the shelves. Dax glanced over at the blood splatter on the wall with the three holes. He was snapped out of his thoughts by his phone ringing. Dax pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the caller ID for a moment.

"How do you have your phone?" Liam asked.

"I left it at the school," Dax shrugged before answering his phone, "Are you alright?"

"Why did you leave your phone at the school?" Mason muttered.

"We're all good. No one tried to kill anybody, and we made it through together," Brett answered. Dax could hear the small smile on his face. Brett had been worried about the moon all month, and he knew that he was relieved that nobody hurt one another on his end, "What about you?"

Dax hesitated slightly and looked over to Liam, "Let's just say it didn't exactly go smoothly."

"Are you alright, baby?"

"All good: I am fully clothed, fully fed, and all healed up."

"Why did you mention your clothes in that sentence?"

"Dax, Liam," Mason said as he held up the book in his hands.

"I gotta go," Dax nodded.

"Dax-"

"I'll explain later," Dax nodded, "Love you, boo, sorry," Dax hung up only feeling slightly guilty.

"I take it you two are pretty serious," Mason commented as he set the book on the table.

"Let's just get back to the magical tree stump," Dax sighed as he looked down at the book.

Mason opened the book, "Alright," He muttered as he began to flip through the pages, "This is the one. You see these?" Mason said as he ran his index finger along the lines that covered the page in the book, "These are lay lines. They're mapped according to telluric currents."

"Stiles said that he and Lydia were looking at the intersections," Liam said as they all looked at the book.

Mason looked at the book and began tracing his finger on the lines, "Probably this one."

"But they never found it. They kept going out there to look, but... they said the Nemeton has to want to be found."

"You're telling me that this magical tree stump has to want to be found?" Liam nodded. Dax pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh, "I've seen weirder," He muttered.

"That's awesome!" Mason exclaimed.

"How do you know it's a stump?" Liam asked as he furrowed his eyebrows. Dax thought about it for a minute but just shrugged in response.

"We should make a copy of-" Liam cut Mason off by tearing the page out of the book and walking off.

"This was your idea, Mason," Dax sighed as he and Mason followed Liam.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"This is it. There should be a clearing here," Mason said as they walked through the woods, "Maybe the clearing doesn't want to be found either?"

"We can't even find the magical clearing that the magical stump is in," Dax sighed.

Liam kneeled to the ground next to the two boys. Mason and Dax looked to each other before kneeling next to him. Liam stared at the ground while he tried to make himself say what he was thinking, "I... I couldn't save her."

"No one could," Mason said softly.

"Vampire blood didn't heal her, Liam... I've only ever heard of that happening," Dax muttered.

"I was standing right there... Melissa did everything medically possible-" Liam cut Mason off.

"While I was trying to kill Dax and Scott," Liam sighed.

"You can't take all the blame," Mason responded, "There were like eight hundred extenuating circumstances."

"And let's face it, I have a killable face," Dax said with a small lazy smile as he bumped Liam's shoulder.

"What does that even mean?" Liam asked with a dry, short-lived chuckle.

"I don't know, man," Dax responded with a humorless laugh, "But it's got to be my face or something."

"It wasn't just the moon," Liam muttered.

"Then it was the losing Hayden," Dax told him.

"Your fear, anger... Theo took advantage of it," Mason said.

"Maybe it was just me..."

"Liam, you're a werewolf. There was a full moon... a...a supermoon... You can't let yourself..." Mason trailed off. He stood up.

"Look, Liam, I'm not usually the person you go to if you want a soft explanation that will make you feel better about yourself, but there is nothing about last night that made it you," Dax said, "I was barely hanging on during that supermoon, and I'm supposed to be in full control of my transformations. I was running on pure instinct last night."

"Guys," Mason said getting their attention. The two boys stood up next to him, "The Nemeton is a Beacon for Supernatural Creatures, right?"

"Yeah," Liam nodded a bit.

"So what if it takes a supernatural creature to find it?" Mason asked.

"You mean a certain kind of supernatural creature right?" Dax asked.

"We're supernatural and we haven't been able to find anything," Liam reminded Mason.

"No, you two have been looking with your human eyes," Mason responded.

"Okay, damn, geek-con, you're getting better at this than me," Dax muttered as his eyes began to glow bright yellow.

"Mason, look," Liam said as he pulled Mason closer.

"I don't... I don't see anything..." Mason slowly stopped talking when his eyes landed on the Nemeton, "Intense."

Dax furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side as he looked at Mason. The three boys walked over.

"There's only four here," Liam said as he circled the Nemeton.

"That means four chimeras are missing," Mason said.

"I only care about one. Hayden's alive. She has to be,"  Liam said.

"Okay... Maybe you're right," Mason said.

"He is right," Dax trailed off as he heard branches snapping nearby.

Mason looked at Dax skeptically, "Either way, we gotta tell someone about this. We get the cops down here, and-" Dax shushed Mason, "What is it?'

"Grab on," Dax muttered as he grabbed Liam and Mason. He used his speed to get them out of the clearing just in time for cops to show up with Hayden. All three boys' mouths fell open, "Just when I thought I was beginning to understand the insane supernatural laws here."

"That's it. That's where I found the bodies. Four of them," Hayden said from next to her sister. Liam went to walk forward but Dax grabbed onto him and Mason and sped them back to the edge of the forest. The three boys were stopped by a deputy on their way to the car.

"What were you doing out here?" He asked sharply as he used his flashlight to look behind them.

Dax looked the man in the eye, "We were out for a walk. Nothing more. You are going to let us leave now," Dax compelled.

"You can go now," The deputy repeated.

"Intense," Mason muttered as they got into the car.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"You have time to explain, or am I going to have to wait a few more hours?" Brett asked angrily from the kitchen as Dax walked into the house. Dax pulled off his jacket and put it on the coat rack next to the door.

"I'm sorry, B, I really am, but I was with Liam and Mason and shit was... it was just happening..." Dax said as he walked into the kitchen.

"You were naked with Liam and Mason?"

"You jealous?" Dax asked as he slowly walked over to Brett.

Brett was leaned against the kitchen counters, "Stop changing the subject," He said slightly irritated.

"I transformed, so I lost my clothes for a bit. I fought Liam for a bit naked, but I got my gym clothes from my locker this morning, and have been wearing them since."

"I take it Liam didn't handle the supermoon well?"

"No kidding."

"Makes sense," Brett shrugged.

Dax huffed with an eye roll, "Lay off, Brett. He's been through a lot. We all have."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Well you know, seeing as I will probably have to go back out there and help search for not-so-dead chimeras in a few hours and I haven't slept in the last twenty-four hours, I am going to take a nap. You can join me if you want."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"I went to the club, looking for Hayden, and there's Josh. Standing there completely alive. Just like Hayden. Because of Theo," Liam said as he, Dax, and Mason walked through the school.

"I miss when things made sense," Dax complained.

"Theo brought them both back... That's what he's doing," Mason said.

"He's building a pack," Dax huffed finishing Mason's sentence for him.

"His own pack of dead chimeras," Mason continued.

"They both look pretty alive to me," Liam looked at Mason, "But they're not the same. There was something about Hayden. There was something wrong about her."

"Maybe that's what dying does to you? What if... what if it, like, darkens your soul? What if they're all evil now?" Mason asked as the trio slowly stopped walking.

"That's what happens with vampirism," Dax nodded, "I mean, you're not evil, but you change a lot."

Dax, Liam, and Mason looked up wide-eyed to see a very cheerful Corey walk into the school, "Hey guys," He smiled as he walked up to them, "You volunteering for the library cleanup too?"

"Yes," Dax nodded firmly.

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Dax hit Liam in the shoulder and the trainwreck of yes's and yeah's stopped pouring from their mouths.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Liam and Dax waved their hands towards Corey, "What you were saying about becoming a vampire... what exactly were you saying?"

Dax picked up a stack of nooks and the two boys began putting them on shelves, "To become a vampire, you have to die in the first place. It's why Lydia gets those off feelings about me," Dax explained, "But once you come back, you are different. You have a bloodlust, your emotions are everywhere and they're more intense than you've ever felt before, and your senses are dialed to eleven. It's not a fun experience. Have you noticed that my chemosignals overpower everyone around me?" Liam nodded, "That's because of how heightened my emotions are. I feel them much more intensely, so you smell them a lot easier. Turning changes you completely, and if it doesn't your first few years as a vampire will."

"You mentioned the bloodlust... Does that ever, like, go away?" Liam asked.

Dax shook his head, "You learn to live with it unless you don't."

"What happens if you don't?"

"Most of them end up flipping their switch and getting themselves killed."

"What do you mean flipping your switch?"

"Vampires can shut off their humanity... Until it fades, you can be an uncaring, colossal dick to everyone you love just because you can't take it... It's always worse than dealing with whatever happened."

"Damn... what about that thing you did to the cop?" Liam asked.

"Compulsion. I can compel someone with my voice, but that's just a me thing. You know a two-person species tends to have its perks."

"We should probably be listening to their conversation," Dax said as he looked over to Mason and Corey.

"Alive is definitely better than dead. Much better," Mason nodded.

"Aw, he's so awkward!" Dax cooed.

"You have no idea what to say to me do you?" Corey asked with a big smile.

Mason shook his head vigorously, "Not really. No."

"Can I ask you a question then?" Corey smiled.

"Sure," Mason shrugged.

"What are you doing Saturday night?"

"Hell yes," Dax smiled.

"He's an evil dead chimera," Liam whisper yelled as he looked at Dax like he had lost it.

"He's not evil," Dax said as he raised his brows at Liam, "And I don't think he is undead."

"Then what is he?"

"Alive?" Dax guessed, "I don't know it's a work in progress!" he whisper-yelled.

"Hey, so what's the plan?" Liam asked as he turned to Mason.

"I have a date with him on Saturday. I thought that was the plan," Mason said.

"Go you," Dax said with a proud smirk.

"Not the time," Liam sighed as he hit Dax on the back of the head, "You were supposed to ask about Theo! We can't wait until Saturday."

Mason became frustrated, "I'm sorry, but Theo leading an evil chimera pack wasn't exactly a natural progression to the conversation.

"Fine," Liam huffed, "I'll talk to him."

"You may want to go now," Dax pointed to the door that shut. Liam began walking towards the door, "Have fun!" Dax said with a big wave.

"You didn't take your meds today did you?" Mason sighed.

"Your not my dad!" Dax stuck his tongue out at Mason.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"Corey's not texting me back," Mason said as he walked up.

"That's because he left with Theo," Liam replied,

"Are you sure?" Mason asked. Dax nodded.

"He was here," Liam said.

"Then we should do something, right? We should tell someone," Mason said, "Liam you have to tell him."

"Think he'll even talk to me?" Liam said quietly as he stared at the floor.

"I think I'll beat his face in if he doesn't," Dax said with a big smile.

"Not now, Dax," Mason sighed, "Your his beta, Liam. Doesn't he have to talk to you?"

"Where would I even start?" Liam asked.

"With an apology," Dax said as he looked at Liam.

"Like what?" Liam scoffed, "Sorry for trying to kill you? Sorry for leaving you for dead so that Theo could try to kill you?"

"If... If you start off with sorry, the rest... probably won't even matter," Mason assured him.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>