Lies of Omission

I sit, Indian style, on a counter with a tube coming out of my arm. The Dread Doctors want me to let them perform a few more tests before they send me back out to deal with the chimeras. I watch the Geneticist, with a syringe, withdraw fluid from the large, body-holding, tank in their lair.


The dead body of a teenage boy lies on the examination table with a spike stuck through his back. The Geneticist walks over and injects the liquid from the syringe into the Surgeon's arm. The arm, which seems 'frankensteined' from more than one body, is scarred and withered. After the injection, the flesh begins to plump up immediately and is soon restored to full vitality. Theo comes in and nods at me. "How do you feel, Scar?"


I shrug and lean my head against the wall behind me. "I've been hooked up to a machine all morning and it makes me feel like I'm high on drugs. Scott's asthma is back and so is mine. On top of that, I'm still lying to my family and friends. Other than that, I'm just peachy."


He laughs and turns to the Geneticist. "I need more time."


"Perigee-syzygy," it replies.


The perigee-syzygy of the Earth, Moon and Sun system, known colloquially as the 'supermoon'. It's when the moon is full or new at the same time it passes closest to the Earth. The moon appears larger in the sky and there is a very small, but measurable, increase in tidal forces. It'll be a b it tougher for werewolves to control their transformations on this particular night. "We'll know at the perigee-syzygy."


I glance over there and see the Surgeon is looking at four charts on a light box. They each show the moon or the phases of the moon. I can't really tell from where I am. "I need Hayden alive," Theo replies.


"She is a failure. Failures compromise the experiment pool."


I see Theo become upset. "I kept Scott out of your way. You promised me a pack!"


"We promised you nothing."


"I need Hayden alive!"


All three doctor turn on him. "Good going, Theo. You always know what to say to people," I retort.


He slowly backs up. The doctors finally agree to allow Hayden to live until the perigee-syzygy. The Surgeon retrieves the spike walking cane from the body on the table and re-sheaths it with a snap. The handle of the cane is actually a hammer. The Surgeon comes over to me and slowly takes the tube out of my arm. Black veins start to appear in my forearm as if wolfsbane was pumping through my veins. He slowly wraps my arm then hands me my hoodie. I use the sleeves to cover it up. I jump down from the counter and follow Theo outside. "You know, I usually go my own way," I say as I hop in his truck. "But now I have no choice because my life can easily end with the click of a button."


He chuckles and begins driving to school. "Well, what did you expect from the same people that made you into who you are?"


"A choice, Theo." I look at my phone and I have only one text message from Scott and three from Liam. I don't bother to read what Liam sent. But Scott said:


When this supermoon comes up, we need to stick together and also keep an eye on Liam.


I lean my head back on the seat. "What am I supposed to do, Theo? Scott trusts me and I'm breaking that trust by helping the same people who are killing innocent teens."


He doesn't answer me. As he pulls up in the school lot, I see Liam go between the buses with Hayden. I punch Theo in his arm. "Ow! Wha-"


"Stop the truck!"


He slams on his brakes. I jump down and go to where I saw them go. I hide behind one of the buses and peek around the corner. I catch them kissing. I'm shocked, at the same time, I'm not. I fight back my tears. I kind of deserve it for doing the same to him with Theo. I'm about to walk out when I hear Hayden say, "Please don't tell anyone."


Theo runs over. "What was that all about?"


I hold up my hand when I hear them approaching. When Liam steps out, he jumps when he sees me. "Scar, what are you..."


I raise an eyebrow at him and look to Hayden then back at him. He looks nervous and his heart rate proves he is. I strike him across the face and growl. He covers his face with one hand and holds up the other one, just in case I decide to hit him again. "Ow! What the heck?"


"You know, I know things haven't been the best between us but this is beyond low. You're getting yourself involved with a failed experiment while dating me, or so I thought."


"How did you know?" Hayden asks.


I take my finger and wipe mercury from Liam's top lip. I noticed it as soon as he walked out from the buses. I hold up my finger and shake my head. "This is what science calls mercury. Like all the others, mercury is a sign of failed doctor experiments. Good luck with that."


I push past Liam and storm into school. I sit in the library and focus on studying. I tap my foot and drum my fingers against the table. Anything to keep me calm. My mind is racing. I want to tell Scott the truth. I want to forget ever meeting Theo or the Dread Doctors. I want to forget I ever loved Liam. I wish I didn't have to feel so many emotions. What if there comes a day when they order me to kill Scott?


They can just press a button and kill me if I don't but then I lose my brother if I do? I have enough blood on my hands. I never want Scott's ever to be. I don't want to be responsible for any more deaths. Allison. Aiden. Tracy. Donovan. Much more to come. Why does it have to be me that has to make the difficult decisions? What would my life be like if I never went out that night with Stiles and Scott? What if I convinced Scott not to either? What if I never came back home? Who would I still have in my life and who would I have never have had?


These are all questions I ask myself every day but the answers are never clear. Another question that has arisen is what if I take the cure? Escape all this madness and put it all behind me. I can be normal and not have to always look over my shoulder all the time. I just wish there was a way to just turn all it off. Turn off all these emotions I feel. Maybe then I can do what the Dread Doctors tell me and not have that other voice in my head telling me everything wrong with it. "Scarlett!"


I look up to see Scott and Theo standing next to me. "What?"


Scott takes my hand and shows me my own claws. "You're losing it, aren't you? Theo told me what happened with Liam. Are you okay?"


I snatch my hand and shove them in my pockets. "I'm fine."


"Anyway, Corey spilled mercury everywhere. He's being taken to the hospital. We know the doctors are going to be there. We need to go and try to save him," Scott explains


I nod and shut my books. We take Theo's truck. I sit in the back while Scott sits in the passenger seat. Theo tells a bull crap story about what happened between Stiles and Donovan. Theo claims Stiles beat Donovan's head to a bloodied pulp with a wrench, which Theo has in his glove compartment. He claims he got there too late to stop Stiles from killing the boy. He tells the truth about Donovan attacking Stiles and the wound on his shoulder, which Stiles lied about to me and Scott. Theo makes it sound like self-defense would just be an excuse Stiles would use for a wanton act of willful violence.


I glare at him through his rear view mirror. When we get to the hospital, everything is in pure chaos. Carts, a wheelchair and a gurney are overturned. Two paramedics are sitting on the floor being treated by a nurse. "He must have escaped," Scott says.


"You two search here, I'll go to the parking lot," I say.


Scott nods. "Okay, just be careful."


We break. I walk around the parking lot, looking in between the trucks and cars. Nothing. When I hear clicking, I look up to see the Surgeon. "Do you have him yet? Scott and Theo are looking for him. They find him, Scott will do anything to protect him."


He slowly shakes his head. "Hiding. Find him and kill him."


I raise an eyebrow. "Do what? Are you crazy? I kill an innocent, I lose my Alpha status."


"That will not happen. He is not an innocent. He is a failure." I press my lips firmly together. He sees my hesitation and grabs me by the neck. "What will you do?" he asks.


I feel him press on the back of my neck and it triggers something in me. My Alpha side. I begin to transform. I growl and look up at the Surgeon with my glowing eyes and baring teeth. "I will kill him to get rid of the failed experiment."


He releases me and I set out to sniff out Corey. I hear a fast beating heart near by. I go between the vans and it gets louder. I look over the van and my werewolf eyes show Corey pressed against the van. He has the ability to blend in with his surrounding like a chameleon. I flick out my claws and slash him across his neck. He becomes visible and he falls to the floor, holding his wound. He still has a faint heartbeat. "Scarlett...I thought you were...a good guy."


I pull my claws back. "Evil lies within everyone. I'm just really good at hiding it."


I slash his neck again and he dies. Black goo and a little mercury drip from my claws as I stand over his body. "You did well." I look up to see the Surgeon. "Now come. We have much to be done."


The Surgeon takes me back to their lair and straps me to a chair. My hands, ankles, and head are bound but leather straps. The Surgeon pries open my mouth and start poking around like a dentist. He uses a headlight and a small mirror. I can see that I have two extra teeth on the bottom row and my top row fangs are even sharper than before. Once he's done with that, he looks at my claws. He files them until they are sharper. He's preparing me for something. Maybe to when they kill Hayden.


Finally, he lets me go to follow them to the club, Sinema. When we get there, I see Liam with Hayden, kissing. I growl and prepare to attack them when I'm yanked back. The Pathologist orders me to wait for when Scott comes. He wants me to be the one to fight him off. In this state of mind, I agree. I'm not myself. I'm something greater but eviler. Liam is tossed into the wall when he tries to defend Hayden.


When he sees the Pathologist start to approach her, he yells, "Hayden, run!"


I hear a roar. When I look over, Scott comes in and tries to join in the fight. A loud buzz goes off in my head and I wolf out again. I swing from the ceiling and jump on Scott's back. He doesn't see it's me yet until he throws me off and I land on my feet. His eyes stop glowing and become light. "Scarlett?" I let out a loud howl. I claw at him until he falls back on the bar. "Scar, what's wrong with you? You're not you."


"You're right." I grab him by his throat and throw him across the bar. "I'm more powerful. I'm the Alpha."


He tries to retaliate but I grab his leg and throw him back to the floor. Theo comes out and tells Liam and Hayden to get out. He attacks the Surgeon but, once they get in close, he says "I need more time."


"The Perigee-syzygy. Until then," the doctor replies.


Scott is lying on the floor nearby but doesn't seem to understand what is being said. Before the doctors leave, the Surgeon looks at me and another loud buzz goes off in my head. My vision gets blurry and I fall to the floor. Before I black out, I see Scott try to crawl next to me and reaches for my hand. I feel his warm hand enclose over mine. "Scott..." I manage to whisper.


I wake up in Stiles' jeep. He has it repaired enough to drive but he told me he still has some trouble with the engine. I'm wrapped in one of those fire blankets and I'm weak all over again. "Hey, you're awake. Theo told me what happened and told me to drive you to the animal clinic. How do you feel?"


I rub my eyes and my forehead. "I'm weak, lightheaded and my memory is blurry." My voice is soft and hoarse like I've been screaming or yelling for a long period of time. "Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix."


He rubs my shoulder for comfort when he pulls up to the animal clinic. I see Theo's truck already there and Scott pulls up right when Stiles does. Rain is pouring and almost banging on the windows. Scott waits for us to step out. Stiles jumps out then helps me out. My legs feel like jelly and I stagger as I walk over to Scott. He doesn't say anything. He just puts the fire blanket over my head and puts his arm around me. I can tell Scott doesn't know what to say to Stiles after hearing Theo's huge lie about Donovan. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the bloody wrench. "Where... Where did you get that?" Stiles asks.


"I know about Donovan."


Scott doesn't go into detail of Theo lies, making Stiles think he knows the actual story. They stand there in awkward silence. Stiles finally asks, "You think I had a choice?"


"There's always a choice," is Scott's only reply.


"Yeah, well I can't do what you can, Scott. I know you two wouldn't have done it. You two probably would have just figured something out, right?"


"We try."


"Yeah because you're the McCall twins! You're the True Alphas! Guess what? All of us can't be True Alphas. Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes. Some of us are human!"


'Human' lingers in my ear, ringing. We do sometimes forget Stiles is the only human in the pack. We've all been bitten, aside from Kira. I don't know about Scott, but I sometimes treat Stiles like he's a werewolf too, forgetting he might be smart but is still human. Stiles tries so hard not to make mistakes and to be strong like we are. He tries so hard to protect people he loves like Scott and I do. He is trying so hard to be strong but, all the while, he's broken on the inside. "So, you had to kill him?" Scott asks.


"Scott, he was gonna kill my dad."


"The way that it happened...there's a point where, it's just, it's not self-defense anymore."


"What are you even talking about? I didn't have a choice, Scott. You two don't even believe me, do you?"


"I want to."


"Okay, alright so believe me then. Scott, Scarlett, say you believe me. Say it. Say you believe me."


"I..." I begin my sentence but Scott squeezes my hand.


"Stiles, we can't kill people that we're trying to save."


"Say you believe me."


"We can't kill people! Do you believe that?"


"What do I do about this? What do you two want me to do, okay? Just tell me how to fix this alright? Please just tell me what do you two want me to do."


"Don't worry about finding Lydia or Malia." Scott starts backing up to go inside. "You should talk to your dad."


He goes inside and leaves Stiles alone in the rain. I stay behind and wrap the blanket around the both of us and secure my arms around his waist. He slowly holds me back. "I believe you, Stiles," I whisper. "I believe you."

Comment