hold me closer

48

"Sorry, what are you doing here?" I asked. "How did you know about this?" I looked at Theo, confused as he stared at him.

"Maybe you should tell them who you really are," Theo said. "Hauptmann."

"What's going on, Theo?" I asked, nervous. "What do you know?"

"Who he really is."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I looked at Mr. Douglas and his eyes began to glow red. Theo grabbed my hand to follow him, but I pulled away. I took the daggers from my sheath and advanced towards him. I raised the dagger, then he grabbed my wrist and twisted it. I heard a bone break. I was lifted off my feet, then thrown into the wall.

"Break the barrier," I heard him say to Theo. "Break the barrier or I'll rip you in two."

"No... "

I looked at Mr. Douglas and he looked at me, then back at Theo. His claws dug into his back. "Or should I tear her limb from limb?"

Theo broke the line of ash. He was thrown onto the ground yards away from the cage. I groaned and slowly got to my feet as Mr. Douglas opened the cage. He backed the ghost rider into the corner and said, "It's been a long time."

The ghost rider took out its whip and aimed it for him, but Mr. Douglas grabbed it and pulled. Then, he opened his mouth and started to eat his brain. But that wasn't all. Once half of its head was gone, he took something out from the brain and ate it.

I took my bo staff. He tilted his head and chuckled. He wasn't a normal werewolf. He was faster. He grabbed my throat and squeezed until it got harder to breathe. I felt myself flying through the air and I hit the wall, then the ground.

I groaned in pain as I sat up. I glared at Theo who tried to help me and he stopped. I grabbed my bo staff, relieved that my wrist had healed. I looked at Theo as he let out a sharp breath, leaning against the wall.

"Let me see it," I told him. Slowly, he turned around. He took off his jacket and I lifted his hoodie. "I'm glad you're speed healing isn't so fast. Let you feel some pain for once."

"You guys are never gonna trust me, are you?" he questioned.

"Never," I responded. I pressed my hand against his wound and he groaned again.

"When I was dragged underground, I woke up in the hospital," Theo said, staring into space. "I was in the morgue. I got out and into the hallway. Then my sister appeared and ripped my heart out. And then I woke up again in the same place. It was like a- "

"Dream," I finished. He turned his head to look at me. Quickly, I pressed his wound again, making him wince. "I guess you deserved it."

"Yeah, I guess I did," he said with a sad tone.

Based on that sentence alone, it felt like he had changed. I could sense that he had. Whatever trauma he faced, it seemed like he thought differently. But I couldn't listen to my gut instincts. He was still dangerous.

The door opened again. I turned around and the others came in and saw the dead ghost rider. Hayden's eyes stared past me and at Theo. She walked towards him and lifted him off the ground.

"What did you do?" asked Hayden fiercely.

"It was Mr. Douglas," he answered quickly. "He ate his brain."

"Scott was right," Liam said. "I was wrong. I'm sending you back."

"It was Mr. Douglas," I told Liam. "He threatened to kill me... He had to break the barrier. You made the right choice."

"It wasn't his brain," Scott said softly. "Mr. Douglas ate his pineal gland."

"Lucy's right." Mason looked at Liam. "It couldn't have been Theo. These murders have been going on for weeks."