Chapter Twenty-Two: Arguments And Splitting Up

(The Belly Of The Beast)

***

After the story Laura had shared and the revelation bombshells she dropped, Laura only had one thing to say to the seven of them about the situation happening to them—to Nick and Sarah.

"Where is Chris Hackett?"

"Shut up!" Ryan yelled, on the defensive.

"Wow. Rude," Laura muttered.

Looking at them, Ryan yelled, "Guys. She murdered Kaylee!"

"We have been over this," Laura said irritably.

"Just because she was a werewolf doesn't mean she wasn't still a person," Nora said, looking at her. "How is she any different than Max? Or our friends?"

Laura was quiet at that.

"Uh, Kaitlyn, Allison, what do I do?" Ryan asked them.

"Oh wow. Real strong showing on the leadership front," Laura snarked.

"I said shut up!" Ryan yelled.

"Oh no way. I am not getting involved. This is all you, buddy," Kaitlyn declined. "Just... think about everything that's happened tonight, okay? That's all I say."

"Yeah, this is your call, Ryan. I'll keep my arrow at her, but that's it," Allison told him, eyes narrowed at Laura before she added in a softer voice, "Especially about Nick and Sarah. About what that motherfucking werewolf did to them."

"The body in the lake, too," Abi reminded. "Remember what Jacob said."

"Yeah, right," Dylan muttered.

"I forgot about the body in the lake," Hayden admitted, Nora giving her an understanding look.

"Listen to me. These people are not who you think they are. I promise," Laura said

Laura had a point, Hayden could admit that. And like Laura, she was angry. Angry that Nick had been bitten, that he was doomed to transform into a monster every full moon unless the werewolf who bit him was killed with silver on that full moon, angry that this curse could take her brother away and Hayden would be unable to save him unless she could find that werewolf and kill it, angry at this whole situation that had caused her brother to be bitten. And she wanted to find the werewolf. God, she wanted to find it, was itching to find the werewolf that bit her brother and use one of Allison's arrows to stab it and free Nick, to have her brother back again.

Just as Laura wanted to cure Max badly, so did Hayden. On that, they had some common ground.

"Hold up. You... you said you heard a woman crying? When you escaped?" Ryan questioned.

"Why? What do you know?" Laura demanded.

"It's the ghost story he told us about, right Kaitlyn?" Abi asked the dark-haired girl in question.

Before Kaitlyn could answer, Laura corrected in an annoyed voice, "This isn't a ghost story. It's a creature feature. It's really happening, and you're all in it."

"Really? And I thought it was still a summer camp slasher flick," Nora snarked, rolling her eyes.

Laura ignored Nora as she walked to Abi, saying, "Your bracelet..."

"What are you doing?" Ryan demanded as Allison swivelled the arrow around and Abi took off her bracelet.

"I'm trying to help," Laura replied as she took the bracelet with a small hiss and put it in an empty shell. 

"Worst case scenario, this should help, just like with those arrows and that other bracelet," Laura told her as she handed the bracelet-laden shell to her.

"And this will kill them? For good?" Abi asked.

"Yep."

"But what if it's Nick or Sarah or someone?"

"Worst case scenario," was Laura's response.

"No. No way. That is not an option," Allison growled. "You kill Nick, this arrow takes out your remaining eye."

"Yeah, no way in fucking hell are you killing my brother," Hayden interjected, a glare on her face as she held the knife threateningly. "We cure Nick, Sarah and Max, or you're not getting Chris Hackett at all. That's the deal."

"I didn't know we were making deals," Laura sniped.

"When it comes to my brother living to be human again or dying as a monster, I will make all the deals I can so that he gets to fucking live as a human," Hayden fired back. "And like Nora said, you want to cure Max—why are Nick and Sarah so different? Why should you be the only one who gets to save someone you love?"

Again, Laura didn't have an answer to that.

Hayden turned away as Allison lowered her arrow, saying lowly, "I can't believe you would think that or that we would let you do that."

She put it back in her quiver as Nora rested the axe on the ground, scowling at Laura like she wanted to tear her apart at the first sign she would kill Sarah, before she picked it up again and unclipped the bracelet's clasp so she could wrap it around the blade of the axe. As she did, Kaitlyn turned to Ryan and scolded, "Ryan, put that fucking thing down before you hurt someone."

Ryan did so as Laura took it back, stepping away from them as she rested it on her shoulder and asked, "So. Come on. Where does Chris Hackett live? When he's not at camp, I mean."

She looked directly at Ryan, who noticed as he asked her back, "What makes you think I know that?"

"Uh... you guys are counsellors, right? You've spent the last two months here," Laura reasoned.

Again silence reigned, but Hayden's confusion was genuine—she had no idea where he lived when he wasn't at camp. It had never even crossed her mind.

At the lack of answers offered to her, frustration grew across Laura's face and edged her tone as she lowered the gun and said, "He's not in the storm shelter. I'm clearly getting nowhere hunting him in the woods. I need a place to start."

"Well, I don't know where he is and I am certain most of us here don't," Allison answered, still glaring at Laura for the implication she'd kill Nick.

A creak came as Kaitlyn stood up and pointed outside a window, saying, "I think that spooky house behind these woods."

They all looked as Hayden saw it too—a house that looked like it came out of a horror movie, eerie fog and all.

"Dude!" Ryan yelled.

"What!?" Kaitlyn asked as she walked back to them.

Ryan looked at Laura before he said, "Listen, there could be another way. Have you thought about that?"

"I've spent the last month thinking about nothing else," Laura responded. 

When Ryan still gave her a look, Laura walked up to him and said angrily, "Look, when the sun comes up, I'm stuck until the next full moon. So is Max. So is anyone else he's bitten."

"Why is that our problem?" Ryan demanded.

"Why don't you ask your friends in the woods?!" Laura yelled back.

"Don't forget about Nick, dude," Kaitlyn reminded before Hayden or Allison could.

"And Sarah," Nora added.

Still, neither of them backed down, stubbornness and anger causing friction between them.

"Okay. Any closer and we're gonna have to spray you two with cold water," Kaitlyn interjected. "Ryan, let's just get out of here."

"Agreed," Nora replied. Hayden nodded—she wanted to make sure no one else got bit, maybe try and see if she could find the werewolf that bit Nick and Sarah and save them. Because if Nick wasn't cured, when they went back home...

No. Hayden had to save Nick. Him still being stuck as a werewolf wasn't an option. Not for her.

Allison remained quiet, a determined frown on her face as she clutched her bow.

Between Laura and Ryan, Laura was the first to back down as she paced around, saying in frustration and urgency, "I'm running out of time. And if I can't find Chris Hackett... then a lot more people are going to get hurt."

At that, Hayden winced as her claw marks twinged with pain.

Ryan hesitated, conflicting emotions surging over his face before he said, "I'm going with you."

In unison, Hayden, Dylan, Kaitlyn, Abi and Nora exclaimed, "What?!"

"Uh, yeah, what they said," Laura replied.

"I'm going to show you that Chris Hackett has nothing to do with this," Ryan explained. "He wanted us to stay inside tonight. He wanted us safe."

"I don't care what you think," Laura snapped.

"I don't care what you think!" Ryan retorted.

Laura glared at him. "Shut up."

A beat, before she said snappishly, "Fine. Do whatever you want."

As she turned away, Kaitlyn looked at Ryan and reminded, "You saw what happened to Nick and Sarah. They were bitten."

"So was Dylan. If you hadn't cut his hand off, three of us would have been werewolves right now, not just two," Hayden pointed out.

"Everything's gonna be fine," Ryan muttered, facing away, before he looked back at Laura and asked, "That cop car you stole. Where is it?"

"Ditched in the lake," Laura answered.

"Why?!" Ryan demanded.

"Oh my God..." Nora groaned, fisting her hair.

"It was a stolen cop car!" Laura exclaimed. 

Ryan sighed before turning to Dylan and told him, "You're gonna have to try and fix the minivan. Get somewhere safe."

Hayden opened her mouth to protest but Ryan just shook his head at her as Dylan leaned toward her and murmured, "You can't help Nick if you get killed."

Hayden shot a glare at Dylan's sound logic as Ryan asked Laura, "How long do you have?"

"An hour or two. I dunno... it doesn't seem like an exact science," Laura answered.

"Then we'd better get going," Ryan said.

Before they could leave, Allison stepped in their path and declared, "I'm coming with you."

"Allison—" Ryan started but Allison fixed him with a glare as she reasoned, "I have silver arrows. I have more of a chance to kill these bastards than most of us. And I want to save Nick and Sarah. I want to shoot dead the motherfucker that bit the boy I love and get him back to me. To Hayden. To get Sarah back to Nora. To get them back to all of us."

Allison turned to Laura and added harshly, "I'll help you kill Chris Hackett—fuck, I'll shoot him myself if he's the one who turned them. But if you shoot a werewolf and that is Nick or Sarah... then the werewolf I'm gonna kill is not the one who bit them. It will be you. You've got a problem with that?"

Laura looked at her, something like admiration sparking in her eye. "No problem at all."

With that, she turned and headed for the door.

As she did, Nora and Hayden grabbed Ryan and Allison by the arms, respectively, stopping the pair.

"Look, if it means saving Nick and Sarah, then do what you have to," Nora murmured, eyeing Ryan specifically as she added, "Even if it means killing Chris Hackett. But don't kill any werewolves unless you know that it isn't Sarah or Nick. Because I know she would."

"She's just focused on saving Max," Hayden whispered. "And while I admire her for it, it won't be at the cost of Nick. Just... try to make sure she's saving not just him."

"We will," Allison promised. "Trust me, I won't let her kill Nick and Sarah—I meant what I said about shooting her."

Ryan nodded in agreement. "She won't touch Nick or Sarah. I promise."

Hayden bit her lip as Nora eyed Ryan before accepting his promise and letting him go as Allison moved closer to them and murmured, "We'll bring them back. We'll cure them and make them human again."

Looking directly at Hayden, Allison murmured so that only she and Hayden could hear, "I'll bring Nick back to us. No matter what it takes."

Hayden swallowed, before she and Nora pulled Allison and Ryan into hugs.

"Don't get yourselves killed. Both of you," Nora advised.

"We'll try not to," Ryan replied. "Don't get yourselves killed either."

"We'll try not to," Hayden echoed as they all let go.

Then, they were turning away and left the pool house.

Once they were gone, Hayden and Nora turned back to the others as they got themselves ready to leave. The shotgun they'd been using all night was still there and Kaitlyn quickly took possession of it while Nora picked up her axe, Sarah's bracelet shining across it. Seeing it had Nora grip it tighter as Hayden looked at her steel knife. The axe could kill a werewolf with the silver bracelet wound around it, and the shotgun had enough power that it could knock down one for a bit. But her knife would probably be like a toothpick without it actually dealing any real damage.

That was when something cold and slippery dropped in her hand.

Hayden looked up to see Abi in front of her, and in her other hand was the bracelet Laura had put in the shell casing.

"Abi—" she started, but Abi shook her head and said, "You need it more than I do. And just... imagine how good it would feel using it to stab the werewolf that bit Nick. Especially since I think Nick would want you to have as much of a fighting chance as you can have."

Hayden stared at Abi, overwhelmed by what she'd given Hayden, that she'd been right that Nick would want her to use the bracelet.

So Hayden accepted it, winding it around the blade, the silver bracelet glinting brightly against the slightly duller steel. And after Kaitlyn checked to see how her wounds were—thank God her right arm was her dominant arm, not her left—they abandoned the pool house and returned back to the lodge, ready to fix the van and get the hell out of here.

And not come back until Allison, Ryan and Laura had finished it and Nick and Sarah were human again.

***

>:)

Yeah, this was a tense chapter argument-wise, but some things are set in motion. And yeah, no way in hell are Hayden, Allison and Nora gonna let Laura kill Nick and Sarah—she'd have to do it over their cold, dead bodies

And yes, Allison is going with Ryan and Laura to the Hackett House while everyone else is going to the lodge!! And both Allison, Hayden and Nora really want to murder the werewolf that bit their loved ones 

Also, I think, depending, this fic might be thirty-forty chapters long, so we're getting close to the end!! It's been really fun writing this fic, even though I'll be sad to say goodbye to these characters, but it has been such a blast. Still, I hope you enjoyed it—and enjoy what else is in store in these next coming chapters >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!