Never Let Me Go » Liam Dunbar

the one with the beta in the boathouse

Sophie scrambled to her feet, shoving the hair out of her face and staring at her sister. The moment was tense, and suddenly Sophie took off for the front door, swinging it open and freezing. Standing in front of the girl was a mass of teenagers, who all seemed to go quiet at the sight of her. She was in a fitted black skirt, a baggy grey tank top, a leather jacket, and had her cutest combat boots on. But she had tear stains on her pale face and a grim expression that looked off.

"Hey, are we in the right place?" Mason asked, looking a little confused as he took in Sophie. She looked from her friend to the people behind him, her stomach sinking.

"For the party...?" Garret prompted, lifting an eyebrow expectantly. Sophie licked her lips, raising a hand and shoving her hair out of her face.

"Absolutely." She breathed, stepping aside and letting the cheering mass of people enter the house in a wave. Mason gave her a huge hug, and she let him though she didn't hug back. He then disappeared after Garrett and Violet, who both grinned at her. Finally, all of the people were inside and Sophie was able to get out the front door, her pulse raising as she stepped out into the brisk night.

Instantly Sophie wrapped her arms tighter around herself and tugged on her sleeves, wishing that she'd picked to wear pants instead. But she couldn't be in a party, not with her sister, not after that stunt they'd just pulled. And as much as she wanted to believe it was a prank, she'd also just watched Liam transform into a werewolf- or at least what looked like one- before her very eyes.

The twigs and leaves crunched under Sophie's feet as she started off towards the boathouse, deviating from the path instead of staying in view of anyone wandering outside. She walked quickly, though nervous what she would find when she reached the boathouse. Part of her wanted to see Liam, but the other part wanted for all of this to be fake no matter how much she had to admit that it wasn't.

Finally the boathouse came into view and Sophie quickened her pace, trying to make her footsteps quiet as she began to squat, coming into view of the window. She ducked down and grabbed the edge of the glass, peering in the dirty glass to see Liam tied to a post while Scott and Kira talked quietly. She ducked under the window again as Liam's head shot in her direction, her heart racing.

After a long moment, Sophie looked again to see that Scott and Kira were now slow-dancing, smiles on their faces as they whispered to each other. Sophie looked to Liam, who was struggling with his constraints and staring right at her, not with his beautiful blue eyes, but with glowing gold ones. She gasped, pushing off of the window and tripping backwards. She fell flat on her butt before scrambling to her feet and turning on her heels.

Sophie didn't exactly know what told her to run, but she did. Her feet pounded and stumbled on the uneven forest floor as she sprinted as fast as she could into the woods, and not a second too soon as suddenly the sound of shattering glass met her ears. There was a shout and then a loud growl before suddenly Sophie could hear feet chasing after her.

She took a sharp left and delved further into the forest, her legs aching with the effort and her heart pounding so fast she was sure it was about to pound right out of her chest. The footsteps were getting louder and the furious growls angrier, which meant Liam- or at least the demon that had taken over Liam's body- was close behind her.

Finally the growls got quieter and Sophie was sure she'd escaped, coming to a stop and planting her hands on the trunk of a tree in front of her. She doubled over, breathing heavily and heaving, trying to control herself. Sophie had ended up in some sort of clearing, way north of the boathouse. It was eerily quiet and the only sound in the darkness was Sophie's heavy breathing.

She straightened up and held her hands over her head, looking around as she finally managed to control her heart rate. A flash of light broke the unnerving silence and there was a howl of pain from somewhere to Sophie's left, and then she began to hear the sound of someone running closer and closer.

A force slammed into Sophie's side and she fell to the ground with the mangled sounds of a scream and a roar. She hit the ground so hard that she felt a crunch, her arm landing beneath her at an odd angle. Sophie screamed again, this time out of pain, when suddenly the weight was lifted off of her.

The girl scrambled away, screaming in pain as she put weight on her arm. Instead she climbed to her feet and backed away from Liam, who was being pinned against a tree by Scott. "What's happening to me?" Liam asked, panting and trying to control himself.

"Exactly what happened to me." Scott answered promisingly, as if ending up like him was something to achieve. Both of them were monsters, disasters waiting to happen. Every single last one of them was a ticking time bomb. And just like Sophie, someone was always going to end up hurt.

"My mom, my stepdad- I can't do this to them again." Liam grunted, hunching over in pain.

Scott's eyebrows drew together as Sophie continued to back away, looking down to make sure she didn't trip. She stopped when she felt that she was a safe distance away. "What do you mean, again?"

"I got kicked out of school, and I deserved it." Liam admitted, taking in some heavy breaths. "The way they looked at me when they saw what I did to that car..." There were tears filling Liam's eyes and Sophie's breath caught in her throat. She hated feeling bad for him, after all he'd done. After he'd surely broken her arm, and she still wanted to comfort him.

"Liam, it's okay." Scott promised firmly.

Liam shook his head. "They- they can't see me like this. Like- like a-" Liam staggered over his words, looking around at the forest. Anywhere but at Sophie.

"Like a monster." She filled in. Scott turned to look at her, at the fear on the girl's face, at the protruding bone in her arm and the leaves in her hair.

Scott turned to Liam. "You're not a monster. You're a werewolf." Everyone went silent as Liam looked up at him, at the boy who'd transformed him and the girl who'd changed him.

"I'm sorry, Sophie." Liam breathed, pushing himself to his feet. "I'm so sorry."

"I know."