Everything Has Changed [LIAM DUNBAR] #2

All My Fault

Liam jolted awake, the sharp pain in his arm ripping through his body. His first thought was about Aspen.

Where was she?

He spotted Hayden lying face-down on a table, the three doctors hovering over her. There was blood- black blood- seeping through her red shirt.

One of the Doctors turned and started walking toward Liam. He panicked, twisting against the restraint embedded in his arm, when the Doctor walked past, and he finally realized where the Doctor was actually going.

He was going toward a girl, pale against a metal examination table, disconnecting the tube that ran out of the crook of her elbow, crimson blood splattering as he removed it.

Liam wanted to know why they were taking her blood. Why so much? But his gaze was locked on the particular girl that they were taking blood from.

Aspen.

The other two doctors marched over, there boots excruciatingly slow on the concrete, one with a drill in hand.

He tried to call out, to get them to stop, but as soon as they flipped her over, pulling up the corner of the shirt she was wearing, he was speechless.

The whir of the drill made him look away from the unconscious girl, squeezing his eyes shut. So the blood wasn't enough- they needed bone marrow.

Liam knew he had to do something, something to save her. He undoubtedly knew Aspen had lost a lot of blood already, and she might even be dead, but he couldn't give up hope. He wasn't going to lose her. Not like this.

Pushing onto his side, he moaned in pain, more black liquid oozing from his arm. Liam had lost a lot of strength, and suddenly was inevitably aware of it now. His arms gave out and he collapsed on his back, squeezing his eyes shut again.

"Stop!" he cried out, "Stop hurting her!"

A sudden burst of strength filled him and he sat up slowly, feeling the fangs poke into his bottom lip and he roared, eyes glowing.

One of the doctors walked briskly toward him, bringing back his boot.

It connected with jaw, and Liam was out like a light.

[•]

Aspen dragged open her eyes to see two blurry figures above her. She blinked until she could make out who they were- Liam and Hayden.

She saw the pained expression on Hayden's face and immediately remembered what happened.

"Where are we?" Aspen asked hurriedly, her words slurring together. "Are you okay?"

She tried to sit up but a wave of nausea washed over her and they forced her down onto her back. "They took your blood," Liam told her, "A lot of it."

Aspen nodded, holding a hand to where she felt the red liquid trickling from her body. The Dread Doctors obviously didn't care about hygiene, seeing as the wound was open and covered in dirt, much like the concrete below her.

She squinted, the bright light shining through a hole in the wall suddenly blinding.

"Where are we?" she repeated. Hayden and Liam looked around. "I-I don't know," he said quietly.

Liam met Hayden's eyes and he slowly stood, Hayden ripping off a strip from the bottom of Aspen's shirt to tie around her arm so they could stop the bleeding. Aspen shifted on the ground, eyes closing involuntarily, and she reached a hand to Hayden's side. She pulled her hand away, staring at the slick, black ends of her fingertips.