Control // Liam Dunbar

Chapter 30

Scott's POV
"I swear, I haven't heard from her since last night." Liam seemed very eager to get away from our interrogation.

"And you're sure she didn't come around here?" Stiles asked for a third time.

"YES!" Liam shouted.

Stiles and I exchanged a look or sympathy, "Liam we're sorry, but Ashley has been out of control lately. Her anxiety is worse than it's ever been and we're scared of what she'll do. She could hurt somebody, or herself." I put a hand on his shoulder and tried to keep my tone smooth, so he wouldn't lash out.

"She hurt me! Why should I care? She's not my problem anymore!" He walked over to his sofa and sat down with a huff, obviously frustrated.

There was a long moment of silence before anyone spoke, but Stiles was the one to break it.

"Liam please, she needs you."

"Yeah and I needed her! " He yelled back at us, and his breath picked up as he turned his head to the ground.

"She loves you Liam." I said softly.

He sniffled, and looked up at me with bright yellow eyes, "Love's a joke."

With that he stormed off up to his bedroom, and we heard the door slam from the first floor. The sound of shattering glass and deep sobs followed.
Stiles and I walked out of Liam's house, figuring he wasn't the help we thought he was right now.

"What now?" Stiles asked as he slammed the door of his Jeep.

I reached into the backseat of the Jeep and pulled out one of Ashley's sweatshirts that she always kept under the seat for the days when Stiles' heating system was broken down, "We track her down."

~

Liam's POV
I picked up the water glass sitting on my dresser and threw it hard at the wall, shards flying in all directions. The momentum from the swing sent my body stumbling backwards until my back hit the wall behind me, and I slid my spine down until I was slumped on the floor, sobs drowning my thoughts. I knew deep down; I still would take on the world for her. The thought of her in danger sent a chill to my broken heart and made me sick to my stomach; who would ever want to hurt her? She's so kind, and intelligent, and beautiful- wait what am I saying?! She broke my heart! I shouldn't still care about her at all!

But I do. With every fiber of my soul I still care about her. All I want is to be able to keep her safe again.

"Then why are you still sitting here?" A voice in my head asked me while I still sat on my bedroom floor with tear stained cheeks. It was that question that motivated me to pick myself up from the floor and change from my workout clothes to a pair of blue jeans and a navy blue sweatshirt. I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled on my Nike sneakers, cramming my phone into my jeans pocket and dashing down the stairs. I slammed the door behind me and took off running, I didn't know where... just that I had to find Ashley.

~

Ashley's POV
My vision was blurry when I regained conscientiousness, and whatever room I woke up in was flooded with moonlight. I then realized that no one knew where I was, including myself. The only person that knew of my whereabouts was the man who brought me here- Theo.

I sat up slowly, my head still pounding, and blood staining the sleeves of my top; battle wounds from the tackle.

"Why have I not healed?" I whispered quietly to myself, or so I thought.

"It's the anxiety." Theo's voice echoed through the room, "It's making you weak, and out of control."

I stood, "Wh-Why did you do this to me?" My voice shook and stuttered, "I thought you loved me."

"I could say the same to you Ashley Marie McCall." Theo emerged from the darkness, standing tall only 20 feet infront of me. His eyes fixed on me, "I thought we had something special. Best friends since diapers, reunited after years, and then teenage lovers. But no; turns out that we dated for about two weeks, and the entire time you've been trying to get back with your ex."

"H-How did you know that?" I asked through shock.

"Oh Ashley, my dear, I know everything." He moved closer to me as I continued to coward back until my spine crashed into the cold cinder wall. Small tears began to fall down my cheeks as the fear grew into terror.

"I know that you've missed Liam from the start, I know that you've been lying to me this ENTIRE relationship, AND I KNOW THAT YOU NEVER LOVED ME!" He screamed. At this point he was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my skin, and could count the hairs on his chin.

My small tears turned into a flood, and what tiny whimpers escaped my lips escalated into high pitched sobs.

"That's not true." I said so quietly that my breath barely touched his face.

"Yes Ash it is, and you know what else is true?" He moved his face so close to mine that I had to face away from him, and his lips brushed my neck, then  I noticed a window at the top of the walls; we were in a basement room, "that no one's going to miss you."

My eyes snapped open at his words end, "what do you mean?"

"See Ash I was going to take out Stiles to get Scott at his weakest. But then you just fell into my arms like a lost, desperate, puppy. So I decided that there's no better way to get in the alpha's head than to kill his little baby sister." Theo's voice lost its soothing tone that once calmed me, and now carried a menacing wind. I could hear his sharp claws extract as he quickly opened his fist.

Time seemed to stop as my brain went numb and my instincts took over me. I swung my knee towards my chest, crushing his male extremities under it, and as he fell into a balled position I pushed his body away from mine. He grunted and I used the heel of my boots to send a powerful blow to his face. Theo fell backwards onto the floor and lied there groaning in pain, I took this opportunity to go for the window at the corner. The low ceilings made my vertical disadvantage less of a problem as I smashed the glass with my fist. Shards decorating the floor and some snug into my knuckles, I wiped away the pieces on the windowsill and pushed myself up the wall, climbing through the wooden pane and onto the wet grass.
A tall chain linked fence separated me from the rest of the world, and I began to climb to up the metal, my hands burning and hot blood rushing down my wrists. As I swung my leg over the top of the fence I felt a hand grasp my ankle hard, and sharp claws digging deep into my flesh.

I screamed, and looked down at Theo's bruised face below me. His eyes were bright yellow and his fangs dripping with saliva. He put his other hand on my thigh and dug his claws in again, going deeper than my ankle. At the sudden pain I slashed my hand towards his face, leaving three perfect cuts across his cheeks and nose. He was stunned, and I pulled free from his grasp.

When I jumped down from the fence I fell to the ground, my left leg was shredded from his claws. I looked for the nearest place that I knew was still open, and of course, my eyes met the school.

~

Stiles' POV
It was dark now, and we'd been following Ash's scent for miles.

"Stiles I lost it!" Scott yelled to me over the wind.

"Try harder! We've got to be close!" I yelled back to him.

Scott took another deep inhale of the sweatshirt and then brought his head out the window again, "STILES STOP THE JEEP!" He yelled suddenly.

I turned my head back to the road ahead of me and saw a figure in my headlights. My foot hit the breaks faster than ever before, but a deep thud sounded off, and the figure fell to the ground.