Void of Life [Steo]

Chapter 3: Eat Up

Theo was in a mood. The chimeras weren't obeying him; not without incentive anyway. Hayden was the worst. All she ever wanted to do was spend time with that beta, Liam. If she kept going on about it, Theo thought he might kill him, or her. He was driving back to the asylum now, because he had to feed Stiles and Lydia.

When Theo went into the room, Stiles didn't even react. Theo put one of the trays with porridge and water on the desk. Stiles continued to stare mindlessly ahead, not acknowledging the fact that he had entered. At first he thought Stiles might have already snapped, but his expression of forceful determination gave him away.

"Don't play games with me, Stilinski..." Stiles still did not react. Theo leaned in and grabbed Stiles' face with one hand. This took Stiles by surprise and he jerked away from Theo's touch. "That's what I thought." Stiles' eyes finally met with Theo's. As usual, they were full of loathing.

"I'm going to untie you, so you can eat this food. I'm guessing you won't be stupid enough to try and escape, or to take me on." Stiles said nothing in rebuttal, so Theo turned and left, locking the door behind him as he went.

Next, Theo crossed the hall into the room where Lydia was tied to the chair. As he entered, she looked up, not in alarm, but instead to throw him a forceful look. Theo expected she probably already knew he was about to come in, what with her banshee powers. In actuality, Theo had no idea how developed she was with her powers.

Her red hair was plastered to her forehead and a drop of blood had rolled from her temple to her chin. She didn't look like she was injured too badly from the blow to the head.

Theo crossed the room and once again planted the tray on the desk. "I will untie that gag if you promise not to go all banshee on me." Lydia didn't find that funny at all. Theo always found that his sense of humour was an acquired taste. "Nod if you agree to these terms."

Lydia nodded softly, wincing slightly. Theo untied her gag and waited for a few seconds, half expecting her to start screaming anyway. She didn't. "How long have you been awake, Lydia?" he asked.

Lydia looked at Theo as if considering whether or not to answer. "There's no clock in here." she replied, curtly and with some satisfaction.

"Ah, yes, you're right. I bet it's driving you mad, not knowing how many seconds have ticked by, while you remain helpless. How long will it take for your friends to rescue you? How long will it be until they give up?"

The smug look on Lydia's face literally dropped off. "My friends will never give up on finding me. They will find you and I hope they kill you."

Theo remained unperturbed. "Well, isn't that strange? That's basically the same thing that our friend Stiles said." It was Theo's turn to be satisfied now, as he watched Lydia remember that she wasn't the only one Theo was keeping hostage.

"Let him go. Let him go and I will do anything for you. I swear." Theo was disappointed with the desperation in her tone. Up until that point he had seen her as a rather strong woman. She clearly loved Stiles way too much. It had opened up a weak spot for her, one that Theo was rather eager to play on in the future.

"It's sweet that you would do that for him, but I'm afraid I'm going to pass on that. Turns out he's quite a bit of fun to play with. That and I have great things planned for him. Things that greatly rely on you, Lydia."

"What do you mean they rely on me?"

Theo moved around to the back of Lydia's chair and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "The time will come when I need you to scream. If you don't do as I say, I will force those screams out of you. Do you understand?" After a pause, Lydia nodded.

Finally convinced that he had gotten into her head, he untied her arms. "Eat up." Having said this, Theo left the room, without looking back at Lydia and locking the door behind him once again.

Theo debated whether or not to check in on Stiles, but eventually decided to leave him to his own devices. Instead, he walked to the next corridor down, where his bedroom, bathroom and kitchen was situated. All Theo wanted to do was sleep. He was exhausted after a long day of being an alpha and threatening redheads.

Theo stripped down to his boxers  and climbed into his bed. As he tried to fall asleep, he got to thinking. It seemed that all he had been doing lately was trying to get to people and inside their heads. He was using Stiles to get to Scott and planned to get to Malia and Lydia so that he could get to Stiles. It was a vicious chain of psychological manipulation. Theo was starting to think he was better at manipulating people than he was at using his own claws.

He was dreading going to school again the next day, but not for the usual reasons. He didn't care about math tests or who he would ask to the next school dance. Instead, he was dreading having to deal with Scott's pack.

Theo wondered whether Lydia and Stiles had been reported missing. He was certain the pack would suspect him immediately. He would act nonchalant; let them put up their missing posters, but flat out deny any involvement in the disappearances. One thing that Theo knew for sure was that the next few weeks would be a rough patch in his plan.

He wished he could say that he slept peacefully, but he would be lying. He hadn't had a comfortable sleep since his father died.