Under the exit lights《camren》

"You look like death personified"

Normani was crushed.

Mama Hamilton had finally gotten Lauren to a more stable condition and provided nutrients through a needle into her system as she called on the spirits for assistance. She knew the spirits would help Lauren, they knew the prophecy of the second great war, but that didn't stop her worrying. 

Cole sat in the kitchen as Normani helped to wrap up his broken thumb in a small cast. He had burst in screaming with Lauren unconscious in his arms, her body beaten and broken. You could see her ribs through her shirt and the scratches and bruises covering her body from mistreatment. It broke Normani's heart, and all she could do was stop and stare. 

Normani realized the dread doctors had tried to break her through her strength. They had thought by weakening her, they could take her power. 

But they were wrong. 

They had kept her caged and unfed to weaken her, but that hadn't helped. Lauren's speciality didn't come from her strength, no matter how great it was, it came from her spirit. There was something special about Lauren's spirit, but it wasn't Normani's story to tell. Lauren had only ever spoken about it once, and she could definitely understand the girl's reluctance to talk about it at all.

They could have caged her, but now Lauren was free. Normani just wondered what would happen when the girl woke up

Normani spun around as Camila burst through the front door at a sprint and ran into the living room where Lauren lay looking half dead on the floor. The damaged girl was breathing normally, luckily; but she twitched in weird places and her eyes were shut tight in obvious pain. Camila crouched over her and watched her carefully, worry etched onto her face.

The pack then came in, each looking as bad as Cole; except one. Shawn looked like a walking skeleton. He was shirtless, his face and body beaten and bruised. You could see the bones peeking through his ribs and he was bleeding in odd places. His lips were cracked as he smiled at her, but Normani could only bring it in herself to rush to him and help him to a chair.

"Dude... You look like death personified." Billie said as she sat tiredly on the kitchen floor.

"Nice to see you too, Bill..." Shawn said, grimacing as Normani pressed a wet clothe into his bleeding side. "Thank you..." he said, Normani nodded grimly.

"Thank you, Normani." A voice appeared behind the young witch. Normani turned around to find a teary eyed Dinah behind her, small smile on her lips. "You saved us."

Normani didn't quite know what to say, but it seemed like no words were necessary as Dinah wrapped her arms around her torso in a big hug, and Ally followed suit. The rest would have too, but found they were all a bit too bruised to move at that moment. Instead, they smiled and nodded in agreement, expressing their sentiments to today's savior.

"It's the least I could do, anyway. I had to do something to help Lauren and Shawn get out of there." Normani blushed and carried on helping the wolves recover.

"What happened to you guys in there?" Ally asked Shawn worriedly, gasping as Sophie appeared and began to inspect her ribs. The red-haired girl was frantic, moving from one wolf to another to assess who needed the most help. She settled on Ally first, who had three broken ribs. Normani wrapped Dinah's fractured arm.

"It's a long story to tell..." Shawn began. But he did tell them.

He told them everything.

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Camila was frantic.

She hated seeing Lauren in pain. It physically hurt to see Lauren in pain. Mama Hamilton had finished giving Lauren a drip to give her the nutrients she needed, but she had warned Camila that Lauren would probably be very weak for a while. She knew that she shouldn't be hoping for too much, who knew what Lauren would be like when she woke up.