TW: self-harm, blood, food issues, mentions of past abuse, dream sequence with character death, suicidal thoughts
Liam walked as fast as he could into the house; he knew Scott was watching him until he got safely inside, but he just hated the fact that he was alone. He wasn't alone; his best friends and boyfriend were inside. He didn't know what he was going to do; he couldn't keep Theo with him forever. The chimera had to start going to work again, and eventually, Liam would return to school. He was going to have to relearn how to be without him for time.
He slowly knocked on the door as Mrs. Hewitt opened it; she glanced down at him and smiled. She was basically his second mom throughout his entire childhood; she was a great lady and always took care of Liam.
"Liam!" she smiled, "can I hug you?"
"Yes," the beta nodded as the woman wrapped him in her embrace. He froze thinking of his mom with her; they were best friends as much as Mason and he were.
"Liam, honey are you okay?"
"I miss her," Liam admitted, tears streaming down his face.
"I do too, I do too," she spoke calmly, "here." She handed him a tissue and started some hot water for hot chocolate, Liam's favorite as a kid. "The boys are downstairs; I'm sure your boyfriend heard you walk in. He loves you, Liam."
"That he does," Liam nodded, getting himself calmed down.
"Your friends all care about you a lot, and we missed having you around. You know you two can always stay here."
"Thank you, I'm trying to get used to being at home, but it's hard."
"It's not going to be easy, but you seem to be handling it pretty well with everything. I don't think any boy your age would be as strong as you are right now."
"Maybe," Liam shrugged.
"Mason said you are waiting at least a week for school if Theo needs to go to work. You can come to hang with me on days I'm off or Sam is off on some days too."
"I might," Liam nodded.
"I'm going to call the rest of them up for hot chocolate."
"I can go get them," Liam suggested.
"How about you just get settled?"
Liam smiled at the woman as he heard Theo coming up the stairs first. He was probably awaiting Liam's calls for him. This was the longest he had been without him since getting rescued. Theo was his anchor in more ways than one.
"Feeling better?" Theo sat down beside him on the couch.
"Yepp," Liam nodded, "I missed you."
"It's been an hour and a half, Little Wolf," Theo chuckled.
"It felt longer."
Theo smiled slightly as Nolan handed them both a mug. The boy was way too excited to see Liam today.
"Hey, Nolan," Liam looked up.
"Better day?"
"A lot," Liam smiled.
"What do you want to do?" Mason asked taking a seat.
"We should play a game," Liam suggested.
"As long as you don't break the board in half like last time," Corey shook his head.
"He broke a board in half?" Alec questioned them.
"I beat him in monopoly," Theo smirked.
"You did not! You cheated."
"Making deals with Mason over you is not cheating."
"He's my best friend, and you are my boyfriend."
"And you are a sore loser."
"Uno?" Corey stopped their bickering, "there's no board."
"Sí," Liam smiled.
Twenty minutes later, they were still playing the same game. Mason had called uno three times, but either Corey or Liam blocked him each time. Theo had a half the stack after Liam decided to give him every draw 4 and 2 in the entire game. Nolan had the other half because the boy couldn't seem to find a yellow card. Alec kept on forgetting to call Uno. Liam was too busy blocking everyone else to even care about his own hand, when finally, Corey won.
"Why does Corey win most of the time?" Alec whined.
"Because you guys try to take out one another and forget about the game," the chameleon laughed.
"I mean he's not wrong," Nolan sighed throwing down his cards, completely green and blue.
"How do you manage to do that every time?" Theo stared at him.
"I don't have good luck."
Liam smiled at his friends; everything seemed like one of their usual puppy pack nights. Maybe, everything would be back to normal soon.
They ordered pizza which Liam couldn't necessarily eat, so Theo set up the stupid supplement. They tried to watch a movie to distract Liam from it, but it was uncomfortable. Melissa warned them it might make him sick the first couple of times before he got used to it, and she was right. Theo was sitting next to Liam on the bathroom floor for at least 10 minutes when he coughed up the entire supplement.
Liam looked up finally, exhausted and dizzy, "I don't like that."
"Well, you need it," Theo sighed, wiping off his face and washing his hands, "Mason's mom is going to get you some electrolyte powder to get something in you."
"Okay," Liam nodded, "I thought I would be fine by now."
"Liam, we don't know what they did to you fully. We can guess, but nobody knows. You were tortured, injected with strange supplements, and your body can only heal so fast."
"I guess," Liam sighed as Theo picked him up to carry him back down the stairs.
"Here," Mrs. Hewitt handed him a glass, "I called Melissa too, and if you can try something else she suggested some broth, so I brought you some in a mug. Don't push yourself too much though. I'll be right upstairs if you need me."
"Thank you," Liam nodded softly at her.
"Is Alec asleep?" Theo looked over at Nolan trapped under the werewolf.
"On my legs, I can't move them," Nolan muttered, "he does this all the time."
They all laughed at Nolan's unfortunate situation as Mason distributed blankets to them. Alec and Nolan took the floor since they were already down there. Corey and Mason took the pull-out bed, while Theo and Liam were curled together on the futon. Mason put continued the movie as they all tried to get some sleep.
"Liam, wake up," a woman called out.
Liam groaned and opened his eyes; he felt like he couldn't move. He panicked seeing the basement he was trapped in again.
"You thought you got away," the nurse cackled, "but we aren't done yet."
"Where are my friends?"
"Your friends?" she laughed again as the man came back in carrying two bodies.
Theo's lifeless form was thrown down along with Nolan's.
"How?" Liam looked up tears in his eyes.
"You really thought; you could lock us up?"
"A quick break-in to the Hewitt's, killing the entire family," the man threw down pictures of Mason and his parents dead to the world.
"The chameleon got away, but the other werewolf we thought we could start some experiments on him as well."
"He only lasted three days compared to you," he smirked, lying down a picture of Alec's torn apart body.
"Now, your blood proved to be useful in ways we didn't expect. The chameleon tried to rescue you, but we injected him with your blood. It killed him, Liam; you killed him," she pulled a picture of Corey's dead figure.
"Just kill me," Liam muttered, tears streaming down his face.
"Liam, why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Liam! Liam! Grab his other hand, Corey!" Theo screamed, "look at me Liam; you have to wake up."
"I'm going to grab, my mom and some gauze, come on Nolan," Mason stared at the hunter as they went running up the stairs.
"Theo," Liam opened his eyes, feeling pain and dizziness all of sudden.
"I'm here, please don't move."
"Corey, Alec?" Liam noticed they were holding down his arm and leg. Theo had a blanket across his neck, weird.
"Just keep focusing on my eyes," Theo spoke calmly, "it was just a nightmare. Do not fall asleep."
Liam stared at them all in panic, when he became more focused on the pain around his neck. He finally noticed he felt blood on his claws. He felt his vision get blurry.
"Liam, tell me about your dream; don't fall asleep."
"The nurse and her partner-" Liam started as Mason, Nolan, and both of Mason's parents came down the stairs.
"Theo, did you get the bleeding to stop?" she looked at him.
"I don't think so," the chimera muttered.
"Okay, you are going to have to lift this blanket off him slowly," Mr. Hewitt said.
Theo followed his command as Mason and his mom began wrapping the gauze around his neck.
"He's going to need stitches now," she looked at the chimera.
"I'm going to call Melissa," Alec nodded.
The werewolf came back and said she would be over in a few with Chris and Scott.
"Liam, stay awake," Theo whispered.
The beta was still confused about what had happened. His neck was bleeding, but he didn't understand what happened.
Melissa, Argent, and Scott ran down the stairs as soon as they arrived. Scott grabbed Liam's other hand the way Theo was holding on to him while Argent slowly took the gauze off. Melissa began stitching instantly as Liam cried through the whole thing.
"Liam, look at me it's Melissa; she isn't going to hurt you."
Liam hated needles since he's been a kid, but now he was terrified of them.
"You have to stay still," Scott nodded, holding him down tighter.
Alec and Corey both held down his legs once again to stop all movements until the nurse finally finished.
"Okay, he should be okay. Those will dissolve on their own."
"Did he lose too much blood?" Mason asked looking at the blood over everything.
"He's still conscious," Melissa stared at him, taking his pulse, "I'm hoping his healing factor might start activating again."
Liam was awake but in a trance. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he heard voices. He was terrified, the needle at his neck, his throat gashed open, his nightmare, it was all too much. He was having a panic attack. Theo knew it too; Liam had panic attacks even before this, some were the normal shaking, unable to move, but some were silent, unable to function, unaware of everything going on around him.
"Hey, Little Wolf," Theo rubbed his hand gently, "I'm here, you are safe, I'm not leaving."
Nolan looked up at him, "panic attack?"
The chimera nodded, "just talk quietly to him."
"Liam, it's Nolan, I'm here too; everyone is here. You are safe with us."
"Nightmare?" Melissa asked Mason and Corey who were standing on the side.
"Luckily, Theo woke up. We didn't know he was doing it until he felt blood."
"How do we stop this?" Corey stared at the nurse, "he tried to kill himself in his sleep."
"I think someone is going to have to watch him."
"Theo can't watch him while he is trying to sleep," Scott argued.
"I have something that can help," Argent suggested, "movement sensors, Liam can wear them while he sleeps, and if he starts moving a lot they will go off loud enough to wake Theo up."
"Theo, is that okay with you honey if not we can figure something else out?" Mrs. Hewitt asked.
"That will work," Theo said softly, still trying to get Liam to calm down. The beta finally took in a breath and tried sitting up.
"Liam, how about you let Nolan and Theo pick you up?" Melissa said calmly.
He nodded as they swung him in an upright position.
"Can you focus on me?" Scott asked.
"Yes," Liam finally spoke.
"Okay, Liam can you tell us about your nightmare?" Melissa asked softly, "do you want everyone to step about for a few moments?"
"They can stay," Liam nodded, "the nurse and her partner-uh they broke in," the beta began to cry in between fragments.
"Li, if it gets to be too much stop," Theo held his hand tighter.
"They killed Mason and his parents, Nolan and Theo tried to stop them, but they killed them too. Corey tried to rescue Alec and me, but then they captured him and injected him with my blood. It killed him; I killed him. They experimented on Alec, but they killed him. I told them to kill me, and they said do it yourself."
Everyone was staring at the beta shaken now. Liam was sobbing into Theo's chest who was wrapping his arms around him so tight. This was torture; Liam was still being tortured in his head. The beta reacted by trying to claw out his throat in real life. This wasn't good.
"Liam, it was just a dream," Argent spoke first, "it's not going to come true. The nurse and her partner are miles away locked up in a cell and are never going to walk free. Your friends and pack will protect you, and you are strong. We all know you can defend yourself."
Liam nodded, softly.
"Melissa, a word?" Mason's parents walked off with Argent and Melissa while the boys got Liam calmed down.
"Should he be alone?" Mrs. Hewitt looked at the nurse.
"No," she shook her head, "I knew it was going to be bad, but it's getting worse."
"Theo and he can live here," Mr. Hewitt suggested.
"We also offered our house, but he refused," Argent sighed.
"He probably doesn't want to be worried over, but Theo's not much older, and I don't want him taking care of him completely," Melissa nodded.
"I think Parrish might be our best option," Argent nodded, "he wouldn't feel like he is being coddled, but the deputy could help Theo take care of him."
"He's the deputy hellhound right?" Mrs. Hewitt looked at him.
"He's a good man," Argent nodded, "let's talk to him tomorrow. The boys need some more sleep tonight; it's almost 3 AM."
Melissa nodded, "he should be good tonight, and I have a feeling he will be too exhausted to have another nightmare."
"Thank you, Melissa, for coming over. Liam is like a son to me, and I can't let anything happen to him. His mother was my best friend; I couldn't do that to her."
"Of course," she smiled at the woman.
"Ready to get cleaned up?" Mrs. Hewitt came back in.
Liam nodded as Scott hugged him and said goodbye. Argent and Melissa pulled aside Theo to talk about living with Parrish before saying goodbye to the beta as well.
As soon as they left, Theo picked up Liam and followed Mrs. Hewitt to the bathroom to get the blood off them while the other four boys cleaned off the futon.
"Theo, you two are coated in blood; why don't you take a shower? Just try not to get his neck too wet."
"I can do that."
"Here are some towels, and I'll have one of the boys bring up your clothes."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hewitt."
"Call me Grace, Theo."
"Thank you, Grace," the chimera smiled.
"How are we supposed to do this?" Liam looked up at the shirtless chimera.
"You are going to sit on the edge of the tub, and I'm going to hand you a washcloth. Wipe the blood off you and then we will rinse it off without fully putting you under the water."
"This sounds awful."
"I've done worse with you," Theo smirked.
They came back downstairs about twenty minutes later and laughed. Nolan and Alec were already back asleep; Alec was again on top of the smaller boy. Corey was half-asleep while Mason just held a thumbs up and rolled back over. Theo laid down first letting Liam curl into his body once again. He was shivering so bad from the lack of blood and wet hair. Theo sighed as he heard him fall asleep; he was still freezing.