𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒 | liam stewart [1]

8. mall

Pandora left Zu, Ruby and Chubs to help Liam outside. They all knew about her nightmare, the way Liam had to shake her to get her awake, that she was shouting for help. Nobody said anything. She walked down the stairs, walking to Betty where Liam was scratching the letters off the side. "Nightmares like that haven't happened for a... very long time," She told him after a minute of standing in silence. "You don't need to explain yourself to me," He smiled, continuing to scrape the paint. The two chatted lightly as they tried to scratch paint off, Liam turning and standing as someone left their motel room. "Tracers," He whispered, turning to hide his face. Dora took a deep breath before grabbing his hand, focusing on the picture of her mother and father. It was the only couple she could remember. Her eyes heated but she turned her head, not letting Liam see as she grasped his wrist. The two turned back around, the two tracers staring at them before getting in their car. Pandora watched them leave with confused faces before turning away from Liam so he couldn't see her face. She didn't even think she could look at him if he looked anything like her father. Not without the unhinged feminine rage that would come with it. "Hey, hey what was that?" He asked, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around. She was completely back to normal, her eyes their usual seperate colours. "I don't know," She shrugged, giving him a smile before turning to complete scraping off the word 'Betty'.

"And now we have the President's son, Clancy Gray. If I can be cured, you can be cured," The radio chattered on, Chub's making some funny impression on them. "You had those posters too?" Ruby asked as she helped Zu with her maths. "Seven shades of bullshit," Chubs shrugged, turning back to helping Zu with her maths. "You know, I should be going to prom this year," Pandora turned to Liam who glanced at her with a smile. "Yeah? What would you have worn?" He asked her, letting her decide as he kept his eye on the road. "Some long red dress with ruffles and lot's of jewellery. Definitely would've gone with the popular boy too," She smiled at Liam who jokingly slammed his hand on the wheel. "Damn it, I was going to ask you. Heard he's a sort of douche though," Liam shrugged, making Pandora tip her head back and laugh. Liam wished he could've bottled it, a sweet melody he could get drunk off of. "Really? I've heard bad things about Billy but I never thought it was true," She exclaimed, making Liam laugh hard. "Billy? Who the fuck is Billy?" He asked with a grin. "He was the popular boy at my school. Billy Hargreeves. All the girls wanted to be with him and all the boys wanted to be him," She smiled at the memory of watching girls fangirl over him. "He was that bad boy that all the chicks digged," She told Liam who smiled, looking at her contentedly. "Well then, if Billy's a douche.. Who, o, who will I go with?" She held her heart dramatically. "Does that mean that I'm an option?" Liam asked, speeding up as he passed a car. "Well you'd have to ask properly," Pandora stated like it was obvious. "Pandora Drakes, will you go to prom with me?" 

"I would love to Liam Stewart," 

...

"Are you sugar daddying me now Liam?" Pandora asked, the boy blushing crimson as Chubs started manically laughing. "Well what other reason are we at the mall? You buying me stuff?" She asked like it was a valid question. "We have to stock up somewhere," Chubs shrugged, holding Zu's gloved hand as they entered the huge shopping center. The place was dark and gloomy, overgrown and broken into. That was until Zu grabbed the mains cable, sent sparks flying and the roof, which was covered in multicoloured fairy lights, flickered on. They grabbed a variety of clothes, Liam pretending to help her pick out a prom dress from the limited and moth-bitten selection they had. They then moved onto shoes, food, supplies. Chubs made them all laugh with his cringey sunglasses poses too. Then they started playing with blow up beachballs, riding around on bikes and pushing each other on tricycles. 

Pandora and Liam then ran down the escalators to find some books and things to help with Zu's education. "Hey what about this?" Liam held up a funny looking book, his smile dropping when he looked at Pandora's face. "Dory, what's wrong?" He asked, walking over. His stomach sank as he read the words written in white powder. GET OUT. Suddenly, eery noises echoed around them, people running in the shadows. Liam and Pandora having their backs face each other whilst they circled the shadow people. Pandora gasped as her body was shoved to the ground by an invisible force, Liam being dragged upwards into the air. He was then slammed back down on top of Pandora so they couldn't move. He was able to push his arms up so their faces weren't touching. "What's happening?" Pandora struggled out, her breathing intensifying. "I don't know," Liam hissed, his body being dragged up again. People ran around, laughing and shouting. It was all wrong, Dora thought. Then her body was being lifted, smashing into Liam's as she rose suddenly. He grabbed a hold of her incase she fell, both of their bodies dropping all of a sudden. Liam put his hand out, stopping them from hitting the floor. Pandora gasped as they were shoved forward, flying into shelves and bikes. Liam used his hands to quickly separate the gym equipment before the two flew into it. The two dropped to the floor, Pandora groaning as she lay on broken glass. 

Liam and her scrambled up, both of their arms out as they stared at 4 kids, covered in black spywear head-to-toe. They walked towards her, their power thrumming as they approached. Pandora watched Zu approach from the side, quickly covering her ears and tackling Liam to the ground as the lights exploded. Zu's hand held the fairy lights, making the 4 kids collapse to the ground and take their flaming hats off. "Zu stop!" Ruby called from the other side of the mall as the fairy lights around Zu's hand started to burn up. Chubs quickly pulled her from the mains sockets, pulling her gloves on and holding her close to him. 

"Hey what the hell?" Liam stepped forward, prevented from attacking them by Pandora who grasped his hand gently. "They're just kids," She reminded him, glaring at the ginger boy who accused them of being tracers. "Look, no hard feelings. We're sorry. You can grab supplies and stay the night but we want you gone by tomorrow morning," The leader, redhead and bitter face, announced.