Vacancy Signs

Chapter 13: Alone Again

The ground is cold and hard beneath Liam. There's no cushioning from his sleeping bag, no warmth from a burning fire. There's just a chill that seeps into his bones. Liam groans, the sound coming from deep in his throat as he tries to shift. His body feels strange, his muscles aching even as he lies still. The feeling reminds him of the time he caught the flu when he was fourteen. It's that type of deep-seated ache, the one that makes you want to curl up in a bed and cry until you finally feel better.

Slowly, he pries his eyes open. The world around him isn't very bright, but it still stings his eyes, he blinks rapidly, trying to get used to the light. The sky is nothing but a grey smudge above him. Liam lifts a heavy hand, the motion taking every ounce of his strength as he rubs groggily at his face. Something coils in his stomach like dread or a warning, but he doesn't understand the feeling. His mind is moving too slowly, as though it has to swim through a river of molasses just to come up with his every thought.

"Theo," he tries to say but it's nothing more than an unintelligible croak, his throat parched.

The sky comes into sharper focus as Liam squints above him, it's slate gray and unchanging.

That's not the sky, Liam realizes. It's a ceiling.

He tips his head to the side and regrets it instantly when his brain feels like it's pounding against the inside of his skull. Liam winces, his eyes taking in the smooth stone wall to his right. He inhales deeply and shifts again, twisting his head to the left.

Bars. They're thick and iron, the metal lines of them going from the floor all the way up to the ceiling like a cage. His muddled mind tries to make sense of what he's seeing, but it's hard. He's in a cage, but why? It's been years since he's been locked away like this, anger simmers just beneath his skin. Brett had locked him in a cage at the old zoo, but Brett isn't here. Brett's home, miles, and miles away from where Liam is now. He sucks in a panicked breath, his heart starting to kick up in speed.

Where exactly is he? How long has he been here? More importantly though, where is Theo?

Liam grunts in pain as he rolls onto his stomach, his body viciously protesting the movement. His hands tremble as he pushes himself up onto his knees.

"Do you like it," A familiar voice asks, and Liam stiffens up, his bones locking into place. "It's my own special cocktail."

Liam lifts his head and glares through the bars. His entire body shakes with the effort to stare his kidnapper down. Monroe is lounging in a metal chair, her dark eyes watching him coldly.

"Fuck... you," Liam gasps out, it feels like his blood is boiling beneath his skin.

Monroe ignores him. "It's made from kanima venom, the paralytic works wonders when applied just right with wolfsbane."

So that's why he feels like this; like he has no control over his limbs. He bites back a growl of frustration, tries to will his body to move correctly, but it won't.

"How does it feel," she asks, and Liam wants to rip her face off with his claws. He's never hated someone so much in his life until he met this woman.

"Just peachy," Liam growls at her. He won't give her the satisfaction of knowing how much pain he's in.

She tuts at him unhappily and he ignores her, instead he focuses on the smells around him, the sounds. Everything is a little muddled and dull from the poison in his body, but he can smell and rear enough to know that whatever is going on in the other rooms he doesn't like it. There's blood in the air, thick and fresh, some of it is his own, but most of it is coming from the door to the left. It doesn't smell human, but it doesn't smell like an O either. It's coming from another were-creature.