𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑─𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐫

92.

By the time I had pulled myself together and out of the washroom, Liam and Scott were done speaking to Jiang and Tierney. Scott was in Sheriff's office in a seemingly heated discussion, meanwhile Liam was leaning against one of the desks, a conflicted look on his face.

"What's going on?" I mumbled, trying to keep my voice low as I stopped beside Liam.

He looked over at me, seeming to note the worried look on my face as he let out a low sigh. "Their eyes are blue." he admitted quietly. I didn't need to ask him what that meant.

I felt more worry and anxiety build in my chest at the thought. Jiang and Tierney had killed people-innocent people. And while whether the people they killed were truly innocent was to be debated, they still took lives.

Before either Liam or I had a chance to say something else, the sound of glass could be heard shattering from the front window. Liam grabbed a hold of me, shielding my body with his as an arrow when flying past us, sticking its self into the wall beside us.

My eyes were wide as someone let out a scream of fear at the event. Deputies began scrambling around, afraid an attack was on its way.

While everyone else panicked, Malia stepped forward, pulling the arrow from the wall to reveal that something was stuck to it. At this point, Scott and Sheriff had exited the office, and they, along with Theo and Lydia had joined us.

Liam still held me close as Malia pulled the object off of the arrow to reveal it was some kind of fabric. Liam grabbed it from her hands, unfolding it to reveal a bloodied partial number seven. It was part of a jersey. I felt my heart drop, a mixture of anger and sadness washing over me.

"It's Brett's number." Liam announced to the group, his voice dark.

Lydia wore a worried expression as she spoke. "They're trying to rattle us."

Theo had his eyes locked on Liam. "It's working."

I turned to my boyfriend, a small gasp coming from my lips at the sight of Liam's eyes flashing yellow. They were getting to him.

To make this whole situation worse, a scream ripped through the station. Parrish and Sheriff shared a look before they took off toward where Morrow and another deputy were watching Nolan.

As they disappeared into the room, I looked to Scott in worry before turning back to Liam, attempting to calm him down. "Breathe." I whispered, pulling his attention toward me. "You're doing exactly what they want."

"I can't!" Liam snapped, his words almost coming out as more of a growl. I took a small step back as Scott stepped between us, placing a protective arm in from of me.

"Liam." he ordered, his voice stern. "Relax."

Liam's breathing began to slow as his eyes faded back to blue. He gave Scott a small nod before looking back to me. "I'm sorry, Syd." he whispered. It wasn't often that Liam snapped on me, in fact it was almost never.

I shook my head, giving him a soft smile. "Don't apologize." I answered, "Just don't give them what they want."

---

Things only seemed to be getting worse. 

The scream that had drawn Sheriff and Parrish away from the group was as a result of Morrow witnessing her fellow deputy hanging himself. Once Sheriff and Parrish had made it into the room, Morrow had taken the same route as her coworker, shooting herself in the head. 

I felt gutted. I didn't know either of them well, or at all really. But two people were dead, and I was afraid more were to follow. 

My foot nervously tapped against the ground as I awaited word on what we were to do next. It was ten minutes until midnight. Liam had freed Tierney and Jiang from their cell and locked Nolan up. Meanwhile, Lydia had looked at the bodies, determining that fear had driven them to their deaths. Fear. The constant theme. And whatever was causing the fear was in here with us, meaning who knows who could be driven to their deaths next.