Title:
Author: Inca
Feedback: Makes me see stars - slasherphiles@y...
Rating NC17
AU Liam/William
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, I
just like to play with them
Spoilers: AU
Summary: Risen from the ashes, as an
Angel
Authors notes: I apologise profusely for
the many and glaringly
indulgent errors in this story. I do not
know enough about
medication or personality disorders to be
accurate; I only have
friends to go off. I have never been to
but I'm pretty sure it won't be anything
like what is written here.
Ignore the things that don't make sense,
feel free to write to me to
offer your wisdom. But try to suspend
your disbelief, people. And,
again, really sorry.
WARNING – In the `
who is mentally unbalanced (not in this
chapter though). If this
idea offends you in any way, please do
not continue reading.
~~~~
`So,' William looked down at his
clipboard as he was let in through
the steel mesh door. He poke in what he
hoped was a warm
voice. `Liam.'
The man sat staring out the grey
metal-crossed window, his face
turned slightly away. His pink lips
barely moved. `Angel.'
He didn't look at Will. His hair was
longer than average, down to
his jaw and splaying out over his face,
obscuring it from view. Not
dirty hair, just longish, flicking along
the nape of his neck. He
was a large man, which explained the need
for guards to be present.
Sometimes the patients got violent. Will
sat down at the table in
front of him, smiling diligently as the
man ducked his head and
warily leaned close to the window. Will
noted the lack of distrust.
He jotted it down on his notes.
"Do you know who I am?" he
asked, the silent room filling with his
rough accent.
No answer. The man slowly leaned down so
his head was resting on the
glass.
"You don't feel like talking,
Liam?" he inquired understandingly.
"Angel." He said, more firm.
Will pursed his lips. "Is Angel what
you'd like to be called, is it?"
"It is my name, so yes." His
voice was deep and smooth. He spoke
almost in a whisper. He kept his back to
the guard.
`Great. Angel. I'd like to start off by
introducing myself. I'm
William, I'll be your therapist now Dr
Calender has left." He waited
a moment to see if Liam would greet him
with a handshake. None was
forthcoming. He persevered.
"I'm hoping we'll be friends. I'd
like to help you."
"You want to be my friend." He
said bitterly. His nails were bitten
down to the quick and he scraped his
thumb quickly across the fleshy
pad of his other hand. He mouthed a word
Will didn't quite catch.
"Yes, I do." He said, affecting
sincerity.
Liam looked up, and the strands of dark
hair fell from his face.
Will blinked and swallowed. The man was
extraordinarily handsome.
It was strange to see someone so
attractive where they were; it was
not synonymous with Will's job, really.
His lips were straight; his
whole face had a seeming harshness about
it that affected strength
and vitality. Stubble outlined his jaw.
The man looked like he'd
just stepped out of a Calvin Klein ad.
Except for his eyes. The
darkness in them was almost frightening,
the brown haunted and
sombre. He again looked down through the
window at the puddled
grounds below. It was raining. The
clouded grey light flicked off
his small brushes of eyelashes, tipping
the edges with gold.
"Where's Jana?" He asked.
"They won't tell me where she went."
Will nodded. "It's not common
practise."
Liam stared out the window. Will heard
the guard stifle a yawn
behind him.
"Is she having a baby?"
Will's eyes widened. That was exactly
where Dr Calender was. "Yes,
she and her husband have moved away.
Which is why she can't see
you." Will wanted to make sure Liam
knew that he wasn't the reason
Dr Calender had left. Patients get
territorial sometimes, and can
have major adjustment issues when a
therapist leaves, bordering on a
feeling of abandonment. Textbook
reaction. Like a child whose
kindergarten teacher falls ill and leaves
halfway through the
year. "Did she tell you about her
baby?"
"Yes."
"Did she tell you a lot about
herself? Her family life and tha'?" He
said, unintentionally talking slow and
patronising.
"Yes."
"You must've been close."
"Well she talked to me like an
adult, and not a child." Will felt
the dig at his methods. The man was
sharp. Thunder clapped softly
and Liam searched the sky frantically.
"Dark." He said in an almost
whisper. "Dark is when they come out."
Will watched the reaction carefully, made
a note and spoke
calmly. "Don't worry about
that."
Will had graduated from The British
College of Systemic
Psychotherapy and Counselling the highest
in his class, and the
youngest too. He had been raised up
throughout his life; skipping
grades of high school and had entered the
College on a scholarship
at sixteen. Since graduating, he had
published papers, chapters in
textbooks and given lectures, all of
which were applauded by
practitioners in the field older and more
experienced than himself.
Dr Marvin Wilthos of the California State
Prison had approached him
on one of those meetings and asked if he
would be interested in a
job as the lead prison psychologist,
running the entire psychiatric-
criminal ward while also caring for some
specialised patients. He
had agreed because the flexible hours
offered, and high paycheck in
the package, were suitable for his
current book endeavour. One of
the patients sounded exactly like the
sort of case study he would
need. A twist on the normal patient.
The man in the room with him who would
not meet his eyes.
"So, Angel. Is there anything you'd
like to ask me?"
"Yes. How old are you."
Faltering eye contact. Will had to stay
dominant, he could already feel if he let
Liam slide on anything, he
would have no chance to help him. This
man was not the sort who
would confide in anything less than an
alpha male. He rolled the
blue sleeves of his jumpsuit up over his
lean forearms.
"I'm twenty six." He said
smoothly.
"Aren't you a little young?"
William smiled tightly, with no benefit,
as the man was distracted
by the puddles outside and not looking at
him. Don't let him win. "I
graduated early."
The man made a `well, yeah' look out the
window. William was losing
ground. He was becoming a joke.
"Now, how old are you, Liam?"
The man's face tightened and clouded
over. He was perfectly still.
Wrong name. Shit. Recover, recover.
"I'm sorry, Angel." Liam took a
breath.
"Twenty-seven, but then, you already
knew that." He said with a
pointed look at the clipboard and
assorted notes Will was
holding. "Pencils."
Will proudly didn't react to the random
word. "Well I wanted to make
sure they
"You have everything there in the
file." He brushed his hair behind
his ear, snuffing a little as it fell
back down.
Will tried the same tactic as before.
"I'd like to make sure it's
right."
"Jana wrote it all. It will be. I
was a favourite of hers."
"Does that make you proud?"
Liam looked at him like he had just
pulled out a bong and offered
him a toke. "No. I was just
saying."
They sat in silence, the water dripping
down outside. Liam scratched
his blunt nail over the desk in short
motions. He was tense. Will
made a note.
Someone slammed a door down the hall and
Liam shrunk down at the
noise. Will hadn't flinched. Liam saw he
didn't flinch. Upper
hand. "What sports do you like
then?"
He answered, much to Will's happiness.
"Hockey."
"Now's that Grass hockey or Ice?'
"Ice." His dark eyes were
searching the sky. He flicked his head up
and his hair fell back behind his ears
showing his stubbled neck
with a patch of soft pink scar tissue.
Will tried not to look. Faced
with the reminder of Liam's crime, he
suddenly didn't feel so alpha.
Don't show you're scared. There is a
guard; no need to feel scared.
"Ice hockey. I don't know how to
play that."
"It's a good game. You should
learn."
"I should. I'll put it on my
list." He said cheerfully. He wanted to
get Liam talking, and then leave, so Liam
would remember that he had
been fun and relaxing, and therefore
willing to talk more quickly
next time. "I like football
myself."
"Yeah? Any good?"
Will made a faux-modest face.
"Little." He said conspiratorially.
Liam smiled. His teeth were large and
square and white. His whole
face softened with the smile. He looked
so normal compared to Will's
usual patients. Liam was making more eye
contact, now. Eye contact
could be good or bad. Bad eye contact
would be a brutal stare. Will
was glad Liam wasn't an oppressive
patient. He never admitted it but
he hated that kind. The kind that would
scream about what they'd
like to do with their mothers or
children. Will preferred the
cleaner side of psychiatry.
"Not much hockey where I come from.
Not ice anyhow.
really an ice hockey town."
"I've never been to
Questioning. "I always wanted to see
"Well
smiled. He shouldn't really talk too much
about the `outside'. Liam
couldn't go there.
Liam's eyes had changed, no longer
scared.
"Well," He said, standing and
looking down at his watch, "I have to
go."
"That's it?" Liam asked, still
seated placidly, almost a little
disappointed.
"Yeah. Sorry, but I'm trying to meet
and greet a few people today."
He smiled. He hadn't said patients. Good.
He made his way to the door, Liam didn't
follow, he had to be seated
and stay seated long before and after his
doctor came to see him.
The guard let him out and he walked past
the chain link almost
fencelike enclosure Liam was seated in.
Liam gave him a small smile
before disappearing behind the wall of
the corridor Will walked
through.
Lovely man, he thought to himself. He
seemed, towards the end
anyway, like any normal bloke down at the
pub.
Certainly not a man who had raped and
murdered his wife and
children. Will felt ill, his stomach
chilling at the realisation he
had chatted to a man that had done that.
He sighed, all part of the job.
~~**~~
"He was pretty nice."
Allen looked at him, they were sitting
outside on the grounds
together, sharing a cigarette.
"He was. Bit young."
He thought about the man. William.
Shorter than him. Pale with
chestnut hair and he wore jeans and a
shirt to see him. That was
new. He was used to Jana and her perfect
tan coloured expensive
looking suits. Where were his pencils? In
your room, he reminded
himself. He focused on Allen.
"How old then?" he asked,
lilting the words with his accent.
"Twenty-six." He took the
cigarette and puffed it.
"Younger than you."
William's skin was white. Like the good
china his mother used to
bring out for company. His voice was
cockney and rough.
"Yeah."
Allen had been found guilty of
premeditated assault on a man he
claimed he knew was going to murder a
girl. Angel believed him. He
wouldn't have before he himself was
arrested, but now he did.
Mikael was watching them. Angel looked up
and saw him blow a little
kiss in his direction. His stomach trembled.
Mikael wasn't that bad
really… every thing he did Angel ended up
liking anyway. Just not
afterwards.
Doyle flipped him the bird, which was
brave considering how big
Mikael was.
Mikael was a liar.
He wondered if he should draw the bird he
could see sitting on the
fence. He started humming to the music he
could hear buzzing around.
"So – reckon he'll believe
you?"
"I hope."
"I believe you, don't worry."
"Yeah, I know."
Mikael had pulled his cock out and was
stroking it. Angel tried not
to look.
~~**~~
Will was sitting in his office, large
lovely office, with the man's
file. His office was exceedingly
comfortable, as he realised; he'd
be spending most of his time here. The
bookshelves were now lined
with his books and the bed in the
adjoining sleeping area –for all
nighters or when he was called in, had
his sheets on it. He had
duplicates of all his soap and shampoo in
the small white bathroom.
He put a picture of he and his older
friends from college on his
desk, changing the positioning a few
times before settling on a
place.
He had met two more of his patients
today, a man who had been
imprisoned for setting children on fire
and a man who had like to
rape girls with sharp instruments and
leave them in the woods. The
pyromaniac had been chilling, but the
rapist had been just as cheery
and agreeable as Liam. More so, in fact.
William found himself more
scared of that man than any other
patient. He was not looking
forward to their next session.
He shook his head to focus on Dr
Calender's notes. Liam's was most
definitely the most interesting case. He
seemed to have transference
issues, not wanting to take blame for his
actions; he had
constructed a very vivid story to protect
his psyche. Will re-wound
the tape of Calender's session.
"I didn't kill them alright? I would
never do those things! Ever!
Ever, ever! EVER!" Liam was
shrieking though the tinny speakers of
the tape player.
"Calm down Angel" Jana's voice
was soft and reassuring.
Sobbing.
"Angel."
More sobbing, deep and croaking.
"Angel, look at me."
Sniff.
"Who killed your family?"
"Noooo."
"Yes Liam. You say you didn't kill
them. If you know, who
did it?"
"They did it." A whisper.
"Who Liam?"
Groan, sniff.
"Vampires."
He turned the tape off and looked at the
assorted newspaper articles
he had pulled up on his computer.
"... local businessman, Liam Alaise,
has been arrested for the rape
and murder of his wife and two children.
Alaise was found, early
this morning, laying amongst the severed
bodies of his family, by
Brian Novonus, a colleague of Alaise's,
who sought out the man when
he didn't arrive at work.
A disorientated and violent Alaise was
taken into police custody,
where he assaulted three officers before
he was able to be calmed.
Aliase pleaded his innocence, and alleges
the murder of his family
was the work of 'vampires'..."
A knock jerked him away from his reading.
He rubbed his face and
looked at the time, seeing he had been
reading his files for almost
three hours straight. The door opened.
The thin pale form of Dr
Wiltho's entered in its silent gliding
way.
"Hello, I just came by to see if you
were settling in okay?" He
asked. His small glasses perched on the
end of his beak.
"Fine, doing some research,
actually."
Wiltho's glanced down at the desk.
"Ahhh Liam. Yes. How did you find
him?"
"Charming, agreeable."
"Yes." He nodded encouraging
more speech.
"Now that you're here, I was
wondering if you could fill me in on
these … `depressive states' Dr Calender
has recorded?"
"Oh? Yes nothing too drastic, muttering
to himself, sitting in the
very corner of his room refusing to come
out. Oh, and Liam hates the
dark."
"Yes, I've read." William
indicated the file, disinterestedly. "To
be expected really."
"Hmmm, yes. Well he seemed fine
after your visit, was talking
animatedly about you to, Allen
Doyle?" the man walked around the
office on his spindly legs, peering at
everything and generally
invading Will's privacy.
William shook his head to show he didn't
recognise the name.
"Not one of your patients. A man Liam
has befriended in his five
years here. Allen Doyle was placed with
us after assaulting a man he
saw killing someone in his
`premonitions'."
"Right. Do you think I should go to
any lengths with this Allen
Doyle?"
"No, no he's fine, he's under
Harris."
Harris was one of the other psychiatrists
working in the ward. He
was glad Liam had seen their visit worthy
of conversation.
"So with Liam, he seemed quite
pleasant today."
"Yes often is with new people.
Didn't used to be. But has to spend a
lot of his time alone, away from the
other inmates, so he's always
looking for friends."
Will frowned, and picked up one of Liam's
files. "Why's that? The
loneliness?"
Wiltho's smiled indulgently. "Come
now, Doctor, surely you are not
naïve of the presence of same sex
relations in a prison?"
William felt his eyes bug at the
realisation of what Wiltho's was
saying. He tried not to show it. He
remembered Liam's face, how
handsome he was. And he remembered prison
movies he'd seen, that's
all he had to go off really.
"We had terrible trouble with him
when he first came. Twenty-two and
a very attractive man, he drew a lot of …
attention. He had a bad
time of it, till we just had to start
separating him from the
others. Allen had his parole pushed back
when he attacked one of
Liam's would be rapists. The two became
friends afterwards."
William felt sorry for the man, until the
screen of his computer
flicked into view. "Wife and
children raped, murdered in
"Did he reveal what he is to you?"
"Sorry?"
"Did he tell you he believes himself
to be a vampire?"
"No, but I saw it' in the notes.
Because the," he scurried through
the notes and started reading them aloud,
"`vampires' that night bit
me and I woke the next day. I rose from
the ashes." Explains his
name."
"Yes. Angel." Wiltho's smiled.
"I'll leave you to it, Doctor."
**
"Hey Angel." Will said happily
as he wandered into the huge empty
art room. The art room was either
fantastically painted or a
tragedy. Bright swirls of paint covered
one wide wall, the rickety
wooden tables coloured likewise. The
prisoners had probably
decorated them. Another wall was
whitewashed with black painted
writing covering it. A lot of it was
profanity, but what looked like
a poem about rejuvenation covered the
main part of the wall. Six
long windows spotted along the back wall,
where easels and pottery
wheels sat, enough for a big group. A
door to a kiln was in the
graffitied wall. All in all it was pretty
good, for a prison.
Liam was sitting at an easel in the
sunlight that was filtering
through the somewhat dingy window. He
peeked around the large canvas
at the voice. He smiled. He was wearing
the blue prison jumpsuit,
opened against the heat of the day over a
white vest, the sleeves
hanging around his waist. His arms were
bare, browned and elegantly
muscled. His chest was wide, and Will
found himself vaguely
comparing his own body to that of the man
in front of him.
He'd been told that Liam sat in the art
room a lot, not wanting to
be harassed by the other inmates. A guard
was always with him, and
he liked art, was in fact an artist and
art dealer before he was
arrested.
"
horrible with names."
"Telleck. But just call me William
or Will, if you like."
"Will. Hello." He picked up a
pencil and started sketching on the
paper over the canvas. Will couldn't see
the picture it was facing
away, but he sat on one of the painted
tables to chat to him. A
guard stood behind them, this ones name
was Geoff. Will was making
an effort to learn their names.
"Come to see me again so soon?"
"Yes. I was told by a few people
that you like the art room."
"I do, its fun and besides, there's
always good music here."
Will side-eyed the man, noting the distinct
lack of any music
whatsoever. Liam was humming to
something.
"What, ummm, what are you listening
to?"
"Oh, I don't know the name, it's
always sung here."
"Right." Will said, amicably,
"Who sings it?"
No answer besides the scritch of the
pencil on paper.
"What have you done the last few
days?" he tried again, trying to
start a conversation.
No answer. Just scritch scritch and
Liam's eyes appearing beside the
easel every now and then.
"What are you drawing?" Will
said as a polite lead in.
"You."
Will faltered. "Sorry?"
Liam peered past the canvas at him and
then leant back. The pencil
scratched scratched across the paper.
Will wasn't sure what to do.
Should he let him continue, stop him
gently, forcefully? What if he
drew a cartoon and made him look stupid?
That would ruin his
standing so early in the game.
"Don't look worried, otherwise it
won't be nice."
William pasted a smile on his face. He
pushed his glasses up his
nose self-consciously. Suddenly
everywhere seemed to itch. He tried
to take the focus of himself by asking
Liam questions but was
stopped when Liam answered
monosyllabically or not at all, engrossed
in his picture. He kept staring at Will
with dark eyes, scrutinising
him.
"Done. So why did you come looking
for me?" he asked, idly shading
the paper.
"To chat."
"Uh-huh." He looked at him.
"About?"
`Anything."
"Therapy stuff?"
"If you like."
"No, thanks."
"Alright then not therapy stuff.
What would you like to talk about?"
Will asked, cordially
"What's your favourite chocolate?"
"Uhhh." William tried to scan
the question, as he'd been taught, to
find anything in his answer that could be
misconstrued by the
patient. The question was so random.
"Come on" Liam urged, not
taking his eyes of the picture. "You must
have one."
"Um, okay, ahhh, chocolate and
honeycomb."
"Ooh. Nice." Liam agreed.
"Mines the chocolate with liqueur inside.
Good stuff."
William's stomach suddenly growled for
chocolate.
"So William," His name rolled
around the man's tongue like a
sweet. "When's our first
session?"
"Three days."
"Hmm. Cool. I need to pee. Here. For
you." He gave Will the picture
as he walked out of the room, the guard
following him. "See you."
He looked down and saw a mirror perfect
picture of himself, looking
slightly embarrassed. He reached up to
realise his hair had fallen
down over his forehead and pushed it
back, almost surprised when the
carbon man on the paper didn't do the
same. A lot of care had gone
into his lips and eyes, tiny pencil
strokes to make his features
flawless.
He couldn't stop staring at it.
**
He made his way round the ward, which was
entirely too depressing,
painted in army greens and browns, and
met most of the staff. The
guards `yes-sir'ed him and the nurses
were lovely and trained well.
He watched them easily subdue a shrieking
patient, calmly and
efficiently. There were only two female
nurses, the rest were men,
obviously, but the women – Marge and
Sally, took the insults from
the patients well, like water off a ducks
back, as his mother would
say.
Jana had pulled the number of female
psychiatrists to one, but had
left because she had found her patients
were too obsessed with her
body to ever help them. Not Liam of
course. She had decided to leave
to work at a female correctional
institute, after, of course, she
had her baby.
He went back to his office and busied
himself with making it more
his own. He picked up the photo of his
friends and him from the
desk. Smiling and happy. Drusilla was in
the picture, a girl he had
met when he was younger. She had studied
to be a children's
therapist, and a few of their classes had
overlapped. She'd sat down
and grinned her big smile and asked his
age. That happened a lot.
He'd said seventeen, blushing furiously
and she'd laughed and asked
if he was going to be the Beethoven of
the College. Will smiled. She
would be a good kids therapist, she
always seemed to Will like she
had a bit of child in her anyway. They
could relate. He didn't see
her much anymore, she had graduated a
year before him. He chuckled
at her extra-wide smile. Her smile had
been what had attracted him
to her in the first place.
He sighed, at twenty-six his life had
finally slowed down enough for
him to enjoy it. From teenage to now, the
years blurred together
with study and interviews and papers and
articles about him and more
study. He never had friends his own age,
finding them childish. But
now, now he just wanted to regress and do
whatever he felt like. No
responsibility, just sit and watch the
tube or drink. He had started
to relax enough to do those things and
was proud of himself. Most
people get a sense of themselves in their
teenage years but his were
filled with books. He liked to think he
was an individual in the
field, his methods unorthodox enough to
catch on, and the creator
young enough to be a flavour that others
could chew on. But he liked
his job and that was more than most
people had. Liked the people
associated with it, it was a smart field
and he often met people on
his `level', as the school counsellor
called it.
He cocked his head, and pushed his hair
back from his forehead. He
should really get it cut, he thought as
he reverently put the photo
down.
His desk was a bombsite, so he
apathetically tried to clear it. He
stopped with a curl of his lip when he
figured he really couldn't be
arsed. Jana's notes had been thorough,
and he noticed a few pictures
as well. He plucked them up and shoved
them into a manilla folder,
glancing at them as he did.
One was Liam when he had first arrived.
He was sitting in the fenced-
in interview room in the corner, his
fingers twined through the
metal screen, his head on his knees. The
next was much happier, Liam
in the art room, painting a huge picture
of … something. It was
happy anyway, bright colours and
picasso-ey looking. Liam had a dot
of blue paint just beside his nose and
yellow across his neck as he
laughed, frozen by the photograph.
He put the file away with the rest of
Liam's, paper sticking out
everywhere in his messy attempt. He
couldn't be arsed really, he was
just gonna have to pull it out later and
go through it sheet by
sheet again. He had started going through
the reports about three
weeks before he started at the ward, so
he knew Liam's expected
behaviour pretty well. He pulled out the
drawing Liam had done of
him. It was really, tremendously good.
He'd have to find some art of
Liam's and see what he used to draw
before … before. He was glad
Liam was creative, it was much easier to
get an insight of someone
when they had an outlet, and an artistic
outlet was better. He
looked at the picture again and then
folded it, tucking it into his
briefcase.
**
Two days later, and Liam wasn't quite the
boy down at the pub as
Will had first placed him.
He jogged down another apathetically
designed hallway to reach the
sleeping area. He quickly passed door
after anonymous door, each
with a little square of enforced glass at
the top until he found the
one he was looking for. It was easy to
find.
This door was open and two nurses stood
in front of it looking a
little out of their depth. A wicked howling
was emanating from
inside. A book flew out of the doorway.
Will hesitantly peeked
around, seeing the blue sheeted narrow
bed in the cream coloured
walls, seeing the disarray of the small
shelves and desk. The small
lamp was overturned, as was the chair for
the desk.
"Liam, come out." He said
firmly.
He could only see Liam's hands, splayed
out on the ground. The rest
of his body was shucked under his bed.
All bedrooms were single.
William winced as the incessant
screeching kicked into shrill. Cor,
he thought, how is he even making that
damned noise?
"Angel." He snapped firmly.
"What's wrong?"
Sobbing, the hands retreated under the
bed. William knew better than
to crouch down, Liam could be holding
something in his hands ready
to jab at a perceived threat, could
become violent. He leant down
anyway; crouching next to the bed,
surprised to see small drawings
stuck to wall underneath the bed. Good
drawings. Liam was lying on
his stomach on the dusty floor. The
screeching stopped and sobbing
took its place quickly.
"Angel."
Liam looked at him, his eyes filled with
tears. He was scared.
"Remember me? William. I'm here to
find out what's got you in such a
state."
"Scared, have to hide, God will eat
me."
"Why do you say that?"
His eyes were wide. "God … evil,
red, done it to, evil blood evil,
have to hide, God will eat my soul."
The screeching scream came back
full force.
Lucky I came to work early today, Will
thought. Now I get to deal
with this.
"God is …" William was about to
launch into a well used explanation
that God only punishes the evil doers of
the world, and then
realised Liam classified as one of those
and that wouldn't help. "…
merciful. He won't punish those who want
to be forgiven."
Liam started sniffling. His nose and eyes
were leaking and red-
puffy. His lips quivered. He didn't come
out, though he seemed to
have calmed.
"What's wrong Angel?"
He was quiet for a few moments before he
answered.
"I miss my family." He quietly
snuffled into the floor.
William had no idea what to say to that.
He watched Liam begin to
talk to the floor animatedly.
"No. no, I cant. Stop it. Play
that."
"Angel?"
Chocolate eyes flicked back to him,
vacant and innocent, bright with
tears.
"Do you want to come out?"
"Dark."
Will looked up at the
square window set into the bricks.
"Not dark, Angel, its bright."
Liam looked distrusting, but he peeked
out from the bed. After
finding that it was indeed sunny, he
slithered his long body out
from the bed, but immediately stood near
the wall, crossing his arms
over his chest as if he were cold, his
head down, eyes flicking up
to watch Will. He was just wearing
sweatpants and a wifebeater, and
Will could see the smooth skin of his
arms was covered with fresh
little welts.
"What are they?" He asked
pointing.
Liam looked down at his arms and
swivelled away, so he was facing
the corner of the room, his back still
hunched. He crossed his arms
again and fine lines of his large flat
shoulder blades slightly bent
out around the cut of the vest. His spine
was lightly protruding as
well, the knobbles disappearing under the
white cotton and up into
his messy hair. A few dark lines of a
tattoo on Liam's right
shoulder blade poked out. Curled lines.
William swallowed. If he was an artist
this is what he would draw.
~~**~~
"Shut up whore or the vampires will
get you." Mikael said in his
strange accent.
Angel was scared of the vampires. He was
quiet. He sat down on the
ground, feeling a little more than
worried that no one could see
them, and even more worried because there
was no music here. Ben
pulled his cock from his pants and put
his boot on Angel's shoulder
pushing him down on the ground. He yanked
at his cock.
"Are you a whore Angel?"
He nodded.
"Good whore."
~~**~~
Liam was already sitting in one of the
wire fenced in interview
rooms, the same one as when they first
met when William arrived the
next day. He looked nervous. He hadn't
spotted Will yet and his
chewed fingernails were back tapping
quickly on the desk. He stared
out the window, slouching in his dark
jumpsuit.
"Hey Angel."
Liam looked up, eyes circled with dark.
"Hey." He said quickly.
William took his time sitting. Liam
seemed a little different every
time he saw him. "So Angel, today I
want to talk about you."
"Nah." He didn't take his eyes
off whatever they were fixed on out
the window.
Will faltered but started again.
"Okay what do you want to talk
about?"
"You."
"Alright, then we'll talk about me
for a while and then you. Agreed?"
Liam searched Will's hands with his eyes
and then nodded hesitantly.
He pulled feet onto the chair he was in
so he was sitting with his
knees near his chest. He was trying to
steal glimpses of William,
and his face was set in an anxious frown.
"What do you want to know?"
Will asked openly.
"What are your parents like?"
Will quickly scanned the question. Could
he answer it neutrally?
Yes, possibly.
"My mother and I are very close. My
father left us when I was very
young."
"Is that why you're a fag?"
Liam stared at him, a grin came onto his
face when Will
blanched. "That's not a suitable
word for us Angel." Damn it, Liam
had set him up to be shocked by that
question, it came out of
nowhere.
"Alright. I apologise if you're
offended by homosexuals."
Great, he was trying to rile him up. He'd
play.
"I am not offended by
homosexuals."
Liam smiled, believing he had him,
bouncing slightly. "So you are
one then?"
"Yes." Will answered blithely.
Liam's smile dropped from his face. He
stared at Will to see if he
was joking. The white face was impassive.
"Are you really?"
"What do you think?"
Liam shrugged. He picked at his chair. By
the way he was jiggling
he'd obviously been given some pep pills
without Will's knowledge or
consent. Will didn't like that, but he'd
get to it later, just in
case Liam had bargained for them in the
yard.
"I'm bisexual." Liam offered,
his fingernail in his mouth as he
watched Will's reaction closely.
Will was surprised but he didn't let it
show. Nowhere in Jana's
notes had it suggested that Liam was
anything other than straight.
Was he lying? Was he attracted to him?
That could definitely be a
bad thing.
Maybe it was a joke. William had to
analyse Liam so much harder than
everyone else. Every word he uttered
seemed to have a hidden meaning.
"What does that mean to you?"
"I like men and women.
Sexually."
Liam was staring at him. Will sighed
inwardly. He liked Liam, he
hoped Liam didn't try any sexual
advances, he never felt right
treating someone who tried to seduce him.
Easy to find out.
"I'm a man, are you attracted to
me?"
"Yes." Dark brown gaze fixed
placidly on his own. William felt an
unwelcome squiggle in his belly.
"Are you attracted to many
men?"
"No."
"Do you understand we can't have a
sexual relationship?"
"Yes." Same gaze.
"Good." He smiled.
"Would you have sex with me?"
He frowned. "I thought we just said
–"
"Not `will' you `would' you?"
Pretty face cocked to the side and
staring at him quizzically.
"Hypothetically?"
"Yes." He'd stopped jiggling
erratically.
Will smiled. "I guess we'll never
know."
Liam slapped the table sudden and
angrily, making the guard snap to
attention and Will draw back in his seat.
The anger lost, he sat
back calmly and looked at the floor.
"I guess." He said cheerily.
William cursed his nature to be a
smart-arse. He could've shoved the
walls up forever with that stunt.
William decided to try and soften the
blow, thinking Liam could've
just been angry at the rejection.
"Thankyou for your picture of me. It
was wonderful. I took it home."
"I'm glad." He was staring at
his nails now, wide eyes his forehead
raised into crinkles.
"You used to be an artist?"
"That didn't change."
"So you still like to draw?"
Liam looked at him eyes jumping around
Will's face. "I use pencils
the most. I still draw."
"I asked if you still enjoyed
it."
"Yeah."
"Will you show me other pictures
you've drawn?"
"Maybe."
"I hope so. You're very
talented."
Liam was jiggling up and down almost
sickeningly. His eyes were cold
and empty, and he was starting to shiver
in the warm room.
This was not expected behaviour; Liam had
a very accessible
personality. Warmed up quickly.
"Angel?"
"Hmmm?"
"You do realise taking anyone else's
medication can seriously affect
your treatment and your health?"
"Yes."
"You've been taking something that
is not prescribed to you."
"Yes."
Will nodded.
"Hmmm, what is it?"
"Don't `member."
"Alright. I'll explain to you,
because I don't know if Jana ever
did, but you are not on strong anti
depressants as they don't react
well with what you really need to be
taking to control your…
tendency to see things that aren't there.
Those are anti-psychotics,
the little blue pills you take. But, if
anything stressful happens
you feel very bad on those, so that's why
there's me, so you can
tell me, if something bad has happened,
something that would cause
you to need a pick-me-up, so to say. Then
I can alter what you're
taking."
He continued jiggling. His chair was
clicking as he moved, like an
extremely fast metronome.
"I'm a whore."
"Alright, why do you think
that?"
He stood slowly, pushing his chair back
with his legs and pulled the
jumpsuit down dreamily. Across his left
pectoral the word `whore'
had been scratched in deep and covered
with black ink. It was fresh;
the skin around the cuts still reddened.
"Did you do that?" he asked as
Liam slipped back into his jumpsuit
clumsily.
He shook his head playfully. Will
understood now why he'd been so
focused on sex since he got here.
"Who did that?"
Will hoped he didn't say vampires.
"Round the back of the
grounds."
"The guards didn't see?"
He shook his head, still smiling.
"Who were the men?"
"Nah."
"Yes, Angel, tell me, come on."
His face slipped from its cheery mask to
that of a bare, ghastly
haunted look, then back to the cheerfulness.
"They told me to be quiet, and I was
cause I didn't want the
vampires to hear me, so I sat on the
ground. He kicked me back and …
do you have any pens?"
"Angel. Come on, now I said I'd
answer things about me, if you'd
answer about you. Now what were the names
of the men?"
"Ben Sunder and Mikael."
"Good, Angel, that's great, you did
a good thing by telling me."
Liam looked proud. He was looking very
sleepy, but still jiggling up
and down.
"Okay, I have to go now, but I'll
see you soon, alright?"
"Alright." He put his arms onto
the desk and laid his shaggy head on
them. The top half of his body looked
asleep but his legs were
twitching under the desk.
William took the guard aside out of
Liam's earshot.
"Hey, sorry mate, what's your
name?"
"Barry." The heavyset man said,
puffing up with importance of being
pulled aside by the boss.
"Hi Barry, Will." They shook
hands.
"Now do you know a Ben Sunder and
Mikael? They exist?"
"Yep." He seemed less than
happy with the names. "And seems like ol'
Liam would be telling the truth about
what they did."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, he seems to wander off with
people."
"No ones watching him? I thought he
had a guard all the time."
"No no, you got that wrong,"
Barry smiled. He looked in at Liam who
appeared to be sleeping, his back rising
and falling in a slow
rhythm. "He's only got a guard when
hes not with anyone else. Liam's
not dangerous, not on his meds anyway,
sad fact is we got to look
after him most of the time. Protect him
from the others."
Will decided not to bring up the obvious
tone of affection that
Barry seemed to have for a murderer.
"Okay great, whose care are they
under?"
"Harris and Everett."
"Great." He gestured to Liam.
"Take him down to a nurse, get him
checked out."
The guard nodded, opened the door and
gently woke Liam up. Will
heard his sleepy murmurs as went to find
Harris.
*
"Hey William." The happy smile
fell from the mans face, "You look
worried. What's wrong so early on?"
"I have reason to believe Liam
Alaise has been raped." Will said
quietly as he entered the staff kitchen.
Harris nodded. He was tall and strong
looking, with black hair that
seemed to want to curl. He looked about
thirty-five, and he stirred
his tea like it was a Zen exercise.
"Uh-huh. And what else is new?"
Will blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Look it's nothing new. It happens
every couple of weeks maybe more.
We can never seem to stop it." He
nodded. "Mikael Suderson? Did I
guess right?"
"Yes, one of them." Will
frowned.
Harris nodded and picked up his tea.
"He's my patient. Since Liam
arrived five years ago has become
steadily more obsessed with him.
Draws pictures of him, writes poems for
him, steals his cutlery
after hes used it, his underwear and
clothes. Just between you and
me of course, ethical problems and that,
but all his sessions tend
to revolve around Liam and how much he
needs to be …defiled and what
he'd like to do to him. Trust me, some of
the stuff is not nice.
Found him many times holding poor Liam
down in the hall way with his
friends while he … yeah."
"He must be a big man."
"6'5. Exceedingly hard to
treat." He leant forward. "Some of the
guards are afraid of him."
"Ah. I hope that's not why Liam
keeps getting abused."
"No, no, course not. Just, Liam
tends to walk off with Mikael.
Mikael's nice to him for a while and Liam
trusts him, then Mikael
turns on him. And over and over."
He rolled his eyes in an exasperated
helplessness. William burned.
How dare this man just give up and roll
his eyes? What an ass.
"Alrigh'. Just though'd you should
know." Will sniffed, his accent
roughening in his distaste.
"I'll bring it up next session,
increase his sedatives."
*
He found the first aid room and walked
in, immediately averting his
eyes. Apparently prison patients didn't
receive all that much
privacy. Liam was lying back on one of
the beds wearing only the
white vest of his uniform; his knees
pulled up to his chest as
Sally, a weighty nurse of about thirty,
pushed a gloved finger into
his rectum. His lean thighs were
twitching and Will didn't dare look
at anything else in that region. Barry
was there, not watching but
still very much in the room, along with
two other male nurses.
"Well done, you can get dressed now,
sweetheart." She bubbled as she
flicked the glove off.
Liam pulled his long body off the bed and
tried to hazily push his
legs into his cotton boxers. Sally pulled
Will aside as she wrote up
the report.
"Yeah he's had sex all right, rough
sex, rectal and anal tearing,
he's swollen, semen inside him's still
wet so it was this morning or
very recently." She whispered as she
scribbled notes into a folder.
Will looked back at him, the nurses were
helping him back into the
prison suit.
"Drugs he took were Ben Sunders'. A
clinically depressed we have
here. Explains why hes been so jittery
this morning but now the
highs wearing off so it'll be night-night
for him soon. They didn't
give him many so it shouldn't affect him
much more than this. Sent
blood off with Marge for an HIV test.
Anything else you want me to
do, Doctor?"
"No, `at's fine. Thankyou."
He and Barry took Liam back to his room
his arms draped over their
shoulders. Liam was coming down hard. He
put him on the narrow bed
and nodded for Barry to leave. He did so,
with a salute, which Will
smirked at.
His smile slid off when he looked down at
the still body lying on
the bed. He stood and reached up to close
the curtains on the
window, before resting on his haunches,
looking into Liam's face. He
was lying on his chest, his hands up near
his chin.
"Angel? You want to tell me abou'
it?"
"About what?" he asked quietly.
The air conditioning was chilly, Will
felt his skin prickling.
"Abou' what happened this morning
with Mikael."
Liam murmured the word `whore' into his
pillow.
"No. You're not." He put his
hand on the back of Liam's shoulder,
even though he knew he shouldn't. Anyone
could scream sexual
harassment these days. "You were a
victim. It was done to you."
"I feel sick."
"That's probably `cause you took
someone else's medication."
"I feel sick."
"Yes." Will rubbed his shoulder
soothingly and Liam relaxed into the
touch. He made a breathy sound of
pleasure into the cover and Will
snatched his hand away.
"If you want to talk. Ask to come
see me."
Liam started snoring.
Will sighed.
**
He was on a boat. A huge boat. Doyle was
there, but he was lying on
the deck his eyes glassed over and
yellow.
He was dead. A fly buzzed into his open
mouth. Angel ran. He looked
up and the sky was black, the waves were
blood and hairless bodies
floated face down in it. As the ship
slowly floated through them,
thuds echoed into the emptiness as the
cadavers hit the bow and
bobbed away in the wake. Angel tried to
find someone but the liner
was empty. He looked out across the
horizon.
A huge black shiny fleshed animal
breached the blood waves in the
distance, before ducking back down. Angel
panted in fright. He tried
to get inside but the doors were locked.
He used his shoulder to ram
a door and it opened, but blood splashed
out. More hairless bodies
lay inside. He felt a jolt and grabbed
the doorframe. He ran back
out onto the deck and saw the front of
the boat slowly gurgling into
the crimson waves.
The boat was sinking.
Liam screamed.
**
Will decided to go home at about
over the course of the past week, had
fast become his favourite
patient.
Even though he didn't have favourites.
He smiled at himself in his bathroom
mirror, shaking his head. He'd
settled in at his new job nicely. He
plucked whisky off the side
table and poured himself a few fingers.
Wandering into his huge
bedroom he noticed a rectangle of paper
of his bed. The picture. He
had been looking at it the last time he
was at home. He picked it
up. It really was admirable, Liam was
unmistakably skilled. He
sipped some of his whisky as he studied it
and yawned. Alcohol
always made him sleepy.
He sat on the bed and thought about the
session, the ghosted echoes
of their voices flitting through his
head.
("I'm a man, are you attracted to
me?" "Yes.")
Before he fell asleep, he convinced
himself the buzz in his stomach
was from the alcohol.
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