Author: Inca
Feedback: Makes me see stars - [email protected]
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 California�s State Prison, 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 �Phoenix� series there will be sex involving a man who is mentally unbalanced. 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 wis� correct. Now tell me a little about yourself.�
�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. London�s not really an ice hockey town.�
�I�ve never been to London.� Eye contact for the entire sentence. Questioning. �I always wanted to see Buckingham Palace.�
�Well England�s lovely really, as long as you like it cold.� He 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 na�ve 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 Bakersfield�. His heart hardened.
�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.
�Hello Dr� sorry I don�t think I got your last name. But I�m always 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 eleven o�clock sun streaming through the small 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 10PM. He worried about Liam, who, 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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