Liam McKay, 21, Werewolf

Aria was afraid that he’d pull away, but she really needed to touch him. Worse, she needed a touch that was wanted, one that was welcomed, one that wasn’t forced upon her. Looking up at him, he’d really been the one thing that kept her going as long as she had - before that day. “‘m happy yer ‘ere,” she murmured. When he pulled her close, she let out a ragged breath, burying her face against the crook of his neck. The ginger nearly whimpered, trying to pull herself even closer. She couldn’t remember the last time she was hugged, held, and she melted into him, tears welling up. Aria hated crying, but with him, she knew she could. “Oh God… ‘m so sorry. I… I couldn’ take it ‘ere anymore… no’ after they — they —” she trailed off, her voice crackin, not wanting to say the word. “‘m sorry… I didn’ think yeh’d know. I jus’ didn’ want it ta ‘appen again…”

As she was snuggling the crook of his neck he could feel his broken heart starting to mend, slowly buf softly he started85nr to caress her back. "They did what Aria?" His voice broke and he shuddered, knowing what she'd gone through. His uncle had told him years ago what they did to slaves here. He'd known about this place almost all of his life. But only recently had he been told that he'd end up here someday. "I'm so sorry you've gone through this, I should've gotten here sooner." He kissed her cheek softly. "You shouldn't have gone through this alone for so long. But I'm here now and i'm not going anywhere." His voice was low. "I've missed you so much..."

She should be more shocked, seeing his eyes glow, knowing he was one of them. There was no good species, but she was stupid to believe that. A shudder ran through her at the memory of that awful wolf, though it was fuzzy, fogged over. She was still grateful to Tristan for that. For a moment, briefly, she tensed at his approach, his touch, but her mind, her body knew him, and relaxed just as quickly. “Ya should’ve told me. I wouldn’ ‘ave cared. It wouldn’t ‘ave changed anythin’. Guess I understand, though… if it were me, I’d prolly ‘ave kept quiet.” If this had been a few months ago, she may have been angry, but now… so much happened. She shouldn’t, but she needed it so she reached for his hand, squeezing it lightly, tilting her head so he could tend to the wound. “Why would ‘e be ‘ere? I ‘aven’t talked to ‘im in a long time, Liam.” She was quiet a moment before talking again, “I’d finished a gig, an’ was tryin’ ta get ‘ome when… next thing I know, ‘m in one of the cells with a bloody headache. Been ‘ere 6 months now. How’d yeh end up ‘ere?” 

He couldn't help but feel all warm inside when she reached for his hand, he squeezed it back and gave her a crooked smile. He'd missed her so much and he'd tried his hardest to forget about her, but everytime he thought it was over he'd remember her smile and her laugh, making him miss her all over again. "I'm just happy he's not here." It was a long time ago since he'd felt like this, maybe there was some hope for them. When she told him how she'd gotten here he was appalled. But there was nothing he could say or do that would make her feel better. Once they'd chosen someone as a slave, it was final. So all he could do was to pull her closer, embracing her just as he'd always done. "I don't know.." He simply said, breathing in her sweet scent. "I have no idea why I came here, the only thing I do know is that about a week and a half ago I was filled with dread and I just knew I had to get here." He realized that he no longer felt anxious as he had for the past week. That ever since he'd laid his eyes upon Aria, the feeling of dread had disappeared. He held her closer, pressing his body against hers. He never wanted to let go of her again.

This wasn’t good. She didn’t want to be touched, to be bitten. Generally, she had no choice, but, at work, wasn’t there some option for Warren to say no to this? He wouldn’t allow it to happen, not to her. Breathing in hard, she was going to scream again, but Liam was there, pulling the guy off her. She let her body slump back before stepping away from the vampire. Hazel eyes widened at the display. She’d seen Liam angry, seen him fight, but this… was different. Trained to kill his kind? What was he talking about? But the gold eyes revealed is species to her. Once the vampire left, she sighed, “Thank you,” she whispered, looking down, quick to grab some napkins to press against the wounds. “Werewolf. H-How long? … how?” her words were soft, low, shifting in her stance a bit. She really hadn’t any idea how to react, how to respond, how to feel, even. But with him, despite it all, she felt safe.

This was it, the secret he'd kept for so long was finally out. And the only thing he felt was relief. Relief of no longer having to keep a huge secret about himself from his best friend. He walked over to her and started to examine the wound on her neck. It wasn't very deep, but the vampire had been sloppy so the wound covered almost half of her neck. "I've been a werewolf all my life, but the first time I turned was right after my 16th birthday." He said and then started to look after some clean rags behind the counter. He spotted a towel by the sink which looked fairly clean. He grabbed it quickly and went over to Aria again. "I'm sorry I never told you but I felt like I had to keep it a secret, please understand that all supernaturals try to keep it on the downlow. We don't want to have a full on war with humans." He pressed the towel against the wound, trying to be as gentle as possible. Despite everything that had happened, he was glad he had stayed. "Why don't you tell me how you ended up here? Is Logan around here somewhere?" He said, voice dripping with venom.

Aria came around the bar nearly too quickly. Her heart was hammering so fast. All this time, she’d held onto him, the thought of him. It’d had to have been, at least, a year. She’d been on the island a solid 6 months by now. That was enough for her stomach to lurch. “Cells… humans are in cells. An’ yer… yer no’ in one. I don’ understand. Wh… Why? Wha’… no!” she moved fast to go after him. If he walked out, he might vanish, and she couldn’t handle that. But it was all fast, "Where do you think you’re going, ginger?" The cut on her leg, small that it was, caught the scent of the vampire, and he pinned her to the bar. Fangs appeared and pierced her neck. Aria panicked, “No! NO! Get off me!” she tried to shove him, tried to pull away, but he was strong. “GIT OFF ME! Don’ fuckin’ touch me!” the Scottish part of her accent taking over.

He was at the door when he suddenly heard her scream. His instincts made him turn around and what he saw made him furious. His eyes turned bright yellow and he snarled. He was beside them in a second. He grabbed the vampire by the shoulders, throwing him as far as he could. He turned to Aria and was about to ask if she was okay, when the vampire tried to get him from behind. Liam spun around just in time, catching the vampires fist. He smiled and twisted it with a loud crack. "You should leave before I kill you. You're still very young and I've been trained to kill your kind." He then grabbed the vampires neck, pressing his claws against his throat. "Do you understand?" He stared into his eyes, showing the vampire that he was not about to back down. He nodded and Liam let him go, shoving him towards the door. The vampire fled the scene and Liam turned to Aria, his eyes still glowing.

So much time had passed since she’d seen him. Liam wasn’t aware, but she didn’t stay with Logan - not at first. After several months, though, she tried to make the relationship happen. She couldn’t. She was too in love with Liam to string along the doctor. Liam was what kept her holding on for so long here, even if she knew he hated her. Given the drink order, she’d smirked, only dragging her thoughts to her ex. She wondered if he’d sensed or felt that she tried to kill herself. Was it possible? Sighing quietly under her breath, that voice pierced her mind. The glass in her hand dropped, shattering to the ground, “Liam?” her throat closed tightly, swearing her heart dropped to her feet… or maybe jammed up into her throat. It was just a tiny prick from a small piece that snagged her leg, barely a nick. Rushing forward, wide eyed, “Liam… wh-what are yeh doin’ ‘ere? How… Yer no’ in a cell? I… wha…” she stammered over the words, shocked by his presence. 

His whole body tensed at the sound of her voice. He couldn't believe it, there she was, after all these months. His heart almost leaped out of his chest and he had to restrain himself from jumping over the counter to embrace her. "Aria?" He looked up at her, eyes full of wonder. "I.. I can't believe it, cell? What are you talking about I.." Suddenly, he saw a flash of his uncle kissing her wildly, making him grip the counter so hard he almost broke it. "I never should've come here.. This was a mistake." He got up from the stool, tears of anger in his eyes, he started walking towards the door.