Bleed Your Heart Out

Mercury

for A/N Warning: This chapter contains violence, blood, wounds, psychological torture, hallucinations, panic, and talk of death. It's a bit more grotesque than previous chapters, leaning in the direction of explicit body horror, so please be aware of that--it is towards the end, starting at the paragraph after "panic gripped at his heart", in case you wish to skip/skim. If any of these are triggers for you, please read with caution. As always, take care <3

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Everything was pitch black, like the light of the world had been completely stomped out. There was a burning in Liam's chest as wolfsbane filled the air, flooding into his system. It hurt, that poison making its way into his lungs–his bloodstream. His chest constricted, his breath catching in his throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe!

His grip on Theo slipped, his knees giving out on him. His knees connected with the concrete, but he barely even felt the sting–the blood–over everything else.

His head was starting to swirl, a sudden rush of dizziness enveloping him.

"C.... Corey." Liam tried to get to his feet, but his whole body felt like lead.

There was rustling from beside him, and then a dim light. On his right was Corey, holding his phone up with the flashlight on. The light swept across the room, searching for the source of the poison–searching for a way for them to get out of there alive.

Liam should've been looking–should've been searching to survive–but instead his eyes fell on Theo.

The Chimera was back in his chair, his whole body trembling as he fought to breathe. The breath in was pained–labored–and every exhale... Silver.

His eyes were clouded again, unfocused, but that fact seemed to send a jolt of panic through the Chimera as his eyes frantically moved across the room rapidly. Never quite seeing, but desperately trying.

"Liam? ... Tara?" Theo whimpered, his voice small.

There was a putrid scent of terror–of pure horror–as Theo searched the darkness for Liam... searched for his dead sister, moving through the shadows in wait in order to steal his heart.

There was so much more silver now then when they came in, the sensation of light and sound overwhelming Theo's senses. The wolfsbane was just making it worse, so much worse. Theo wasn't going to survive much more of this. He was resistant to wolfsbane, but it had been over 24 hours of exposure–over 24 hours of poison, hallucinations, and pain.

Theo had been in this room for 24 hours, when just 30 seconds had brought Liam down to his fucking knees.

No.

No, Liam wasn't going to let it beat him that easily.

Liam gritted his teeth, turning his gaze down to the ground. As he did, he concentrated on getting his knees underneath him–concentrated on overcoming the pain and weakness in order to push off his hands and stand.

He pushed off, and the whole world suddenly tilted on its axis–suddenly began to spin. Liam nearly collapsed straight back down, but Corey rushed to his side, getting his arm under Liam's to keep him standing.

"Thanks," Liam gasped.

Corey offered a nod, not speaking. He was a bit paler, his breathing off-kilter despite being resistant to Wolfsbane.

Turning his attention back to the room, Corey continued to run his flashlight across the walls and ceiling until they caught on something in the distance–what looked to be an automatic air freshener, but warped–changed. "There."