Into the Flames → Liam Dunbar [2]

Chapter Sixteen

Addy had been confused at first.

Then she was scared. She hadn't woken up like any other day. She had been on fire once again, and a scream passed her lips that could have been confused with Lydia's. She was accustomed to the fire – the warm heat comforted her – but it was still unusual to be surrounded by it as she woke up.

Her brain told her to get up, to run away from the place where her body laid for god knows how long. Her feet just took her where her brain told her to. The farther away she got from the animal clinic, the more and more she realized where she was going.

Even though every muscle in her body was yelling at her to stop, she didn't. She couldn't. Her thoughts were overpowered with the need to get out of there, maybe to even get out of Beacon Hills. The place she was born, raised, and died.

As she ran, she didn't notice that her clothes had been burned and barely hung off her shoulder. Her skin was covered in ashes, leaving black smudges everywhere. That had never happened to her before. Her clothes were always perfectly fine, which, to that day, she still found weird.

It was surprising how there were no kids around. They were all at the front of the school where an ambulance was taking Corey away, another chimera who became a failure as of minutes ago. They all heard the all too familiar sirens out front and had to see what the commotion was.

Scott and Theo were there just after she arrived at the lacrosse field. They both smelled the smoke and saw it as it rolled of her skin. They had never seen Addy in that bad of shape. She always healed so fast that neither of them saw her bleed for a long period of time.

The true alpha was the first to hug her. He was crying, she was crying, Theo was crying; it was just a big mess of tears. She wasn't supposed to be alive. She was dead; she should have been dead. Her heart shouldn't have been beating, and she shouldn't have been walking around like she is. None of them complained. Why would they want one of their best friends to go back to being dead?

She finally pulled away and moved into Theo's arms. She nuzzled her head into his chest and just enjoyed the presence that he provided. She was confused about everything. The last thing she remembered was fighting against the Dread Doctors and losing. Everything else was a blank. Whatever happened must not have been good by the way the boys held onto her.

Addison peeked over Theo's shoulder when she heard footsteps stopping, and she saw him.

Liam Dunbar was across the field. He looked terrible, to be honest. His normally spiked up hair was flattened down. Bags were under his eyes and looked like they took a permanent vacation there. The bright blue eyes she loved didn't hold the same glow as they normally did until they met hers.

Liam ran towards the three, barely even noticing her state. All he needed to know, to see, to feel, was that his Addy was alive. He needed to hold her again, to tell her he loved her once more. He needed to see the beautiful brown eyes that he fell in love with full of life.

It was impossible that she was standing in front of him.

It was even more impossible that she jumped into his arms with her legs around his waist. It was hard to believe that she really was in front of them. If someone had told him that his dead girlfriend came back to life, he would have laughed in their face and then probably cried considering how much he really missed her in those few days.

It was a reality check that everyone needed to be more cautious. Liam was going to make sure that no one close to him died again. He wasn't going to let that happen; not to Addy, not to anyone.

Neither of the teens said anything before their lips connected. Whether it was minutes or hours, they stayed as close together as they could. Liam ignored the smoky taste on her mouth and the ashes that had surely rubbed against him. Addy ignored the fact that Theo and Scott were watching.